Public Consultation on the Draft Guideline: Fiscal Policies to Promote Healthy Diets
World Health Organization, December 2022
- Food Systems
Reports and Tools
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.
Putting a Gender Lens on Global Food Insecurity
Women Deliver, August 2019
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Reports and Tools
Women experience higher rates of food insecurity than men do. To illustrate the linkages between gender and food insecurity, Women Deliver developed a two-page infographic that uses the “nutrition fact” format seen on commercial food labels. The graphic provides a summary of global statistics on the causes of food insecurity and suggests ways that stakeholders can invest in women and girls’ nutrition and food security.
Putting a Price on Nurturing Care
The Lancet Global Health, August 2023
- Early Childhood Development
Reports and Tools
Recent research points to the cost-effectiveness of a multicomponent approach that strengthens nurturing care to support early childhood development (ECD) from pregnancy through infancy. Future research should identify the ideal intervention dose and explore ECD and economic outcomes in different socioeconomic groups and among families with varying risk factors.
Q&A: The Manufacture of Breastmilk Substitute Products is Pumping Tons of CO2 into the Atmosphere
Alive & Thrive, November 2021
- Food Systems
Reports and Tools
The speaker discusses the environmental impacts of breastmilk substitutes and the need for governments to regulate misleading marketing messages, provide sufficient paid leave, and ensure better maternity care to support breastfeeding.
Qualitative Evidence for Improved Caring, Feeding and Food Production Practices after Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Interventions in Rural Vietnam
Nguyen, Dai Dinh, Sabina Di Prima, Reint Huijzendveld, et al. Agriculture & Food Security, April 2022
- Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Research Articles
Nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs enhance self-reliance in communities and integrating behavior change activities increases the effect of agricultural interventions on nutrition outcomes. Though outcomes and influencing factors are context-dependent, lessons could inform the design and implementation of effective behavior change strategies.
The Quality of Maternal Nutrition and Infant Feeding Counselling during Antenatal Care in South Asia
Torlesse, Harriet, Rukundo K. Benedict, Hope C. Craig, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, February 2021
- Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Research Articles
There are evidence gaps about the quality of maternal nutrition and infant feeding counseling during antenatal care and the effectiveness of approaches to improve quality. Research suggests that unequal access to services, limited capacity-strengthening opportunities for frontline workers, and the short duration and frequency of counseling contracts constrain quality. The format, duration, frequency, and content of health worker training, with supportive supervision, are probable approaches to improve quality.
The Quality-of-Care Agenda in Fragile, Conflict-Affected and Vulnerable Settings
WHO, March 2021
Reports and Tools
The World Health Organization worked with partners to develop a technical package that outlines eight interdependent elements for action planning. These include service priorities and quality goals, shared local understanding of quality, stakeholder mapping and engagement, situational analysis, governance for quality, interventions for quality improvement, health information systems and quality assessment, and quality measurement. Local expertise and experience are critical to adapt the approach to local settings.
Questionnaire Modules: Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES from FAO)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The DHS Program, October 2020
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
The FIES questionnaire comprises eight questions that measure moderate and severe household food insecurity. The module asks respondents to self-report their access to food of sufficient quantity and quality for the last 12 months. Questions focus on a lack of money and resources to obtain food. Please select the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES from FAO) module, from the Download publications dropdown menu.
R4D Launches Two E-Learning Resources to Support Locally-Led Development
Results for Development, July 2023
- Capacity Strengthening
Reports and Tools
This toolkit and interactive e-learning course provides instruction about collaborative learning methods and developing skills to effectively facilitate the process and introduce essential elements for successful Collaborative Learning Networks.
Rapid Assessments of the Hunger–Climate–Conflict Nexus in Mali, Somalia, and South Sudan
Overseas Development Institute, August 2023
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Reports and Tools
This report reviews a project aimed at improving the nutritional status of crisis-affected populations in seven countries. The goal is to identify better ways for aid agencies to address the compounding impacts of long-term fragile governance and conflict and recurring shocks on resilience and food security. The report identifies entry points where interventions and programs may be better targeted or modified to meet humanitarian needs and support resilience.
Rapid Evidence Assessment on Women’s Empowerment Interventions within the Food System: A Meta-Analysis
Berretta, Miriam, Meital Kupfer, Shannon Shisler, et al. Agriculture & Food Security, May 2023
- Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Research Articles
Empowerment interventions improved food security, affordability, and availability while impacts on anthropometrics and diet quality and adequacy were smaller. Multi-component interventions combining a livelihoods component with behavioral change communication appear to be more sustainable than single-focus interventions. Future research should consider contextual norms and avoid stereotyping women into certain roles.
A Rapid Landscape Review of Postpartum Anaemia Measurement: Challenges and Opportunities
Yourkavitch, Jennifer, Hiromi Obara, Gulnoza Usmanova, et al. BMC Public Health, July 2023
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Research Articles
This researcher demonstrates how critical it is to develop common anemia measures for women in the postpartum period and promote rapid uptake and reporting.
