The G8 – scaling up nutrition, the Guatemalan experience

On 8 June the UK hosted a meeting in London, in the context of its presidency of the G8, to discuss nutrition and food security. The Guatemalan Vice President, Roxana Baldetti participated to talk about Guatemala’s experience.  Guatemala is no stranger to the challenges presented by malnutrition, under nutrition and food security. The UN index puts Guatemala in the 4th place in the world in terms of chronic malnutrition in children under 5 (49.85%).   So it is also no surprise that President Otto Perez Molina has made one of the key pillars of his administration the implementation of the Zero Hunger pact. Signed in February 2012 it commits his Government to reduce chronic and seasonal hunger, and to reduce child malnutrition by 10% by 2015. The Vice President highlighted how the pact will span 10 years, the terms of 3 different Guatemalan governments, so improving the chances of sustainability. She also highlighted some of the key areas of the plan such as the 1000 day window for ensuring early child nutrition. In the 2012 HANCI (Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index) Guatemala’s plan came out in the number one spot.

Tackling undernutrition in Guatemala is also supported by the private sector. The Guatemalan government is due to sign an agreement to improve basic hygiene education in the poor rural communities with ACTIS (a British investment fund that own Guatemala’s main electricity distributor ENERGUATE). In April Guatemalan organisations FUNDESA and CACIF launched the “Alliance for Nutrition” programme that aims to invest around $1,000 per child at risk here over the next 34 months. The plan has goals until 2021.

This is absolutely in line with the UK’s Prime Minister’s message to the G8 Nutrition event “We will never beat hunger just by spending more money, or getting developed nations and philanthropists to somehow “do development” to the developing world. It has to be about doing things differently. Different in terms of business. Different in terms of science. Different in terms of government. It’s all about helping those in developing countries take control of their own destiny. For business it’s about harnessing the power of enterprise to educate people on the importance of nutrition in order to sell healthier food and make a commercial return while also transforming lives. For science, it’s about harnessing the power of innovation to develop better seeds and more nutritious and productive crops.” (UK Government Speeches at G8)

We are very pleased that the Guatemalan government endorsed the global nutrition for growth compact and will be following up all of these issues with the Sr Monterroso, Secretary for Food and Nutrition Security and the Scaling Up Nutrition focal point, on his return from the UK.