Counting the True Cost: How Understanding the Real Cost of Food Can Improve Nutrition for All
Global Alliance for the Future of Food, December 2021
- Food Systems
Events
Food systems approaches such as True Cost and Value Accounting provide holistic assessments of the consequences and benefits of different food and nutrition interventions and evidence to improve nutrition strategies and policies. This webinar was a Nutrition for Growth Summit Side Event.
Countries' Experiences Scaling Up National Breastfeeding, Protection, Promotion and Support Programmes: Comparative Case Studies Analysis
Hernández-Cordero, Sonia, Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Paul Zambrano, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, April 2022
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Research Articles
Implementation science frameworks help identify key drivers for the scale- up of breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support policies and programs. Advocacy, multi-sectoral political will, financing, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination are key for enabling environments, as is improving maternity protection and tightening regulation and enforcement of the Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.
COVID Vaccines and Breastfeeding: What the Data Say
Nature, June 2021
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
Early research indicates that vaccines do not pass through breast milk—but antibodies do.
COVID-19 & Global Food Security: 2 Years Later
International Food Policy Research Institute, March 2022
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
The report examines the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on poverty, food security, nutrition, and health globally. It presents key lessons on food security and food system resilience and assesses policy responses to the crisis. Authors consider how the pandemic experience can inform recovery and longer-term efforts to build more resilient food systems.
COVID-19 & Nutrition: Crisis and Opportunity
Harvard Center for International Development, February 2021
Reports and Tools
As incomes have declined during the pandemic, families cannot afford nutritious foods while producers and sellers struggle to stay afloat. Health systems are overwhelmed, families are reluctant to seek healthcare, and efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 are decreasing coverage of other life-saving care. USAID Chief Nutritionist Shawn Baker shares data on the impacts of COVID-19 on nutrition as well as insights about how USAID and partners are using data to adapt programming and ensure more effective, coordinated responses to this crisis. This is a podcast.
COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Early Childhood Development Action Network, December 2021
- Early Childhood Development
Reports and Tools
Authors describe the nature and scope of existing early childhood development (ECD) evidence related to nurturing care components for young children, including health, nutrition, child protection, opportunities for learning, and responsive caregiving. The Early Childhood Development Action Network is launching a COVID-19 and ECD Research Hub to consolidate original research on the pandemic’s effect on young children and families.
The COVID-19 Infant Feeding Research Interest Group and Working Group Online
The COVID-19 Infant Feeding Research Interest Group and Working Group, n.d.
Reports and Tools
These multidisciplinary groups of international experts identify and share what research indicates about safe infant feeding practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pinpointing research needs. Hosted by USAID Advancing Nutrition, the online platform provides recordings of monthly meetings, resource materials, and links to register for meetings and news.
COVID-19, Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition – What Does the Science Tell Us? A Repository
Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, June 2020
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
This regularly updated collection of peer-reviewed journal articles on COVID-19 and maternal and child health and nutrition summarizes current evidence. The collection includes syntheses of key points from recently published articles, as well as observations made by the curators.
COVID-19 Nutrition Resources
USAID Advancing Nutrition, August 2020
- Food Systems
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
These resources focus on multi-sectoral nutrition programming in the context of COVID-19. Research and reports provide guidance about nutrition in humanitarian contexts, monitoring, evaluation and learning, safe breastfeeding practices for COVID-19 positive women, social and behavior change for nutrition in context of COVID-19, and food security.
COVID-19, Nutrition, and Gender: An Evidence-Informed Approach to Gender-Responsive Policies and Programs
Kalbarczyk, Anna, Noora-Lisa Aberman, Bregje S.M. van Asperen, et al. Social Science & Medicine, November 2022
- Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Research Articles
Analyzing the impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls points to underlying gender inequities exacerbating health and nutrition outcomes in a crisis. It is essential to identify and advocate for more comprehensive upstream policies and programs to address such inequities.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Mitigation Strategies: Implications for Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition
Akseer, Nadia, Goutham Kandru, Emily C Keats, et al. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2020
- Food Systems
Research Articles
COVID-19 has created profound challenges for maternal and child nutrition. This review urges governments, donors, and others to rely on data for decision-making as they prioritize investments to strengthen food supply chains, respond to acute food shortages, improve access to health care, and provide social safety net programs for the most vulnerable.