The Rapid Rise in Domestic Value Chains of Nutrient-Dense Foods (Fruits, Vegetables, and Animal Products) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policy Implications
International Food Policy Research Institute, August 2023
- Food Systems
Reports and Tools
Consumption of nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables and animal products is substantial and growing; while product supply is also growing quickly, it is not much faster than population growth. In some countries, supply growth is driven without nongovernmental organization or company management or government subsidies. Governments should invest in the conditions that are driving this growth, including roads, wholesale markets, electrification, and other infrastructure.
Rapid Scale Up Crucial to Meet Humanitarian Needs in Ethiopia’s Tigray: Joint UN-Government Mission
UN News, February 2021
Reports and Tools
The World Food Program is working with the Ethiopian government to improve transportation capacity, deliver humanitarian assistance and emergency food relief, and launch a supplementary feeding program to support nutritionally vulnerable children as well as pregnant and lactating women. The United Nations Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide calls on authorities to establish mechanisms to address the root causes of ethnic violence, build national cohesion, and promote reconciliation.
Re-Imagining Technical Assistance for Maternal, Newborn, & Child Health and Health Systems Strengthening
Child Health Task Force, June 2022
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Reports and Tools
Stakeholders defined current concerns with technical assistance, identified their root causes, and developed innovative and context-specific solutions. Developing a more collaborative and less dependent relationship between governments and donors and shifting from siloed projects to more holistic and patient-centered work are important. Principles to guide future work include focusing on the system as a whole, nurturing existing systems, fostering strong governance, and cultivating trust.
Re-imagining Technical Assistance Hub
Child Health Task Force, October 2022
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
Ministries of health used human-centered design to identify how to improve technical assistance delivery for maternal, newborn, and child health and health systems strengthening, all of which contribute to improved nutrition. The Inter-Agency Working Group for Capacity Strengthening then worked to identify and address implementation challenges to shift how assistance is delivered in the future.
Reducing Child Undernutrition: Lessons from International Development
World Bank Group, December 2021
- Knowledge Management
Events
Speakers discuss multi-sectoral interventions, the role of institutional strengthening to address undernutrition at national and subnational levels, how nutrition interventions can better support social norms and behavior change, and how development agencies and partner governments can use these lessons to improve nutrition programming. This is a webinar. It is available in English and French.
Reducing Inequities in Maternal and Child Health in Rural Guatemala Through the CBIO+ Approach of Curamericas: Paper 4. Nutrition-Related Activities and Changes in Childhood Stunting, Wasting, and Underweight
Perry, Henry B., Ira Stollak, Ramiro Llanque, et al. International Journal for Equity in Health, February 2023
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Research Articles
In Guatemala, the inclusion of care groups and community birthing centers in the Census-Based, Impact-Oriented Approach intervention produced a decline in the prevalence of stunting and measures of undernutrition in children under age two compared with the control group. Authors call for the broader application and further evaluation of this approach.
Reimagining Technical Assistance: Critical Shifts to Enable Strengthened Capacity & Better Health Outcomes
Child Health Task Force, June 2022
- Capacity Strengthening
Reports and Tools
The brief outlines shifts required to adopt a new approach to technical assistance that strengthens country institutional capacity to lead health agendas and deliver better outcomes.
The Relationship Between the Gendered Norm of Eating Last and Mental Health of Newly Married Women in Nepal: A Longitudinal Study
Gopalakrishnan, Lakshmi, Nadia Diamond-Smith, Bibhav Acharya, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, March 2023
- Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Research Articles
Using women’s eating last as an indicator of women’s status in Nepal, researchers found that women who always ate last had an expected depressive symptom severity greater than women who did not eat last, regardless of household food security status.
The Relationship between Wasting and Stunting in Young Children: A Systematic Review
Thurstans, Susan, Natalie Sessions, Carmel Dolan, et al. Maternal and Child Nutrition, September 2021
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Research Articles
Concurrently wasted and stunted children had a higher risk of death and should be considered a high-risk group when targeting treatment. Using weight-for-age Z score and mid-upper arm circumference may be the most effective way to identify children at highest risk of mortality.
The Relative Caloric Prices of Healthy and Unhealthy Foods Differ Systematically across Income Levels and Continents
Headey, Derek D., Harold H Alderman. The Journal of Nutrition. July 2019. nxz158.
- Food Systems
Research Articles
Little is known about the affordability of healthy foods and unhealthy foods in low- and middle-income countries, and how relative price may influence nutrition outcomes. This paper aims to quantify the link between price and dietary indicators and nutrition outcomes. Pulling from existing databases, it determines the relative caloric prices for foods across different categories, such as animal source foods and starchy staples, in 176 countries. The paper then compares food prices across countries to determine if there are associations between affordability and under- and overnutrition.
Remote Coaching Orientation Module 3
The Coaching Approach, July 2021
Reports and Tools
This e-learning module discusses how to adapt to remote coaching situations, and the technology, skills, and platforms needed to effectively deliver remote coaching.
Remote Developmental Evaluation: A Guide for Funders and Practitioners
Blue Marble Evaluation, February 2021
Events
Developmental Evaluation (DE) seeks to improve programs by strengthening innovation and adaptation. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a shift from embedding evaluators to engaging remotely. This guide captures broadly applicable learnings and methods for successfully implementing remote DEs. This is a webinar.