African countries strengthen their commitment to sustainable nutrition financing at a high-level dialogue led by EU4SUN

“Behind every budget allocation is a mother, a child and a family whose future depends on the decisions we make today. When we invest in nutrition, we invest in their potential and in Africa’s prosperity.”

With these words, His Excellency Demeke Mekonnen, former Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia and regional nutrition champion, opened the high-level dialogue on sustainable nutrition financing in Addis Ababa. He highlighted the importance of making nutrition a public investment priority and recognising its role in the continent’s prosperity.

The meeting brought together representatives from the ministries of finance and national nutrition coordinators from Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as part of the EU4SUN project, funded by the European Union and implemented by FIAP in collaboration with the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN).

Against a backdrop of declining international development funding, participants agreed on the need to move towards more sustainable, country-led financing models. Throughout the sessions, they highlighted that investing in nutrition not only improves people’s health and well-being, but is also a strategic investment in human capital, productivity and economic growth.

The host country, Ethiopia, shared its experience with the Seqota Declaration, considered one of the most significant initiatives on the African continent to accelerate the reduction of child malnutrition. Participants gained first-hand insight into how high-level political leadership, interministerial coordination and a robust results-monitoring system have helped keep nutrition on the national agenda for more than a decade.

Among the meeting’s concrete outcomes were the identification of innovative financing mechanisms tailored to the context of each of the six participating countries, and an agreement to develop roadmaps for preparing national nutrition investment cases. These proposals will be presented to public and private investors in the first quarter of 2027.

This initiative builds on the support that the EU4SUN project provides to English-speaking African countries to mobilise domestic resources and move towards sustainable nutrition financing. In particular, it forms part of the work to support 15 countries in the region in preparing and presenting their national nutrition commitments at the Nutrition for Growth Summit, held in Paris in 2025.

Through these initiatives, EU4SUN helps translate political commitments into roadmaps and investment opportunities that can improve nutrition outcomes in the long term.