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Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Mali and Niger have agreed to divert a portion of state revenues from oil, gold, phosphate and uranium to a UN fund to fight childhood malnutrition.
From 2017, $0.01 (£0.07) from every barrel of oil and $0.60 from every gram of gold will go to pay for supplements.
The scheme is expected to raise about $100m a year.
Chronic malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa affects more than one in three children under five, the UN says.
The scheme called Unitlife, which will be managed by the UN children’s agency (Unicef), was announced at the UN’s annual gathering of world leaders in New York.
Ending hunger was one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals launched by at the UN on Friday.
The UN says it would take around $50bn over the next 10 years to reduce by 40% the number of children under the age of five whose growth is stunted from malnutrition.
Resource rich contributors:
- Congo-Brazzaville – most of its GDP is from oil; UNDP Human Development Index ranking: 140 out of 187 nations
- Guinea – rich in iron ore, bauxite, diamonds and gold; UNDP Human Development Index ranking: 179
- Mali – one of Africa’s top gold producers; UNDP Human Development Index ranking: 176
- Niger – one of the world’s leading uranium producers; UNDP Human Development Index ranking: 187
The UN’s Philippe Douste-Blazy, who is leading the Unitlife project, said he hoped to gradually add more countries, like top oil producers Nigeria and Angola.
A similar scheme already takes 1 euro ($1.12; £0.74) per air ticket from countries signed up to the it to fund projects fighting HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.
Mr Douste-Blazy wrote in the Huffington Post in February that he thinks the next micro-tax should go on financial transactions.
