UK Government set to cut malnutrition programmes by 80% leaving tens of thousands of children hungry and at risk of starvation

The UK Government could spend less than £26 million on vital nutrition services this year, down from £122 million in 2019, according to new analysis by Save the Children. Malnutrition contributes to roughly half of all child deaths and holds back children’s education and future economic potential.

The analysis comes as the G7, this year hosted by the UK, is set to publish a Humanitarian Crisis and Famine Prevention Compact which recognises the deteriorating global hunger situation and calls for effective action in response.

Despite this, the analysis also suggests that UK nutrition assistance in humanitarian settings could be cut in half, at a time when the world’s poorest countries are dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. Further analysis by Save the Children shows that pandemic-related increases in malnutrition could equate to 4.4 million lost years of schooling.

The G7 Compact lands on the same day as the Global Report on Food Crises reveals that hunger and malnutrition continue to rise globally. There are over 155 million people around the world facing serious food shortages. Furthermore, newly released estimates on child malnutrition indicate that 149 million children under 5 were affected by stunting in 2020. This rise does not consider the effects of the pandemic, which are predicted to be devastating for children.

UK aid cuts to nutrition will end up costing children’s lives. The cuts are entirely inconsistent with the UK’s leadership on famine prevention.

Kirsty McNeill, Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns at Save the Children UK, said:

“The UK’s strategy is incoherent and inconsistent. The government is paying lip service to preventing famine while slashing the very programmes that will keep malnourished children alive, at a time when global hunger is increasing. We are looking at the near collapse of British help for hungry children in some of the world’s poorest and most dangerous countries, including Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan. Ending preventable child deaths will never be achieved when we ignore the role prolonged malnutrition plays in the development of a child and their future quality of life.

“As the UK hosts the G7 and seeks to champion action on famine, it is the only member of the group cutting its aid budget and its cuts are hitting nutrition programmes disproportionately hard. These cuts tarnish the UK’s standing as a compassionate, generous country that is serious about its commitments to the world’s most vulnerable people. After recently announced aid cuts to war-ravaged Yemen and Syria, slashing aid to tackle malnutrition by a staggering 80 percent simply defies credibility.”

Kate Munro, Head of Advocacy, Action Against Hunger, said:

“Cuts to nutrition programming are completely incompatible with the UK’s leadership on famine prevention at the G7.

“How, in good faith, can the UK take the lead on famine prevention whilst abandoning support for the prevention and treatment of catastrophic malnutrition? Cutting nutrition programming means prospectively closing clinics supporting people in the world’s worst food emergencies, like DRC. This means leaving thousands of mothers and children to fend for themselves in the midst of a global hunger crisis.

“Dominic Raab said that no one is going hungry because the UK isn’t signing cheques. This is untrue. Hunger is rising globally and children suffering from malnutrition are now at risk of losing access to treatment. The consequence of a severely malnourished child not having access to treatment is that the child will die.”

Impact of UK Aid cuts:Emergency Nutritional Program by Humanitarian Coalition (PUNCH), DRC

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the world’s worst food crisis with 21.8m people in Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. This includes 6.7m in IPC Phase 4 – a food emergency on the brink of famine. Some of the most vulnerable to hunger are those displaced by  escalating conflict: nearly 3 million people in DRC were forced to flee their homes in 2020 alone.

Action Against Hunger is a leading member of the UK Aid funded Emergency Nutritional Program by Humanitarian Coalition (PUNCH) in DRC, a humanitarian  project designed to both assist the population with emergency response to the acute nutrition crisis and address its consequences. It is intended to improve the nutrition and health status of children under five and pregnant and lactating women, including by ensuring that children with acute malnutrition receive treatment.

There are 181 health facilities supported by the programme, which aims to treat 44000 children a year with acute malnutrition, amongst other services. The Foreign Secretary has already indicated that UK aid to East Africa will be cut by 66%. If the future programme is given a budget that is 80% lower, in line with the reduction to UK aid for nutrition globally, then this could mean the closure of 144 health facilities and over 35000 children a year losing access to life saving treatment for acute malnutrition, just from this programme alone.

Notes to editors

• Save the Children applied stated geographic cuts to Africa and Asia to the basic nutrition ODA within those areas as per the data displayed on IATI on 4 May 2021. This was added to cuts to unspecified development countries. We calculated this after discussion with partners and by applying the % cut to The Power of Nutrition’s 2021-2022 funding to the wider unspecified development countries portfolio. The totalling of these figures equalled £25,859,880. For more on methodology please reach out to Richard Watts: R.Watts@savethechildren.org.uk
• Nutrition assistance in humanitarian settings: The proportion of nutrition sensitive interventions in humanitarian assistance is based on analysis by Development Initiatives (2020) and applied to the £906 million 2021-22 budget for humanitarian preparedness and response (Source: FCDO Written Statement) and budgets from the past two fiscal years (Source: FCDO submissions to the International Aid Transparency Initiative as of 4 May 2021).
• Stunting Stunting is the failure to grow both physically and cognitively and is the result of chronic or recurrent malnutrition. It can also be referred to as ‘chronic malnutrition’. The effects of stunting often last a lifetime.

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