Episode 48: The N4D Team. Shrinking Aid, Growing Needs: Why National Nutrition Leadership Matters
The Politics of Ending Malnutrition - Challenging Conversations with Decision MakersShow Notes
In this episode, the N4D Directors Carmel, Chris and Jeremy, reflect on lessons from supporting country partners in Ethiopia, Niger and Yemen. They discuss why long-term engagement, trust, an understanding of political and institutional contexts, and flexible, demand-driven support matter—particularly in fragile and conflict-affected countries.
As official development assistance declines, the team argues that scarce resources must be better aligned behind nationally agreed multisectoral nutrition priorities to maximise impact and sustainability. This requires investment not only in service delivery, but also in the national and subnational technical leadership, coordination and governance needed to mobilise financing, bridge humanitarian, development and peace efforts, and translate national plans into sustainable results.
The conversation looks ahead to how support for country leadership could be scaled through stronger collaboration between country-based partners and like-minded organisations. It is also an invitation to listeners to share their experiences and help build a more predictable, responsive global support system for countries.
Please join the debate! Credits: Recorded edited and published by: N4D & Nutriat.co Theme tune: Saraweto, used with kind permission of Just East of Jazz © N4D Group 2026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Politics of Ending Malnutrition - Challenging Conversations with Decision Makers
As international aid falls sharply, national governments, donors and the nutrition community as a whole face tough choices.
In the final episode of the series reflecting on the future of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, N4D Directors Chris Leather and Jeremy Shoham are talking to Dr Joanne Raisin, Director of the SUN Movement Secretariat.
N4D is in conversation for a second time (check out previous short podcast at N4G Summit) with Madam Manty Tarawalli, Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President, discussing Sierra Leone's nutrition progress since joining the SUN Movement in 2012. An acknowledged leader in politics and development, the Honourable Minister is spearheading country-led initiatives to tackle malnutrition: “When you demonstrate leadership as a country by saying to partners, this is the approach you want to take and these are the reasons & expected outcomes you foresee, you get partners following that drive. Without that leadership you get confusion and people doing whatever they want to do,” she affirms.
Like many Latin American countries, El Salvador’s malnutrition problems are increasingly more likely to be Type 2 diabetes amongst eight year-olds than stunting amongst children under 5. Elisa Gamero, Chief of Health and Nutrition Projects in the Office of the First Lady, paints a picture of how the country is tackling high rates of both undernutrition and child overweight/obesity and increased consumption of ultra processed foods. In recent years, El Salvador has made big strides in putting nutrition high in the political agenda, including new laws promoting a healthy start in life, launch of a youth platform, work with the private sector, a national nutrition strategy and more aligned action by UN and other international partners. A multisectoral approach and resource mobilisation, both domestic and international, lie at the heart of these initiatives. “It was not easy at first… when we first convened these actors, they look at each other [around] this table and say ‘what do I have to do with nutrition? This is a health perspective.’ But when we started developing the actions and they feel that they could connect with all the actions that surround the reduction of malnutrition in El Salvador, they're fully and strongly committed.” SUN’s Latin America regional learning hub and technical support are other features that El Salvador counts as gifts from the SUN Movement - “it’s so important that we learn from countries with a similar political approach and context”.
“I think there is a huge [opportunity] to take the lessons learned from Yemen and to try to bring them into the other countries where I see the SUN [Movement] working as a global actor… We need the voices of [Humanitarian, Development, Peace] HDP Nexus coordination everywhere to explain what it is and to show what it is… that could be the example of Yemen… a model to other countries.” Marcela Masiarik, Head of Cooperation with Yemen at the German Embassy in Amman (2021-2025)