The Lancet Global Health article is the first evidence-based global estimation of micronutrient (vitamin and minerals) deficiencies that systematically analyzed data on population-representative surveys from preschool-aged children and women of reproductive age.
1 in 2 people reading this article are likely experiencing hidden hunger, in other words a lack of essential vitamins and minerals. That matters because these "micronutrients" are the micro drivers of functions such as our immune systems which keep us safe and healthy.
Food choice is complex. It involves psychological factors (like mood and preferences), sociocultural ones (like traditions and taboos), sensory appeal (like taste), health perceptions, ethical concerns (like animal welfare), social interactions (like peer influences), and socio-demographic aspects (like education).
In a recent report, Overcoming Multistakeholder Partnership Financing Hurdles to Accelerate the SDGs, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and partners discuss the funding challenges and lessons learned of commercially driven multi-stakeholder partnerships and share some recommendations on how to effectively drive positive impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
GAIN, Unilever, and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) saw an opportunity to improve the nutrition and health of farmers, workers, and their families in supply chains, whilst working to increase supplier and worker satisfaction, productivity and brand loyalty.
Motivated by the need for such information for its own programmes, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) developed the Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT) in 2013 for carrying out coverage assessments of fortification programmes.
The UNSG’s Special Envoy for the Summit, Dr. Agnes Kalibata invited GAIN’s Executive Director Dr. Lawrence Haddad to lead Action Track 1 (AT1) on Ensuring Access to Safe and Nutritious Food for All.
Supported initially by the Dutch Government and the Rockefeller Foundation and launched in the journal Nature Food in June 2020, GAIN, along with Johns Hopkins University, FAO, CIAT, the University of Michigan and Ag2Nut decided to create a platform that pulled together all the high-quality data available, organise it by food system component and make it easy to analyse, compare and visualise.
So how are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – which make up the bulk of the food system in low- and middle-income countries – coping with these challenges? A recent online survey by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network aimed to answer this question.
In anticipation of the 2022 AGRF, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have leveraged their existing partnership to produce this report to provide African leaders with cutting-edge data tools that can be employed to describe their nation’s food systems, diagnose the most urgent areas for action, and decide which evidence-based solutions best suit their needs.
