Key Milestones

In 1979, a visionary group of academics, doctors, philanthropists, and scientists came together to change the world for the better. They believed that food was a basic human right, and that it is critical — and possible — to end hunger for everyone, for good.

Action Against Hunger’s first decade was marked by famines of a magnitude rarely seen today in Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. To meet the needs of people in these countries and elsewhere, we grew: in just ten years, we expanded to more than 20 countries.

At the time, acute malnutrition – particularly in vulnerable young children – was almost certainly a death sentence. Hunger wasn’t getting the attention it deserved. We knew we had to change that.

Thirty years ago, the medical community didn’t have a cure for malnutrition – so, in 1993, we created it. Our team of scientists developed F100, the first-ever therapeutic formula to treat severely malnourished children. In Somalia, they contributed to the development of F75.

Later, we adapted the formula to make Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a medicinal paste that doesn’t need to be mixed or refrigerated and can be eaten directly from the packet. These special foods can restore a malnourished child’s health in as little as 45 days.

We were the first organization to test it in our programs and, with evidence from our field research, we helped to develop the international standard for treatment protocols. The evidence showed that 90% of children could be treated effectively without hospitalization. More than 70 national governments adopted the model.

With the new millennium came new thinking: we challenged ourselves to transform where malnutrition could be treated – no longer just in hospitals, but in health centers and in communities. We helped popularize the use of the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) band, which is a critical tool for assessing malnutrition for children under five years of age. This “band of hope” is basically a malnutrition thermometer.

We trained local caregivers to monitor malnutrition with MUAC bands, putting the power of early detection into the hands of communities and parents themselves. By mobilizing millions of community health workers around the globe, we continue to save the lives of countless children who need are help.

In the 2010s, our team used technology cut the global proportion of malnourished children in half. We also expanded our focus on hunger prevention. By coming together, we revolutionized the way that communities around the world confront and adapt to hunger crisis. We especially made impressive progress in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, regions with the largest burden of disease and hunger.

We helped herders find more effective grazing land thanks to our “GPS for goats;” provided training and supplies to diversify diets, start small businesses and improve incomes; and worked on solutions like Smart Tap, a solar-powered “vending system” for clean water. We especially bolstered our programs around gender equity, supporting women around the world.

Hunger is a crisis, but it’s one we can solve. Today, we reach 21 million people in over 55 countries with our innovative solutions. In an average year, we also conduct 30+ research initiatives.

Together with partners, we are working on the next frontier of global hunger research. In 2020, we helped to control the spread of COVID-19 and Ebola among some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. Today, we are preventing, predicting, tracking, screening and treating hunger. We’re innovating every day, including through climate-smart agriculture practices, crisis prediction models, data-tracking tools like SMART+, groundbreaking detection tools like the SAM Photo App, novel Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF), and so much more.

Our work is far from over. Half of all child deaths are linked to hunger. One in 11 people still suffer from hunger.  But with research and innovation, it is possible to solve the hunger crisis in our lifetimes.