A boy is screened for malnutrition at an Action Against Hunger treatment centre in Mali.

About Action Against Hunger

We’re building a world where no one dies from hunger.

Life-threatening hunger is predictable, preventable and treatable, so a world without it is possible.

We tackle it where it hits and stop it. Whenever and wherever people need our help.

More than that, we work to prevent it in the first place by leading research that will create a world free from hunger. Forever.

How do we do this?

  • We train parents and healthcare workers to spot the first signs of malnutrition.
  • We deliver life-saving care to people who need it.
  • We lead research to drive forward understanding of how to predict, prevent and treat life-threatening hunger.

Our work in numbers

  • 56 countries

    We fight life-threatening hunger in 56 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

  • 21M

    Our life-saving programmes reached more than 21 million people around the world in 2023.

  • 47

    In 2023, we responded to 47 emergencies in 34 countries.

How do we tackle hunger?

We predict, prevent and treat life-threatening hunger. We tackle it when it happens. And we tackle its root causes. When all else fails and life-threatening hunger and malnutrition take hold, we step in quickly and save lives.

Predict

We’ve set up revolutionary early warning systems that spot the early signs of life-threatening hunger so we can step in before it takes hold.

We use satellites to detect crops and water. These are sent straight to farmers, pointing them to better grazing land where their animals can eat and drink.

Prevent

We tackle the underlying causes of life-threatening hunger and malnutrition.

We ensure communities have clean water and plenty of it ­­– so they can drink it, give it to their livestock and use it on their crops.

We help farmers to grow drought-resistant crops. We teach them how to vaccinate their livestock to prevent them from catching diseases. We give people cash so they can set up their own businesses.

We know that conflict and climate change are causing more hunger. We demand decision-makers to do more to change policies to reduce the impact of both of these issues.

Treat

When it’s not possible to stop life-threatening hunger, we treat it. Here are some of the ways we help children recover from severe malnutrition:

  • We run specialist nutrition centres where health workers use a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) band to assess whether a child under five is suffering from malnutrition.
  • If the mother is too malnourished to breastfeed and the baby is severely malnourished, we give babies nutrient-rich formula milk called F100, which our scientists developed in the 1990s. If the mother isn’t malnourished, we encourage breast-feeding because it contains the nutrients a baby needs.
  • We give older children under five a peanut-based paste called Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). We were the first organisation to use this.

When diagnosed on time and with the right treatment, a child’s life can be saved in just six weeks.

A woman works in a field in Kenya.

The global fight against hunger

Step inside the lives of families we're helping to fight hunger around the world in our immersive, interactive 360-degree experience.

Go on a journey
Action Against Hunger Somalia helped Halima recover from life-threatening malnutrition.

Six weeks to save a life

Want to see the difference your support can make? We helped Fatuma’s 20-month-old daughter Halima recover from life-threatening hunger.

Read the story

Why we’re unique

We’re pioneers in the field of life-threatening hunger and malnutrition. And we have a team of experts who carry out research and share it with others to end global hunger.

We use science, innovation and practical knowhow built on years of experience. One day we’ll shift solar panels for irrigation by donkey across land with no roads. Another, we’ll be working on a photo app to spot severe malnutrition in children.

And we’re a humanitarian agency, responding to conflict, disasters and emergencies whenever they happen. As a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), we’re at the forefront of saving lives during major crises.

Related

What we stand for

An Action Against Hunger health worker in Mali.

We tackle the causes and effects of hunger in vulnerable communities – no matter what the circumstances.

How we're run

Ibrahim, an Action Against Hunger community health worker in Mali, on his motorbike.

We’re part of a worldwide network fighting malnutrition alongside five other member organisations.

Where your money goes

A mother with her smiling child supported by Project Vruddhi in India.

Thanks to your generosity, we’re able to support more than 21 million people around the world.