Nutrition

CARE and our partners help ensure children and their families have access to all nutrients they need to live full lives.

Malnutrition has long-lasting effects on people’s lives. Nearly half of all deaths among children under 5 years of age globally are linked to undernutrition. Poor nutrition weakens immunity, increases childhood illness, and undermines learning and school performance. 

These impacts often continue into adulthood, limiting families’ incomes and slowing national economic growth.

We know what works to prevent, reduce, and treat malnutrition. Success requires an integrated approach — from improving the quality, diversity, and safety of diets to strengthening health systems, food markets, and education. Investing in nutrition also delivers strong returns. According to the World Bank, every $1 invested in child nutrition can generate up to $23 in economic benefits.

Healthy, well-nourished mothers and good diets for young children are essential for strong growth and development. The first two years of life are especially critical. When children receive nurturing care and diverse, nutritious foods early on, their learning, health, and productivity improve for life.

Despite strong evidence, building and sustaining the systems needed for good nutrition remains a challenge.

CARE and our partners work toward a world where every child grows up with access to good nutrition — meaning their bodies can get and absorb the nutrients they need — and healthy diets that include a balanced variety of nutritious foods.

Our approach focuses on:

Strengthening food systems 

so people can access safe, affordable, and nutritious foods

Expanding access to health systems 

so families can access to quality maternal and child nutrition care  

Preventing and treating acute malnutrition

especially among children under five who suffer irreversible impacts without the proper nutrients

Our programs  prioritize: 

• Healthy diets for children and families by supporting year-round access to diverse, safe, and affordable foods.
• Women-centred solutions that empower mothers and caregivers as leaders in nutrition and community resilience
• Bridging food and health systems by integrating agriculture, water, sanitation, hygiene, and social protection to meet local needs and deliver lasting improvements in women’s and children’s nutrition
• Community-driven change by applying approaches developed by local organizations and communities that build the skills of mothers, families, and service providers to sustain progress over time

Securing food security and nutrition in practice

CARE applies its global expertise to support the production and marketing of local, affordable, micronutrient-rich foods to prevent and treat malnutrition.

In Zimbabwe, the USAID-funded Takunda Resilience Food Security Activity (2020–2026) supports women farmers to develop and market enriched porridge blends for local markets. CARE works with women on product formulation, testing, pricing, and marketing to increase consumer demand and improve nutrition outcomes.

In Chad, CARE implements the community-based learning and rehabilitation (FARN) approach, targeting households with children under five who are moderately malnourished. Led by trained community members, mothers’ groups learn and share practices related to child health, nutrition, and hygiene, prepare locally fortified porridge, and connect with health workers for care and follow-up home visits.

CARE’s Dutch-funded CASCADE Nutrition Program (2022–2026) aims to increase access to and consumption of healthy diets through the effective implementation of multisectoral nutrition policies. Operating across six African countries, the program provides training and policy support at multiple levels, including policy dialogue, community mobilization, advocacy training, and support for nutrition financing and accountability frameworks.

In India, CARE’s Leveraging Transformative WASH (CROPS) program (2022–2025), implemented in partnership with Emory University and local NGOs, demonstrated how integrating home gardens and greywater use can improve dietary diversity for women and children. This three-year research initiative showed that layering homestead food production with behavior change activities in nutrition, WASH, women’s empowerment, and food marketing increased the share of mothers consuming a healthy, diverse diet from 37.9% to 54.6%.