Improving Diets through Food Systems

This document walks through each component of the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security's (RFS) conceptual framework so that users can better understand the components of a food system and how to apply the framework to program design.

This interactive presentation (Prezi) will stimulate thinking and conversations around the RFS Conceptual Framework, encourage independent and group exploration, and support “systems thinking.”

This operational overview describes the steps to identify and use existing data to conduct an assessment that informs the design or redesign of large-scale food fortification (LSFF) programs as well as broader programming to improve diets and is first part of the LSFF programs tools package. 

This resource also supports Food Environment.

This is the second part of the LSFF programs tools package and it provides detailed instructions on how to conduct the analyses for the needs assessment and design.

This resource also supports Food Environment.

This case study is part of a package of three tools for need assessment and design of large-scale food fortification (LSFF) programs for improved diets. First read the Operational Guide, which provides the basic steps and a data decision tree to conduct a needs assessment and analyze existing data to inform LSFF design or redesign. For detailed instructions on how to conduct the analyses for the needs assessment and design, see the Methods Guide: Needs Assessment and Design Methodology to Guide Large-Scale Food Fortification and Broader Programming to Improve Diets. For examples of challenges and lessons learned in applying the methodology read this case study document. 

This resource also supports Food Environment.

This guide provides all the materials needed (facilitator’s guide, two slide decks, all workshop handouts) to facilitate nutrition-sensitive agriculture design workshops. The design guide provides instructions for facilitators to conduct a three-day workshop that helps activity teams establish contextually appropriate, nutrition-sensitive agriculture outcomes, interventions, and indicators.

This resource also supports Food Environment and Food and Water Utilization.

This technical brief helps USAID and its implementing partners design and implement food processing activities for improved diets and nutrition. The brief describes how food processing can improve diets, how it fits within USAID’s multi-sectoral food security and nutrition strategies, and what to consider when implementing food processing activities to improve diets and nutrition. 

This resource also supports Food Environment.

This landscape assessment helps USAID to better understand how food processing has been included in Feed the Future programming. It provides recommendations for improving food processing programming to increase year-round access to and consumption of foods that form part of a safe, nutritious diet. 

This resource also relates to Investment Levers.

This report presents findings from a landscape assessment, a ranking exercise, and a survey that led to a priority list of methods, tools, and metrics for evaluating informal and formal market food environments in low- and middle-income countries.

This package helps global development partners working in low- and middle-income countries collect data that assesses the food environment.  It includes documentation of a multi-year pilot study in Liberia, Honduras, Nigeria, and Timor-Leste that evaluated seven food environment assessments for their feasibility and acceptability, along with data collection tools that can be adapted to your context.

This guide supports nutrition program planners by defining, describing, and explaining the process of developing high-quality programs to market healthy diets. The guide enables teams to make informed marketing decisions, create strong marketing campaigns, and diagnose and solve marketing challenges.

This open access article shares the findings from a study that evaluated the suitability of data-collection assessments (including methods, tools, and metrics) for multiple dimensions of the external and personal domains of market food environments in informal and formal markets in low- and middle-income countries.

Women and children in complex emergencies are at high risk for malnutrition, poor health outcomes, and food insecurity. USAID Advancing Nutrition set out to better understand how nutrition-sensitive agriculture contributes to improved outcomes through research with two USAID activities, a qualitative and quantitative study in the Far North Region of Cameroon and a secondary data analysis in South Sudan.
 

This guide is for the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance-funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) Implementing Partners (IPs) and is intended for use by a multi-disciplinary RFSA team. It aims to support RFSA IPs’ transition from providing resource transfers to using locally available, accessible, and affordable alternatives to sustain nutrition outcomes for women and children under age two. It provides resources, workbooks, templates, and tools with instructions on how to optimize the use of local foods to improve women and children’s nutrition and dietary diversity in a given program area.

This concept note describes evidence and opportunities for programmatic approaches to engage young people (between 10 to 29 years of age) in food systems activities for improved diet and nutrition outcomes.

This technical brief suggests how to take evidence-based actions that consider gender when designing and implementing approaches to improve diets through the food system. It offers ideas across the food system for promoting gender equality while improving diets.

The brief provides guidance on how to take evidence-based actions that consider the Agriculture-to-Nutrition Pathways when designing and implementing approaches to improve diets through food systems programming.

This tool provides a list of evidence-based nutrition-sensitive behaviors to spark ideas and discussion among activity designers and implementers. This list can help to identify nutrition-sensitive behaviors across the food system and food system actors to support an activity’s nutrition outcomes.

This resource also supports Food Supply, Food Environment, Food and Water Utilization, Investment Levers, and Development Outcomes.

This decision tool helps practitioners and decision makers understand dietary patterns and nutrient intake. It supports design, monitoring, and evaluation efforts to improve diets. It provides existing data sources and data collection tools related to five target groups.

This resource also supports Food and Water Utilization.

Researchers analyzed data from seven surveys with 24-h open dietary recalls to assess how well national sentinel lists of the most frequently consumed foods in each food group capture data at subnational levels to measure minimum diet diversity. The study found that national sentinel food lists can provide reliable data at subnational levels for most food groups, with some variability by country and sub-region.