The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in its latest Goalkeepers report, has underscored the significant potential of fortifying common food items, such as bouillon cubes, to combat child malnutrition in Nigeria.
The report, “A Race to Nourish a Warming World,” was released on Wednesday and emphasised that simple, proven solutions can drastically reduce malnutrition in countries like Nigeria, where climate change is exacerbating food insecurity.
According to the report, fortifying bouillon cubes with essential nutrients like iron, folic acid, zinc and vitamin B12 could prevent up to 16.6 million cases of anaemia and avert 11,000 deaths from neural tube defects by 2050. These solutions are seen as key to addressing the growing hunger crisis worsened by climate change, especially in low-income nations.
Director of nutrition at Nigeria’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi stressed the importance of nutrient access for young children. “Without access to the essential nutrients that children under five need to grow, thrive and lead healthy lives, they are being robbed of their future,” she said in the report.
The Gates Foundation warned that the global child malnutrition crisis is set to worsen without immediate intervention. The report projects that by 2050, an additional 40 million children globally will suffer from stunting—a condition where children fail to grow to their full potential—while 28 million more could face wasting, a severe and life-threatening form of malnutrition.
Climate change is identified as a key factor driving this crisis. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and other climate-related disruptions are expected to increase food insecurity, particularly in low-income countries like Nigeria. This further heightens the urgency for countries to adopt innovative solutions like food fortification to combat malnutrition.
However, the report highlights a troubling decline in foreign aid to Africa, the region most affected by child malnutrition. Despite more than half of global child deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, foreign aid to the continent has dropped from 40 per cent in 2010 to just 25 per cent in 2024—the lowest in two decades. This decline comes at a time when Africa is facing mounting challenges from climate change, food insecurity and health crises.
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, called on world leaders to address this disparity and increase investments in global health, particularly in Africa. “Malnutrition is the world’s worst child health crisis, and climate change is only making it worse. We must act now to protect millions of children from preventable diseases and malnutrition,” Gates urged.
The report also highlights several innovations already making a difference in the fight against child malnutrition. For example, in Ethiopia, fortifying salt with iodine and folic acid has the potential to reduce anaemia by 4 per cent and eliminate up to 75 per cent of deaths and stillbirths caused by neural tube defects. In addition, scaling up the use of high-quality prenatal vitamins for pregnant women in low-income countries, including Nigeria, could save nearly half a million lives by 2040 and improve birth outcomes for 25 million babies.
The economic impact of malnutrition is also staggering. According to the World Bank, the global cost of undernutrition is estimated at $3 trillion in lost productivity each year. In low-income countries, this can account for as much as 16 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), representing a permanent drag on economic growth and development.
The Gates Foundation has called on governments to fully fund critical global health initiatives, such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. These programmes have been instrumental in saving millions of lives and addressing key health challenges in developing countries. Gates emphasised that addressing malnutrition not only saves lives but also improves the effectiveness of vaccines and reduces the prevalence of deadly diseases like malaria and pneumonia.
“If we solve malnutrition, we make it easier to solve every other problem,” Gates said, highlighting that investments in nutrition can spur economic growth and build resilience in the face of climate change.
The report serves as a clarion call for urgent action, urging governments and stakeholders to prioritise child nutrition as a key strategy for achieving global health and development goals. With malnutrition threatening the future of millions of children, particularly in countries like Nigeria, the Gates Foundation’s message is clear: the time to act is now.
