ACF International Network
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Action Against Hunger has developed its water and sanitation expertise over nearly three decades of field work, advancing a number of solutions for populations at risk from water insecurity.
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Central to the targeting of malnutrition, Action Against Hunger extends water and sanitation improvements to communities with little or no access to proper sources.
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Action Against Hunger's programs are sustainable because of our commitment to community participation—to build local capacity and harnesses a population's energy and resources.
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Though strategies may vary, our food security interventions all share a common goal: to fight hunger by preserving and strengthening livelihoods in a sustainable and contextual manner.
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Action Against Hunger’s innovative food security programs offer a broad range of solutions for generating income, boosting food production, and strengthening livelihoods.
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Our comprehensive approach to hunger involves extending water and sanitation services to communities faced with water scarcity, unsafe drinking water, and inadequate sanitation.
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Action Against Hunger occupies a unique place among international organizations: our expertise encompasses emergency relief, longer-term development, and the terrain in between.
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We have developed an effective method to treat acute malnutrition that includes field-tested protocols and nutritional products backed by an international scientific advisory committee.
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Action Against Hunger helps rehabilitate and restock public health infrastructure, fields mobile health clinics, and trains local medical personnel on preventative and diagnostic care.
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Our comprehensive programs address the linkages between disease and malnutrition by coordinating with local expertise and strengthening existing public health systems.
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Where We Work

Research: Developing Therapeutic Nutritional Care for HIV-Affected Children

One of the major challenges in the fight against malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa is the incidence of HIV/AIDS. The mutually reinforcing relationship between HIV and malnutrition is little understood and has complicated the treatment of severe malnutrition. Challenging more traditional approaches and protocols, this nexus has required substantial investments in field-based research to enhance our understandings of hunger and HIV. Action Against Hunger’s ongoing field research has made important contributions to conversation.

In collaboration with Malawi’s Ministry of Health, ACF has programs to improve the quality of nutritional care provided for the people living with HIV/AIDS, especially severely malnourished children. Research was conducted between September 2004 and August 2006 to assess the effects of HIV/AIDS on children’s response to therapeutic treatments for acute malnutrition. The research addressed nutritional response, morbidity, and mortality, CD4%, anemia, issues related to social stigma, and family perceptions of care. Previous studies conducted in Malawi have assessed the acceptability of HIV counseling and testing and the prevalence of HIV in children with severe malnutrition in Malawi.

Findings indicated significant prevalence of HIV among the children admitted for therapeutic care with a higher concentration during the season where admission levels are traditionally lower. Contrary to common perceptions, HIV counseling and testing were well accepted among both children and caretakers. Mortality risk was significantly increased among those children with HIV and was associated with a lower CD4%. Cooperation is paramount in research programs. In Malawi, ACF formed a key partnership with the Institute of Child Health of London and the University of Chester.

Close cooperation is also essential to ensure proper exchanges of technical knowledge and institutional know-how, and ACF’s enjoys productive relationships with national authorities like the Ministry of Health, the National AIDS Committee, and local nongovernmental organizations like REACH. Effective coordination means streamlined, harmonized, and more effective therapeutic treatment for HIV/AIDS-affected children in southern Africa. This research was the subject of five publications in Toronto, on the occasion of the 16th International Conference on AIDS in 2006.

Fergusson, P., Chinkhumba, J., Tomkins, A.; “Mortality in HIV infected and uninfected severely malnourished children”, Centenary Meeting of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 13 - 15 Sept 2007.

Other Research Achievements in Nutrition and Health Care Practices

  • ACF produced a practical manual on adult malnutrition for experts and practitioners in the field based on the work of Carlos Navarro-Colorado (Navarro-Colorado, C., “Low BMI does not identify acute malnutrition nor predicts death during famines,” Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Nutrition, 19-23 September 2005, Durban, South Africa).
  • We carried out Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) Surveys on feeding practice for children in nutritional crises—Indonesia: feeding, nutritional practice, and maternal mental health, 2006.
  • Our research focused on the effects of malnutrition in infants on mother-child relationships in Afghanistan, 2006.
  • ACF produced three self-training mini-modules on breast feeding, micronutrients, and care practices for implementation at our feeding centers in 2006.