Adequate infant nutrition is essential for well being the rest of a person's life.

In the 1990s, the number of conflicts and natural disasters swelled.  Today, there are 35 million refugees and displaced people in the world, 90 per cent of whom are women and children. 

Malnutrition increases dramatically, and kills most rapidly, in emergencies. Most children do not die due to conflicts or natural disasters themselves, but rather to resulting food shortages, lack of safe water, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation and hygiene.   The vast majority of children succumb to measles, diarrhoea, respiratory infections and severe malnutrition.

Micronutrient deficiencies can easily develop during an emergency or be made worse if they are already present. This happens because livelihoods and food crops are lost; food supplies are interrupted; diarrhoeal diseases break out, resulting in malabsorption and nutrient losses; and infectious diseases suppress the appetite whilst increasing the need for micronutrients to help fight illness.