The World Bank has become the largest financial contributor to health-related and nutrition projects, committing more than $1 billion annually towards the health, nutrition and population sector. This article examines how the World Bank addressed malnutrition in Tamil Nadu and discusses the consequences of this approach for the Bank's projects and target communities. Using the case study of the Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Project (TINP), it is argued that the World Bank nutrition package, now implemented in several countries, might not be effective in extremely poor and destitute communities because it does not address the underlying social causes of malnutrition. The final section of the article goes ‘inside’ the Bank to examine two institutional drivers that could explain the promotion of the TINP approach to undernutrition.
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