By 2050, an additional 40 million children will suffer from hunger’s most severe impacts, including stunting and wasting, due to climate change, says a report from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. However, the report — Goalkeepers report — states that immediate action can prevent this outcome while improving global health and economic stability.
The titled “A Race to Nourish a Warming World,” emphasizes the need for urgent investment in children’s health and nutrition, particularly in the face of the climate crisis.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE HUNGER CRISIS
According to the report, if global leaders don’t act swiftly, climate change will result in:
- 40 million more children experiencing stunting (reduced physical and mental growth)
- 28 million additional children suffering from wasting (severe malnutrition causing emaciation)
These alarming projections are based on data from 2024 to 2050, underlining the urgency of addressing child malnutrition amidst worsening environmental conditions.
In 2023, the World Health Organization estimated that 148 million children worldwide were stunted and 45 million children were wasted. These are the most critical forms of malnutrition, leaving children at heightened risk of developmental delays and death.
DECLINE IN GLOBAL AID TO AFRICA
The report also reveals a troubling trend in global aid. In 2010, 40% of foreign aid went to African countries. However, that figure has dropped to 25% in 2023, the lowest in 20 years, even though more than half of child deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
This reduction in aid puts millions of children at risk of preventable diseases and threatens the progress made in global health between 2000 and 2020.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MALNUTRITION
Malnutrition has significant economic consequences. According to the World Bank, global undernutrition results in a $3 trillion loss in productivity every year. In low-income countries, this accounts for 3% to 16% of GDP loss annually, comparable to a global recession.
“Today, the world is contending with more challenges than at any point in my adult life: inflation, debt, new wars. Unfortunately, aid isn’t keeping pace with these needs, particularly in the places that need it the most,” writes report author Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “I think we can give global health a second act—even in a world where competing challenges require governments to stretch their budgets.”
According to Gates, malnutrition is “the world’s worst child health crisis,” and climate change is only making it worse. Amidst this crisis, Gates calls for maintaining global health funding; immediately addressing the growing threat of child malnutrition by supporting the Child Nutrition Fund, a new platform that coordinates donor financing for nutrition; and governments fully funding the established institutions that have proven effective at protecting millions of lives each year. These institutions include Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is due to hold its next funding replenishment in 2025; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is expected to also hold its replenishment next year.
“If we do these three things, we won’t just usher in a new global health boom and save millions of lives—we’ll also prove that humanity can still rise to meet our greatest challenges,” Gates writes
PROVEN TOOLS TO FIGHT CHILD MALNUTRITION
Despite these challenges, there are proven solutions to combat malnutrition and build resilience against climate change:
- New agricultural technologies: Improved farming practices are producing up to three times more milk, which can prevent millions of cases of child stunting by 2050.
- Fortification of food staples: In Nigeria, fortified bouillon cubes with essential nutrients could prevent 16.6 million cases of anemia and 11,000 deaths from neural tube defects.
- High-quality prenatal vitamins: Providing prenatal vitamins to pregnant women can save 500,000 lives and improve the health of 25 million babies by 2040.
Malnutrition Solutions in Action
Several programs around the world are already showing success:
- In India, dairy farmers like Sushama Das are earning five times their previous income thanks to new technologies that boost milk production.
- In Kenya, farmers like Coletta Kemboi are producing cleaner, safer milk, providing better nutrition for their communities and supporting their children’s education.
URGENT ACTION NEEDED: GATES’ CALL TO WORLD LEADERS
Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, calls malnutrition the world’s “worst child health crisis,” exacerbated by climate change. He stresses the importance of continuing global health funding and encourages world leaders to:
- Maintain health funding levels, especially in vulnerable regions.
- Support the Child Nutrition Fund, a platform coordinating global donor financing for nutrition.
- Fully fund organizations like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
“If we solve malnutrition, we make it easier to solve every other problem,” Gates writes, highlighting that tackling this issue is key to reducing poverty and making vaccines more effective.
