# Community management of acute malnutrition

**Intervention ID:** `int_cmat`  
**Evidence strength:** moderate  
**Causes:** `cause_nutrition`, `cause_global_health_wellbeing`

## Mechanism

Treat acute malnutrition with therapeutic foods.

## Organizations in this catalog

- `org_givewell_all_grants_fund`
- `org_taimaka`
- `org_alima`
- `org_happier_lives_fund`

## Citations (public evaluator pages)

- https://www.happierlivesinstitute.org/taimaka-summary/
- https://www.happierlivesinstitute.org/charities/

## Evidence notes

HLI Promising Charity; rests on meta-analysis of similar nutritional supplements, one related RCT, and famine natural studies (HLI charities page / Taimaka summary).

## Key uncertainties

- HLI describes CE estimate as extremely speculative; medium depth (HLI Taimaka summary / charities page).
- Long-term wellbeing effects of treating malnutrition less directly measured than mortality (HLI Taimaka evaluation framing).
- Estimates may move with further scrutiny (HLI charities page on Promising Charities).

## Fungibility notes

HLI reports Taimaka funding gaps; unrestricted HLF funding noted in disbursement posts (HLI).

## Cost-effectiveness notes (do not treat as verified without citation_urls)

HLI Taimaka ~66 WELLBYs/$1000; ~$15.15/WELLBY; ~$87/child.

Agents must look up `data/claims_index.json` and cite `citation_urls` before stating numbers.

## Provenance

See `docs/evaluation-provenance.md` and `data/graph/evaluations_graph.json`.

_last_reviewed: 2026-10-01_