Mapping of Guidelines and Tools for Cost Analysis and Economic Evaluation of Nutrition Programming

The Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) Technical Alliance commissioned a mapping
exercise of the guidelines and tools available on the design and execution of cost analyses. The
primary objective of this exercise is to identify and guide the reader towards existing guidance
and tools that can help with the design and conduct of cost analysis and economic evaluations
of acute malnutrition treatment and prevention programmes. It is anticipated that use of these
guidelines and tools can help improve the analytical and methodological rigour of future studies.
This report is not intended to be a “how to” guide for designing and conducting costing or
economic analyses, rather it is a map of the currently available resources that can be consulted for
different users throughout the stages of the study process.

The primary audience of this report includes nutrition policy-makers and practitioners as well as
cost analysts and economic evaluators. Accordingly, there are resources included here that will be
useful for generalists and specialists alike. We have collated the most useful resources relevant to
nutrition, including those that are not nutrition specific but still offer transferable guidance. We
present these resources in five sections. The first section – general guidance – highlights the most
comprehensive guidelines that span all or most steps of a cost analysis or economic evaluation
– study design, data collection planning and execution, data analysis planning and execution,
and reporting. The subsequent four sections provide more specific recommended resources
within each one of these steps. Finally, we conclude with reflections on gaps and limitations of
the current state of knowledge, and provide links to additional resources, relevant webinars, and
websites.