Youth

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) considers the specific needs and capacities of youth to foster their holistic development, empower them as agents of change, and contribute to building healthier and more sustainable food systems.

Definition of youth at GAIN

Consumers (Ages 10-19): Interventions targeting this group focus on promoting healthy eating habits, nutrition education, and access to nutritious foods.
Changemakers (Ages 18-24): GAIN supports young changemakers by providing them with opportunities for advocacy and leadership development in the food systems domain.
Youth Working in Food Systems (Ages 18-30): For youth already or wanting to work in food systems, GAIN offers support to enhance their skills, livelihoods, and contributions to sustainable food production and distribution.

GAIN follows a positive youth development approach, which emphasizes providing opportunities for skill-building, fostering positive relationships and contribution to society. GAIN adopts youth-led and participatory approaches ensuring that youth perspectives are considered and that interventions are tailored to meet their specific needs.

What is the link to nutrition, food systems and policy pathways?

Youth are both consumers and contributors to food systems. Younger youth or adolescents are at a critical stage of growth and development and their nutritional needs are unique. Adequate nutrition during adolescence can have long-lasting effects on their health and well-being throughout their lifespans. Youth are engaged across the food system from sustainable agriculture and food production to actively participating in finding solutions to food systems challenges and driving positive change.
Governments and policymakers have a responsibility to create environments that support healthy eating, ensure food security, and promote opportunities for youth engagement and employment in the food system. Engaging youth in the policymaking process, advocating for youth-friendly policies, and promoting youth leadership and participation in decision-making can lead to more inclusive and effective policies that address the needs and priorities of young people.

Our Approach - How Do We Act On This?

Programmatic interventions

GAIN’s youth work is housed in the Children and Young People theme of the Empowering Food Systems Actors Programme which supports projects the directly target and benefit youth in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mozambique, Pakistan and Tanzania. Through the Nourishing Food Pathways portfolio GAIN is seeking to ensuring youth voices are included in food system pathway development and implementation. GAIN supports the ACT4FOOD youth movement. The Transform Nutrition and Okhokelamo Ni Solha projects are engaging adolescent girls in the Jogo das Heroínas (Heroines’ games) to improve nutrition outcomes. The Food Investigator Game was an idea from a group of junior high school students and was brought to life by GAIN to help adolescents better understand food labels.

Cross-cutting approaches

Beyond the Children and Young People theme, GAIN supports staff to integrate youth-focused activities across its programmatic portfolio. This includes:

Technical assistance on youth engagement and co-creation practices by providing guidance, support, and resources to staff and projects seeking to effectively involve young people in decision-making processes, program design, and implementation.
Promoting and enhancing safeguarding measures and best practice to ensure the safety of youth and to prevent harm across GAIN's activities.
Standardised KPIs and Metrics on youth reach and participation to ensure all projects are measuring the impact and effectiveness of their work on youth.