Rising food prices in Mozambique have pushed vulnerable households towards coping strategies that can irreversibly impoverish families and children. More than 40% of children under the age of five are stunted due to chronic illness and poor diet, and nearly one in five is underweight. This Joint Programme used short-term and medium/long-term interventions to reduce the impact of rising food prices and to improve the health, nutritional and food security of children.  

This Joint Programme was established to combat an alarming increase in malnutrition in two southeastern regions of Mauritania, where the underweight prevalence in children under 5 rose from 35% in 2007 to 40% in 2008, more than twice the national average. The programme comprised a package of integrated interventions for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition, targeting more than 420,000 women and children with actions to improve food security, change feeding behaviors and strengthen the management of malnutrition.

Mali has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition and food insecurity in the world. One in six children suffers from acute malnourishment and more than a third are stunted from a lack of proper nutrients. Though Mali has made progress in reducing child deaths, more than half of those that occur are due to malnutrition. The aim of the Joint Programme was to improve food security and the nutritional status of women and children, enhance Mali's ability to monitor food and nutrition issues and ensure that these are considered in national and community policy-making.