Optimising nutrition funding in Uganda

Genesis collaborated with UNICEF and the Ugandan government to develop a comprehensive investment case for the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan II (UNAP II) for 2019 to 2025.

Undernutrition imposes a staggering cost worldwide in both human and economic terms. It increases the risk of mortality and is the underlying cause of one-third of all deaths in children under five years old. Additionally, underweight women face higher risks of dying from pregnancy complications and are more likely to deliver low birth-weight babies, who are at greater risk of physical and cognitive impairments and nutrition-related chronic diseases.

Recognising the urgent need to improve nutrition outcomes, the government of Uganda developed a multi-sectoral national nutrition policy and action plan, the UNAP II. This plan includes direct and indirect nutrition programmes, as well as institutional and governance-related activities. However, to support its implementation, there needed to be more fiscal space available and clear evidence of the associated costs.

To address this, Genesis was appointed to assist UNICEF and the Government of Uganda in developing an investment case to guide stakeholders on where to focus limited resources by evaluating the costs and benefits of different interventions. Additionally, Genesis costed the UNAP II based on different roll-out scenarios, depending on varying levels of resources.

The focus of this work was not only on producing evidence but also on using this high-quality evidence to support decision making. This helped to ensure that available resources were targeted at the most cost-effective components of the plan.