Economics has long been attributed as the leading cause of malnutrition in both the developed and developing world. Below are strategies that are being employed or suggested to fight malnutrition.

Economic planning
Economic planning is required in order for government and aid funding to reach the appropriate areas with as minimal wastage as possible. If countries plan their economies properly they will be better off in the long term even if it means making temporary sacrifices. Minimization of poverty should be kept as a tier 1 goal because it is this which is the primary cause of malnutrition. Also, richer governments with proper planning can provide for the countries poor through social security – schemes seen only in developed worlds.

An excellent example of this can be seen from a World Health Organization "10 Step Rapid Action Plan"

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Global aid
Planning future global aid has and is a proven method for successful implementation of support for aid programs worldwide. This is an objective both governments and aid organizations need to abide by. These future aid plans should be focusing on the longer term solutions regarding infrastructure, agriculture and food security instead of heavy investment in short-term solutions.

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Collaboration
Global planning is another very important longer-term solution to malnutrition because it allows developed countries with proven planning strategies to share their expertise with developing countries. Ultimately this leads to developing countries adopting strategies better than their current ones and a better quality of life for its people.

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Local Planning
Although national governments are responsible for the country as a whole, local governments are ultimately where the actual “fixing” takes place. It is at this level where people are exposed to such things as aid, education etc and thus even if national government planning is successful and local government is not then no-one will benefit from anything. Communities that plan are communities whose people are much better off – This can be observed in the Plan Indonesia Case Study where certain community members are educated in good nutritional practices and share their knowledge to the rest of the community.

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Infrastructure
To provide a starting block for better nutritional practices in developing nations, properly adequate infrastructure is needed for such things as farming and transportation of food. Because it is largely the governments in these developing nations which own the majority of the country’s infrastructure it is up to them to protect and improve it. Also things such as government subsidies for farmers, provides aid as well as incentive for them to improve farming practices. Care should be taken however to ensure too much focus is on spent on specific strategies -an example this can be seen in our Malawi Case Study.

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Distribution
Lack of access due to inadequate road networks in developing countries is an important factor regarding distribution of aid. Firstly, the governments of the countries involved must be both motivated and committed to increase the quality of road networks. For this to work 3rd parties such as donor nations must provide a list of incentives and benefits to the recipient nations as a catalyst for motivation. Often aid cannot be delivered to areas because insufficient infrastructure exists. Road's may be unpaved and therefore prevent easy transportation.

Specific planning regarding equipment necessary roadwork and appropriate training for workers is needed in order for such initiatives to succeed .We suggest searching for petitions or if you are part of an organization with international ties to advocate ideas regarding food distribution.

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