GiveWell Grant to Against Malaria Foundation: ITN Campaigns in Chad, DRC, Nigeria, and Zambia (December 2024)

Note: This page summarizes the rationale behind a GiveWell grant to the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF). The information below reflects our views at the time we made the grant decision and does not reflect any information we have learned or work we have done since that point, including the 2025 funding cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). AMF staff reviewed this page prior to publication. 

 

 
 
 

 In a nutshell

 In December 2024, GiveWell recommended a $96 million grant to the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) to support the procurement and distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria (Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, and Plateau states), and Zambia between 2025 and 2027. This grant will fund AMF to purchase and support the distribution of approximately 35 million nets for use in mass ITN campaigns. The portion of this grant earmarked for Ituri province in the DRC will be conditional on funds materializing for net delivery. In all locations, AMF will lead the net selection and procurement process as well as campaign monitoring, and will work with national and international partners on campaign logistics.

 We're recommending this grant for the following reasons:

 
 High cost-effectiveness: Our best guess is that this grant is approximately 14 times as cost-effective as unconditional cash transfers. Malaria is a significant cause of child death in these countries, ITNs are an effective intervention for reducing child mortality, and we expect low ITN coverage in the absence of campaigns. We think this grant will avert the deaths of approximately 17,000 children under the age of five.

 Funding landscape for ITNs: We think it is unlikely that another funder would have stepped in to fill these funding gaps.

 AMF's track record: AMF is a respected actor in the nets space and we believe their involvement in ITN campaigns increases the rigor and quality of net distribution and monitoring.

 
 We have the following reservations about this grant:

 
 Uncertainty about malaria burden: We are particularly uncertain about the level of malaria burden we’re estimating in these geographies.

 Uncertainty about long-term effects on other funders: We are moderately uncertain about the longer-term effects of our funding on other funders’ plans and behaviors.

 Significant ITN research debt: We have several unanswered research questions that could impact how we model the cost-effectiveness of ITN campaigns in the future.

 
 
 Published: December 2025 

 
 
 

 1. Summary

 
 
 

 1.1 Background

 Malaria is a disease caused by Plasmodium parasites which are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Symptomatic cases involve flu-like symptoms including fever, which can progress to severe illness or death. Insecticide-treated net (ITN) distribution is one of two main WHO-recommended strategies for malaria v

... (truncated, 97 KB total)