Cost and Affordability of Nutritious Diets in Malawi and the Role of Cash Transfers

This report summarizes the findings of a Cost of the Diet analysis using Malawi food price and income data (from April 2021-March 2022). The report estimates the cost of a nutritious diet for a household and for a mother and child in the first 1,000 days; the affordability gap of a nutritious diet and the size of maternal and child cash transfers needed to fill the affordability gap in rural, poor and ultra-poor households. The report also shows that the cost of a nutritious diet has increased substantially the previous year, driven by rising food prices