The Nutrition Country Profiles are concise reviews describing the food and nutrition situation in individual countries, with background statistics on food-related factors such as agricultural production, as well as selected health, demographic and economic indicators. The outline of the profiles follows the FIVIMS conceptual framework of food security and nutrition, including indicators of immediate, underlying and basic causes of malnutrition. The data come from the United Nations agencies' global data banks and from national institutions. They were compiled and interpreted by national experts from the countries in collaboration with nutritionists from the Nutrition Planning, Assessment and Evaluation Service of the Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division.

The most recent profiles present an improved format : the content is more factual and provides a larger number of standardized indicators. The summary table offers a snapshot of the country situation, including indicators for monitoring achievement of Millennium Development Goals. A new section, at the end of the profiles, describes national policies and programmes for improving the nutritional status of the population. The new format will enhance the usefulness of the Nutrition Country Profiles as a tool for policy-makers.

Profiles produced with the new format are : Niger, Chad, Ghana, Zambia and Mali. Users are encouraged to provide comments and suggestions to further improve the Nutrition Country Profiles. Comments may be sent to : [email protected].