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.
A Review of Measures and Indicators for Assessing the Relationship between Women’s Empowerment and Nutrition
Publication Date:
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningChild NutritionGenderMaternal Nutrition
This paper identifies how relationships between women’s empowerment and nutrition have historically been assessed and what components of women’s empowerment may be most useful in influencing diet and nutrition outcomes among women and children.
Seasonal Variation in the Association between Household Food Insecurity and Child Undernutrition in Bangladesh: Mediating Role of Child Dietary Diversity
Publication Date:
Food SystemsMonitoring, Evaluation, and LearningChild Nutrition
Children in food-insecure households are more likely to have poor nutrition and to be stunted, wasted, and underweight than those in food-secure households. Dietary diversity mediates the relationship between food insecurity and undernutrition but its impact varies seasonally. Seasonality and dietary diversity should be considered when designing population-level food-based interventions.
Drops of Capillary Blood Are Not Appropriate for Hemoglobin Measurement with Point-of-Care Devices: A Comparative Study Using Drop Capillary, Pooled Capillary, and Venous Blood Samples
Publication Date:
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningAnemia
Using drops of capillary blood produces too much random variation to approximate true hemoglobin values. Practitioners should not use this method to diagnose anemia in individuals and populations.
Critical Review of Indicators, Metrics, Methods, and Tools for Monitoring and Evaluation of Biofortification Programs at Scale
Publication Date:
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningMicronutrient Interventions
The authors recommend using 17 high-level indicators to track critical results along the crop biofortification implementation pathway. They also call for more research to test, revise, and develop mechanisms to harmonize the monitoring and evaluation framework across programs, institutions, and countries.
USAID Advancing Nutrition Presents at the 2022 International Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Summit
Publication Date:
Knowledge ManagementChild NutritionGrowth Monitoring and PromotionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionPrivate-Sector Engagement
Summit topics include generating demand for healthy diets, supporting local leadership skills development for social and behavior change (SBC), and prioritizing behaviors for effective multi-sectoral nutrition SBC. Accompanying resources include posters and slide decks.
Nutrition in the Health Sector: Urgent Need to Accelerate Action and Accountability
Publication Date:
Knowledge ManagementCOVID-19Food Systems
New programmatic and financial commitments focus on the importance of strengthening national- and local-level nutrition financing, coordination, human resources, policies, and surveillance systems.
USAID Advancing Nutrition @ 22nd International Congress of Nutrition
Publication Date:
Knowledge ManagementChild NutritionCOVID-19Growth Monitoring and PromotionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionMicronutrient InterventionsNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
Presentations focus on tools to improve the quantity of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counseling, small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement programs, food taboos and preferences among women, the knowledge and skills needed to counsel on IYCF during and after illness, nutritional care for children with feeding difficulties and disabilities, and using child growth monitoring and prom
The 2022 report introduces the nutrition accountability framework; discusses commitments made for the 2021 Nutrition Year of Action; and outlines priorities for governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, donors, and international organizations.
Getting to 2030: Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Technical Roadmap
Publication Date:
Knowledge ManagementChild NutritionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
This roadmap supports a coordinated, strategic approach to strengthening essential services and health systems for women and children and informs the development, measurement, and adjustment of country level strategic plans.
What’s Next After the “Implementation” COP? Catalyzing Action at the Intersection of Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Systems
Publication Date:
Food SystemsFood SystemsGenderPrivate-Sector EngagementResilienceWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Speakers discuss the food security, nutrition, and water issues highlighted at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference; share examples of how USAID and partners are driving inclusive climate action in agriculture and food systems; and discuss how to support countries that are implementing climate commitments. This webinar includes a slide deck.
Posts in this series focus on how food loss and waste links to climate, food safety, nutrition, and food security. Contributors discuss the power of technology to improve cold chain and post-harvest handling, advocate for private sector and youth engagement, and provide actionable recommendations for the development community.
Tomorrow's Agri-Food System: The Connections Between Trade, Food Security, and Nutrition for a Sustainable Diet
Publication Date:
Food SystemsFood SystemsResilience
The article identifies interactions, highlights synergies, and seeks to limit tradeoffs between trade, climate change, and nutrition to improve understanding of how food systems can be transformed to ensure healthy, affordable, and sustainable diets for all. This chapter is behind a paywall.
The 2022 report explores drivers of agricultural automation and analyzes the business case for adopting digital automation technologies in different agricultural production systems.
Public Consultation on the Draft Guideline: Fiscal Policies to Promote Healthy Diets
Publication Date:
Food SystemsFood Systems
The World Health Organization is calling for comments on its draft guideline on fiscal policies to promote healthy diets, which will provide countries with evidence-informed recommendations on the taxation of foods and sugar-sweetened beverages and on a subset of food subsidies.
La Revolution des Algues: A Seaweed Revolution for a New Future in Sustainable Food Systems
Publication Date:
Food SystemsFood SystemsGenderInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionNutrition Sensitive AgricultureResilience
A new book suggests seaweed could play a significant role in increasing food and nutrition security; mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss; and increasing sustainable job creation, economic growth, and gender equality.
Innovating for Safer Foods—EatSafe in Nigeria's Approach to Designing Consumer Interventions in Traditional Markets
Publication Date:
Food SystemsFood SafetyFood Systems
This paper describes how the Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Food (EatSafe) program in Nigeria identified and designed innovative interventions to increase consumer demand for safe foods in traditional market settings.
An integrated methodology that includes climate, crop, economic, and life cycle assessment models could more accurately project future yields; determine where fruit and vegetable crops may become more profitable or environmentally advantageous to produce; and assess climate change impacts on crops, including the impact on yield, irrigation demand, and the environmental footprint.
Food Inflation and Child Undernutrition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Publication Date:
Food SystemsAdolescent NutritionChild NutritionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
Food inflation increases the risk of wasting and severe wasting in infants and older children, especially male children and those from poor and rural households. Food inflation during pregnancy and in the first year after birth increases the risk of stunting in children aged two to five years. Interventions to prevent food inflation and mitigate its impacts are critical.
Can a Gender-Sensitive Integrated Poultry Value Chain and Nutrition Intervention Among the Rural Poor Increase Women’s Empowerment in Burkina Faso?
Publication Date:
Food SystemsFood SystemsGender
This study finds that a gender- and nutrition-sensitive poultry production intervention in Burkina Faso did not impact women’s empowerment or gender parity. This may be due to the lack of a productive asset transfer, which has previously been shown to be essential but not sufficient for women’s empowerment in agricultural development programs.
Using Household Consumption Data to Flag Low Nutrient Access
Publication Date:
Food SystemsAnemia
Practitioners can use consumption frequency based on household data collected in emergency assessments and through monitoring systems as a proxy for approximating access to vitamin A and iron in humanitarian contexts. This article is behind a paywall.