We agree that an ecosystem approach needs to be part of the solution. Right now we see difficulties for companies trying to transition from start-up grant capital to sustainable growing business models. It can be difficult for companies to exit accelerators and to access scaling financing. We need to better align impact investors across the company life cycle.
We also need to improve the sourcing / identification of opportunities. One significant challenge that we see is the sophistication of small and medium enterprises to attract attention and financing especially when they come from smaller markets or countries. We need to boost their awareness of how to access investment markets but also improve their âpitchâ and engagement. From the investment side, we need to invest in more targeted ways to identify these hard to reach opportunities.
There is a strong business case for corporates, employers, and governments to introduce effective workforce nutrition programs. A recent World Bank analysis estimates that every $1 invested in interventions to meet the World Health Assembly nutrition targets would yield an economic return between $4 and $35. A simple workforce nutrition initiative of providing healthy and varied food choices at work can reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases and provide enough energy and nutrients to perform tasks: this, in turn, has the potential to reduce rates of accidents and absenteeism, increases productivity, and decreases mistakes. Besides contributing to enhanced productivity and revenue. These programs can also help attract customers, retain talent, improve brand reputation, increase employee loyalty, fulfil sustainability commitments, and strengthen the sustainability approach.
The Business Case for Investment in Nutrition, Chatham House Report, 2020
Very interesting to read this, Emily! I think itâs important to navigate power sharing in such partnerships to ensure that everyone can participate in co-creating and implementing solutions.
We need more and better commitments from Governments - It is a duty of Governments to address maternal, child and adolescent wellbeing as a human rights imperative.For most Governments, they need to see/understand that there is a great return in the investment- using data/evidence of the need to advocate for more investment as partners/ stakeholders can be one of our support!
In terms of financing models, the World Bank and the Global Financing Facility have been working to create synergies between donor grant financing and resources raised by the International Development Association (IDA)â which blends member contributions, funds raised in private capital markets, and re-flow from repaid loans from client countries.
Every $1 in GFF has been linked to US$7 in World Bank funds, US$6.3 from other global funders and US$9.3 from governmentsâ own domestic resources to support country-led priorities. The share of World Bank financing in GFF supported countries that has been allocated to this agenda has increased by 12%. In contrast, GFF-eligible countries that arenât yet supported by the GFF have seen a decline of 2% in World Bank financing allocated to this agenda.
Increasing investment in maternal, child and adolescent health means investing in strengthening primary healthcare, and community health workers to reach the most vulnerable.
Financial resources for the health sector â and particularly for primary health care â remain insufficient in many countries. Annual government spending on primary health care ($3 per capita in low-income countries and $16 per capita in lower-middle-income countries) falls far short of common benchmarks for the minimum spending needed to ensure universal health coverage (variously $65 to $95 per capita). This means that out-of-pocket expenditure on health by households is unacceptably high and can have catastrophic and impoverishing consequences. In 2019 in countries where children and families already do not have resources to meet daily needs, 60-79 per cent of health costs came directly out of their pockets rather than from insurance or government spending. Against this backdrop, reallocation of regular government health funding to respond to COVID-19 was particularly damaging, further straining the already poorly resourced health sector.
We also need to think about how the introduction of catalytic capital can help reduce the cost of government borrowing through debt buy downs and can crowd in new sources of funding via performance based financing mechanisms. At HFC we work on bringing together philanthropic capital, government health spending, and concessional capital to fund transformational scale for country programs. In accessing that type of financing, we see a strong need to strengthen the investment cases developed by countries â these investment cases need to have strong costings and speak the language of development banks and other concessional lenders. At the same time, they also need to demonstrate the leverage that catalytic capital can provide in these transactions.
In India, Investment from the private sector is only seen in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It is observed that the allocation of CSR funds in healthcare, nutrition, and hunger has doubled in the last five years. From 2014-15 to 2018-19, the overall CSR budget of the country was Rs 71,469. 96 crores. Out of this, 26.75 percent of the total CSR budget i.e., Rs 19,124.82 was utilized on Healthcare, Eradicating Hunger, Poverty, Malnutrition, Drinking Water, and Sanitation as compared to 37.95 percent which was spent on Education, Differently Abled and Livelihood .
Corporate Social Responsibility is one way in which corporates to channelize their funds to build a healthy and prosperous workforce, but it is not sufficient. Workforce Nutrition needs to be made an integral part of companiesâ policies. Businesses and corporates are required to align their wellness goals with business strategies and create a supportive environment for their employees, for this to happen investments in workforce nutrition programs are required. Numerous health and safety initiatives that will supplement the health benefits such as nutrition counseling, health checkups, breastfeeding support, providing access to nutritious, safe, and affordable food, creating own personalized nutrition program will require the investment of funds that will yield further business returns. The private sector and businesses need to evaluate and monitor the nutritional programs to measure the financial impact of such programs on their businesses.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a major role in supporting food systems, particularly for low-income consumers in low-and middle- income countries. Despite the vital role that MSMEs play in food systems, they struggle to access finance that is tailored to their specific needs. Small-scale lenders, such as microfinance institutions, often provide too little financing, while commercial lenders often find these enterprises too small and too risky to lend to. The MSMEs often face challenges in demonstrating strong financial management practices and robust business plans to attract funding. They operate in a fragmented financial landscape, where the institutions that finance them and other actors that can help them flourish do not effectively communicate or coordinate with each other. Additionally, limited access to business development services and mentoring hinders their access to the appropriate partnerships that will unlock their impact and growth scale.
In collaboration with AfricInvest we also recently launched the Transform Health Fund https://www.africinvest.com/ which is focused on financing innovative delivery models in primary care in Africa.
Community health programmes are essential for bringing critical services to the hardest-to-reach children. As trusted members of society, community health workers help families make informed decisions about their health and well-being, and educate them on available services. Community health programmes also provide a critical channel for emergency response teams.
Despite being highly cost-effective, these programmes remain seriously underfunded.
It is estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa alone, the roughly $2 billion needed to strengthen the community health system could generate over $21 billion in economic benefits, mostly from improvements in productivity and reductions in disease.
Without adequate investment, community health workers worldwide cannot receive the training and supplies they need to deliver basic and essential care.
â Please read this recent blog by the GAIN team on âInnovative Financing - Creative New Ways to Fund Improved Nutritionâ that has a huge bearing on womenâs and adolescents health and well-being
This blog is centered on our Discussion Paper that talks about Innovative finance mechanisms that can be grouped into 4 clusters: 1) grants and technical assistance (TA) as part of âblendingâ approaches or as a precursor to investment; 2) outcome funding, impact bonds, and impact-linked finance; 3) various debt and equity instruments; and 4) first-loss capital and guarantees â Discussion Paper is here â https://www.gainhealth.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/GAIN-discussion-paper-series-14-innovative-finance-for-nutrition.pdf
Very strongly advocate for this! The community health workers in many countries form a critical backbone of primary care, yet many are underfunded/ are volunteers - they need dedicated training, investment in their career pathways and financing. This includes strong influencing of priorities at the government level - commitment from the government is essential. Then funding to catalyse investment at that level. The motivation to provide these services for their population is so strong, it should be prioritised.
We need to use all the financial tools and structures available to us to spur innovation, support country led priorities, finance high impact business and mobilize more private capital.
Key message: We are already talking to each other in so many instances, but letâs start co-creating systems solutions and trusting each other, so that we can mobilise our resources, to implement solutions that work for business, governments, and most of all people.