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. SPRING conducted a series of interviews with its home office staff and field office staff, as well as country counterparts and program beneficiaries in Ghana and the Kyrgyz Republic, using a semi-structured interview guide. Findings indicated that the framework maps well to the programs in these two countries, and that it could shed light on the overlap between systems thinking, multi-sectoral approaches, theories of behavior change, and principles of good program design. SPRING concluded that it would be useful in the future for assessing, designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating inter- and multi-sectoral nutrition programs.



The included framework was developed to apply systems thinking to improve nutrition. The framework includes seven cross-cutting factors: (1) policies and governance, (2) infrastructure and markets, (3) inputs and services, (4) information and communication, (5) financing, (6) household resources, and (7) sociocultural environment. Each factor can influence, interact with, and impact the others; and each can hinder—or foster—improvements in nutritional outcomes.