USAID Advancing Nutrition will join the 8th Annual Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy Week from June 19-30, 2023. To encourage knowledge exchange, innovation, and learning around interdisciplinary research, the event will be split into two components—online learning labs followed by a full hybrid conference in Lilongwe, Malawi. Both components will cover topics related to agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and more. More information about the event can be found on the ANH Academy website.
Project staff will be facilitating learning labs and a poster presentation. Topics will include improving social and behavior change programming through evaluations, tracking consumer behaviors, food environment assessments, and measuring caregiver resources in nutrition programming.
LEARNING LABS
Where are Caregivers’ Needs in the Agriculture to Nutrition Pathway? Measuring the Resources They Need to Provide Optimal Care and Feeding
Virtual | Monday, June 19 | 16:30-18:30 CAT(GMT+2)
Facilitators will present a theory of change based on a food security and nutrition program in Uganda and guide hands-on practice in breakout rooms to identify key resource placements. Participants will engage in discussions and practice using the Caregiver Resources Measurement Toolkit to identify measures for selected resources. The session will conclude with a discussion on measuring caregiver resources in nutrition-sensitive programs, Q&A, and a summary of key takeaways.
Facilitators:
- Stephanie Martin, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina
- Kate Dickin, Associate Professor, Cornell University/USAID Advancing Nutrition
- Kenneth Mulondo, Technical Advisor, African SBC Association
- Neha Jhaveri, Technical Specialist, USAID Advancing Nutrition
Demystifying Social and Behavior Change: The Key to Improving the Quality of SBC Programming through Evaluations
Virtual | Tuesday, June 20 | 16:30 - 18:30 CAT (GMT +2)
Social and behavior change (SBC) is crucial in addressing global issues like malnutrition, and USAID Advancing Nutrition has developed guidance to strengthen the evaluation of SBC approaches. In this session, participants will act as evaluators, solving virtual puzzles to understand why nutrition behaviors are stagnant and learn how to conduct effective evaluations.
Facilitators:
- Riley Auer, Project Officer, USAID Advancing Nutrition
- Veronica Varela, Technical Advisor, USAID Advancing Nutrition
- Shaneka Thurman, Technical Advisor, USAID Advancing Nutrition
The "Cheat Sheet" for Tracking Consumer Behaviors in Nutrition and Agriculture
In-person | Monday, June 26 | 10:45 - 14:35 CAT (GMT +2)
Consumer demand plays a crucial role in the impact of agriculture and food systems on nutrition. To address the lack of appropriate data for program design and decision-making, USAID Advancing Nutrition developed activity-level metrics to track and measure consumer demand. In this session, participants will collectively define consumer demand and engage in an interactive game to determine which elements of consumer demand to measure and how to use or adapt a bank of consumer demand measures. USAID staff will then lead a discussion and reflection on next steps.
Facilitators:
- Meghan Anson, Senior Nutrition Advisor, USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security
- Shaneka Thurman, Technical Advisor, USAID Advancing Nutrition
- Vivian Zhang, Project Coordinator, USAID Advancing Nutrition
Food Environment Methods, Tools, and Metrics to Support Healthy Diets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
In-person | Monday, June 26 | 10:45 - 14:35 CAT (GMT +2)
USAID Advancing Nutrition conducted a pilot of seven food environment assessments for low and middle-income countries, capturing data on dimensions like accessibility, availability, price, and regulations. This session would focus on the assessment package and how the tools work together. Participants will work in groups, assuming roles as data collectors, and discuss the potential utility and findings of the assessments.
Facilitators:
- Shauna Downs Assistant Professor, Rutgers University School of Public Health
- Sarah McClung, Technical Advisor, USAID Advancing Nutrition
- Christopher Rue, Nutrition Data Advisor, USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security
- Noni Alexander, Project Officer, USAID Advancing Nutrition
POSTER PRESENTATION
Food Environment Methods, Tools, and Metrics to Support Healthy Diets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
In-person | Thursday, June 29 | 11:35 - 12:25 CAT (GMT +2)
This session will consist of two 30-minute halves. First, presenters will have one minute each to present their studies on wide-ranging topics. Attendees will then have time to visit and discuss presenters' posters either online or in-person at Bingu International Convention Centre.