USAID Advancing Nutrition develops, curates, packages, and shares multi-sectoral nutrition knowledge to help you stay on top of developments and evidence in global nutrition programming.
USAID Acute Malnutrition Programming in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Observations, Recommendations, and Learning
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Nutrition in Humanitarian ContextsWastingEmergency NutritionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
USAID Advancing Nutrition facilitated a learning activity in spring and summer 2019 to strengthen collaboration among U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) implementing partners working to reduce acute malnutrition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Landscape Assessment: Food Processing in Feed the Future Investments
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Food SystemsMicronutrient Interventions
This executive summary presents highlights of an assessment conducted by USAID Advancing Nutrition to help USAID better understand food processing in Feed the Future programming and provide recommendations for improving food processing programming for better nutrition.
This 14-page report describes a USAID e-consultation held in November 2019, with support from USAID Advancing Nutrition and Agrilinks. USAID invited academics, donors, implementers, private-sector actors, and other stakeholders to respond to an evidence review published by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition at Tufts University.
Maternal Nutrition for Girls and Women: Technical Guidance Brief
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Nutrition and Health SystemsSocial and Behavior Change and GenderAdolescent NutritionMaternal Nutrition
This brief presents information on why the nutrition of adolescent girls and mothers is important, the causes of malnutrition, and the scope of the problem. It also provides an overview of key, nutrition-specific interventions that address the immediate causes of malnutrition in adolescent girls and mothers.
Nutrition of Adolescent Girls and Women of Reproductive Age in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Current Context and Scientific Basis for Moving Forward
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Nutrition and Health SystemsSocial and Behavior Change and GenderAdolescent NutritionMaternal Nutrition
The Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) Project and the Pan American Health Organization identified the need for a core set of key practices that characterize the diet and feeding practices associated with good nutrition among adolescent girls, women, and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Multiple-Use Water Services: Toward a Nutrition-Sensitive Approach
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Food SystemsNutrition Sensitive AgricultureWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
With emerging evidence suggesting that stunting cannot be addressed without also focusing on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), the Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) project wanted to better understand current WASH and water strategies that sought to bridge agriculture and health to reduce undernutrition at the community, farm, and household
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningSocial and Behavior Change and GenderAdolescent NutritionMicronutrient Interventions
Iron is critical for adolescent females (ages 12–19 years) for their red blood cells and to reduce illness. The purpose of this activity sheet is to encourage participants to consume iron on a daily basis.
National Nutrition Program: Village Volunteer Nutrition Job Aid How to Help Mothers and Young Children Stay Healthy
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Nutrition and Health SystemsBreastfeedingInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
This job aid, developed for village volunteers, includes information on a variety of nutrition practices for mothers and young children. It provides messaging about the importance of antenatal care, proper nutrition during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, postpartum care and newborn contact, and young child health and nutrition.
Malawi Guidelines for Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition
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Nutrition and Health SystemsInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Nutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
These guidelines are intended to standardize and improve the quality of community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) service delivery in Malawi. The guidelines serve as a practical guide for field implementers and policymakers, since they provide clear protocols, steps, and procedures for CMAM implementation.
Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices Monitoring Tool and Guide
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Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningNutrition and Health SystemsInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
This tool is designed to help programs monitor progress in achieving key behaviors related to infant and young child feeding. The tool is designed for community workers to track individual behaviors during each counseling session or contact point with a caregiver, thereby providing a record of progress toward reaching an optimal mix of practices for the child.
Healthy Nutrition for Mothers to Promote the Growth and Development of Your Baby
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Nutrition and Health SystemsInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
The booklet helps mothers understand how crucial the first 1,000 days is for a child’s growth and development. It provides recommendations for pregnant and lactating mothers to ensure proper nutrition for themselves and their baby during the first 1,000 days to provide the foundation for a child’s physical and cognitive growth.
Tool for Rapid Evaluation of Facility-Level Nutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support: A User's Guide
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Nutrition and Health SystemsHIVNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
This tool helps gather information on the capacity of health facilities to implement nutrition assessment, counseling, and support services for pregnant women, children, and people living with HIV.
Nutrition and Health SystemsHIVNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
The Livelihoods and Technical Assistance (LIFT) project developed this document as an interactive guide for project staff, implementing partners, and practitioners involved in linking clinical facilities, particularly those offering nutrition assessment counseling and support with economic strengthening, livelihood, and food security programs.
Understanding and Applying Primary Pathways and Principles
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Food SystemsNutrition Sensitive Agriculture
The pathways and principles explored in this brief provide a summary of the current state of knowledge of ways to use agriculture to improve nutrition.
Assessing the Application of Systems Thinking for Nutrition
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Food SystemsMonitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
The Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) Project conducted a review to determine how its systems framework maps to “real world” nutrition programs.
Integrating Food and Nutrition Security and Early Childhood Development in Community Development Programming: Monitoring and Supervision Tool
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Food SystemsNutrition and Health SystemsFood Security
This monitoring and supervision tool was largely developed to monitor the integration of food and nutrition security and early childhood development issues (with an emphasis on communicating and playing with children) into community development programming in Uganda.
Food SystemsNutrition and Health SystemsFood SecurityInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
This Microsoft Excel-based application estimates the costs of establishing, maintaining, and/or expanding services for community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) at the national, subnational, and district levels.
Comparative Analysis of Shock Response Programs and Their Impacts on Resilience in Zimbabwe
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Food SystemsEmergency NutritionResilience
In this study, researchers analyzed approaches used by World Vision Zimbabwe and partners (WVZP) to strengthen resilience against drought, climate change, and other climatic shocks that exert pressure on Zimbabwe’s economy, which relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture. Qualitative methods involved focus group discussions with communities and government and development partner officials.
This brief focuses on the pathway from agricultural income to better diets, health, and nutrition. However, all of the pathways are interrelated. Agricultural activities typically affect more than one pathway and interact with the enabling environment that includes policies, the natural resource base, and cultural practices, among other factors.
Manual for Country-Level Nutrition Advocacy Using PROFILES and Nutrition Costing
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Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
This resource provides comprehensive, step-by-step instructions for facilitating a country-level nutrition advocacy planning process using the PROFILES nutrition advocacy tool and nutrition costing.