European Commission needs comprehensive strategy to address malnutrition, report says

"The European Commission needs to develop a proper and integrated strategy on nutrition backed by a significant increase in funding, according to a report" on the E.U. and nutrition development policy that is supported by international organizations, companies and non-governmental organizations, the Guardian reports. The newspaper notes that the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates up to one billion people are undernourished worldwide, and the World Food Programme says it will take $11.8 billion annually to address 90 percent of child malnutrition cases.

The report calls for "a coherent strategy on how funds should be allocated across different priorities and geographic areas"; a strategy "explicitly includ[ing] the private sector in public-private partnerships, academia, and civil society" with clear responsibilities; and increased spending on nutrition from 418 million euros ($521 million) to one billion euros ($1.25 billion) in its 2014-2020 budget, according to the Guardian. The newspaper adds, "There are clear indications that strong majorities in the E.U. council of member states and the European parliament fully endorsed the report's recommendations, [the report] says" (Tran, 6/27).