Chad, from herds to child health: An integrated livestock management approach to prevent acute malnutrition in children under 5 years of age

Luc, G.; Keita, M.; Diarra, B.; Djekornonde, P.; Sacher, A.; Wassonguema, B.; Abdelrazakh, F.; Garba Abakar, I.M.; Fayiz, M.; Young, H.; Marshak, A.; Null, C.; Osman, A.M.;

Chad, from herds to child health: An integrated livestock management approach to prevent acute malnutrition in children under 5 years of age

Autores

Luc, G.; Keita, M.; Diarra, B.; Djekornonde, P.; Sacher, A.; Wassonguema, B.; Abdelrazakh, F.; Garba Abakar, I.M.; Fayiz, M.; Young, H.; Marshak, A.; Null, C.; Osman, A.M.;

Editor

FAO ;

Descripción

This technical summary presents the main findings from the impact evaluation of FAO's "Livestock for Health (L4H) – Integrated livestock management intervention to address child acute malnutrition", implemented in Chad’s Kanem and Barh El Gazel provinces between December 2024 and June 2025.In African dryland contexts, child acute malnutrition has remained persistently critical, thereby exposing children to a substantially higher risk of mortality. Despite decades of humanitarian assistance, little has changed: predictable seasonal peaks of acute malnutrition continue to occur each year during the pastoral lean season. Yet these recurrent surges remain largely overlooked in programme response.To address persistent seasonal peaks of child acute malnutrition in dryland pastoral contexts, in partnership with the Government of Chad, FAO has developed and tested an innovative, integrated prevention approach combining livestock management, milk production and consumption, and zoonotic disease prevention. Evidence from a cluster-randomized trial shows that the intervention reduced the dry-season peak of global acute malnutrition by over 70 percent, alongside improvements in child health, diets and household food security. Cost–benefit analysis demonstrates strong value for money, highlighting the potential of early, livelihood-based interventions to deliver measurable, sustainable nutrition outcomes in resource-constrained humanitarian settings.