Hunger and Malnutrition

For more than a decade, annual data showed global hunger to be on the decline. But that has changed: According to the latest data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hunger affected 815 million people in 2016, 38 million more than 2015, and malnutrition is threatening millions.

"In 2017, Sida - Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete will spend around 20 billion SEK on aid, with the mission to reduce poverty and help people to improve their lives. Different kinds of interventions are funded to reach this goal, but how do we know that poverty is being fought in the most effective way? What drives the decisions leading up to what to prioritize, and how can we ensure more "bang for the buck"?"

This the was the topic of a talk given by Bjorn Lomborg for Sida in November or 2017.

This week, government representatives and policy experts from south and south-west Asia will gather in Kathmandu to discuss the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This is a set of targets that determines how much of national governments’ and the international development community’s budgets will be spent between now and 2030. Since the targets were passed in 2015, policy-makers are finding it difficult to deliver the extensive list of 169 different well-meaning ambitions at once.

A new scorecard that purports to grade countries on development progress tells us little about how we are faring against humanity’s biggest challenges. Instead, it highlights the shortcomings of today’s unfocused global development agenda.

Discussions about development spending and reducing Bangladesh's climate vulnerability are often dominated—understandably—by politicians and donors. These are the decision-makers who affect how funds are spent.

Haití tiene necesidades profundas casi en todo: los problemas de salud incluyen las tasas más altas de mortalidad infantil, de menores de cinco años y materna en el hemisferio occidental; las carreteras están mal mantenidas; el acceso a la educación es bajo, especialmente para las niñas y los niños de las zonas rurales.

El sistema judicial está tan quebrado que muchos esperan en prisión durante años sin juicio.

Mesmo com dezenas de investimentos atractivos por onde escolher, economistas laureados com o Nobel analisaram os dados e descobriram que as medidas para combater a desnutrição estão entre as opções mais poderosas.

A desnutrição recebe menos atenção do que a maioria dos outros grandes desafios mundiais. Ainda assim, é uma área onde um investimento relativamente pequeno pode ter um impacto muito poderoso.

Climate change has been blamed for a dizzying array of absurd woes, from the dwindling number of customers at Bulgarian brothels to the death of the Loch Ness monster. Most of us can see through these silly headlines, but it’s far harder to parse the more serious claims when they’re repeated in good faith by well-meaning campaigners.

Bjorn Lomborg joined The Economist's podcast The Economist asks to discuss the question: "Poverty, health, education or climate change: where should governments spend their money?" Within each of these areas, some solutions are better than others: shouldn't we do the smart ones first?

Malnutrition receives less attention than most of the world’s other major challenges. Yet it is one area where a relatively small investment can have the most powerful impact.