When people think of malnutrition, they usually picture its most acute form—listless infants with bloated bellies, the little victims of famine. But there is a chronic manifestation of hunger, too, milder but more widespread. It affects those with enough calories to eat but too few micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and so on). They suffer the diseases of poor nutrition.

These diseases are stunningly widespread. Over half of women in India and two-fifths of those in Indonesia are anaemic—deficient in iron. Lack of vitamin A causes membranes around the organs to shrivel, leaving them vulnerable. The first to go are the eyes: half a million children become blind each year. Then, the other organs: half of those children will die within 12 months.

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Governments often try to deal with the problems of nutrition in the same breath as the problems of starvation: by dishing out cheap food. India gives subsidised food to over 400m poor people. Egypt spends over $2 billion a year on cheap bread. These policies do almost nothing to get micronutrients to those who lack them.