COHA Background

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THE COHA STUDY ESTIMATES THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CHILD UNDERNUTRITION IN AFRICA

About the Study

The Cost of Hunger in Africa Study (COHA) is an initiative led by the African Union Commission (AUC) in collaboration with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and supported by the UN World Food Program (WFP) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and ECLAC with the aim of positioning nutrition high on the development Agenda.

This continent-wide initiative is placed within the framework of the Revised African Regional Nutrition Strategy (2005-2025), the objectives of the African Task Force on Food and Nutrition Development (ATFFND) and the principles of pillar 3 of the AU/NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
The methodology used was borrowed from the model developed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) with WFP, and was adapted to the African context.

The study has empowered the African Union Commission to take the lead at the regional level to address nutrition issues, as well as equipping Member States to advocate for nutrition interventions. In addition, the study is an effective example of South-South cooperation as it was first initiated in Latin America and the Caribbean and later adopted into the African context.
Since its inception in 2010, with the endorsement of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in 2012, the study has continued to expand beyond the initial four pilot countries of Egypt, Ethiopia, Swaziland and Uganda. In 2014, African heads of state and government met in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, and made a commitment known as the ‘Malabo Declaration’ to expand the series across the continent.

Since 2012 the study has been carried out and results launched in fourteen countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda. The study is currently ongoing in Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Niger and Zimbabwe and will commence in 2018 in, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia (the), Kenya, Namibia and Sudan. The following countries are considering undertaking the study Botswana, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.