Ep. 19 | Mind the Nutrition Gap

Social protection can play an important role in ensuring that poor and vulnerable people meet their nutritional needs. What are the factors at play? This episode helps explain how social protection can contribute to improving food security and reducing the nutrition gap.

While the adequacy of social protection interventions seems to be at the forefront of the discussion, the state of food systems and prices must also be considered. On average, social protection covers only 5-10 per cent of household food costs. With food prices surging to record levels over the past two years, this has become a pressing challenge, especially in the face of long-term risks to human development.

Our guests for this episode have contributed greatly to unpacking these topics:

• Saskia de Pee, Chief of Analytics and Science, Nutrition Division, WFP
• Jessica Owens, Regional Advisor, Social Policy, UNICEF ROSA
• Marco Knowles, Senior Social Protection Officer, FAO

For our ‘’Quick Wins’’ segment, Martha Santos (Programme Manager for South-South and Triangular Cooperation at UNICEF) provided her inputs directly from the Global South-South Development Expo (GSSD Expo 2022).

 

Resources:

• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022: Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable
• Tracking Global Social Protection Responses to Price Shocks: Living Paper v.3
• WFP's Fill the Nutrient Gap tool
• ISPA’s Food Security and Nutrition tool (FSN)
• (Webinar) Global Food and Nutrition Crisis and Building Forward Better
• (Webinar) Ripple effects of the war in Ukraine: What role can 'adaptive' social protection play to prepare for and respond to anticipated global price shocks and hunger?
• Global South-South Development Expo 2022
• ESCAP-led Thematic Solution Forum on Social Protection and Health: South-South and Triangular Cooperation to Enhance Capacity to Produce and Deliver vaccines