Covid-19 Technical Support: Guidance and Tools
UNICEF, Global Technical Assistance Mechanism
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Reports and Tools
UNICEF, the Global Nutrition Cluster, and GTAM have put together technical guidance and tools to help address the effects of COVID-19 on nutrition programming. They are also producing a series of nutrition guidance briefs to help programmers respond to and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. The first three briefs cover Prevention and Management of Wasting, Nutrition for UNICEF, the Global Nutrition Cluster, and GTAM have put together technical guidance and tools to help address the effects of COVID-19 on nutrition programming. They are also producing a series of nutrition guidance briefs to help programmers respond to and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. The first three briefs cover Prevention and Management of Wasting, Nutrition for Infants and Young Children, and Nutrition Information Systems.The briefs outline priority actions, recommend adaptations, and outstanding evidence gaps for each topic area, providing practitioners with the most up-to-date nutrition evidence to complement more general COVID-19 response guidance.
COVID-19 and the Crisis in Food Systems: Symptoms, Causes, and Potential Solutions
International Panel on Sustainable Food Systems, April 2020
- Food Systems
Reports and Tools
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided unexpected insights into the vulnerabilities and strengths of food systems globally. In this communiqué, authors highlight three key vulnerabilities that COVID-19 exposed at the global level and propose four recommendations for a way forward: taking immediate action to protect the most vulnerable, building resilient agro-ecological food systems, rebalancing economic power for the public good, and reforming international food systems governance.
COVID-19 Videos
Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, July 2020
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
These brief videos demonstrate how women with COVID-19 can safely breastfeed. Videos are available in Spanish, English, French, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic.
COVID-19: Shocks on Nutrition and Potential Mitigation – USAID Guiding Principles and Recommendations
USAID, May 2020
- Knowledge Management
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
Summarizing the likely impacts of COVID-19 on nutrition across sectors, this document proposes guiding principles for the response to and recovery from the current crisis. Program designers and implementers can use the document as a framework for advising nutrition. Priority actions cover response and recovery for food and health systems programming, as well as humanitarian assistance and safety nets.
COVID-19’s Triple Threat to Gender Equality, Nutrition and Future Potential
1,000 Days, June 2020
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Reports and Tools
COVID-19 threatens women’s and girls’ health, nutrition, development, and gender equality gains. Financial hardships, overwhelmed health systems, and reduced access to health services compound these threats. Priority actions include providing additional nutritional supplements and counseling, integrating nutrition messages during cash distribution, and holding catch-up child health and immunization campaigns. Countries need data, analytics, and technical assistance to make informed decisions about reducing risk and allocating resources.
Crafting the Next Generation of CGIAR Research: Policy Seminar
CGIAR, October 2019
- Food Systems
Events
This seminar shared important messages from an upcoming CGIAR report and book on gender research in agriculture and natural resource management. The publications will synthesize current research and propose a forward-looking agenda for future research in this area. Covered topics include gender in climate-smart agriculture and nutrition-sensitive agriculture programing, among others. Introductory summaries for many of the topics are also available on CGIAR’s website.
Creating Demand for Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS): A Mini Guide
Sight and Life, April 2020
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
- Nutrition and Health Systems
- Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Reports and Tools
Public health practitioners who wish to improve demand for, uptake of, and adherence to multiple micronutrient supplements can look to this guide for assistance. It contains tips categorized into three phases: getting started, project implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The authors incorporate key elements, questions, and data to help practitioners achieve better results.
Critical Review of Indicators, Metrics, Methods, and Tools for Monitoring and Evaluation of Biofortification Programs at Scale
Rodas-Moya, Santiago, Francesca M. Giudici, Bho Mudyahoto, et al. Frontiers in Nutrition, October 2022
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Research Articles
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.
Dangerous Assumptions #1: More Income = More Food and Nutrition Security?
WOTRO Science for Global Development, September 2020
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
There is a lack of consensus about whether income alone leads to greater food and nutrition security. Some argue that higher incomes lead nations to focus on other priorities at the expense of food production and nutrition, while others believe that higher incomes lead to greater access to inputs and land, which in turn leads to higher-quality food production. Experts agree that when women have access to their own income, food and nutrition security increase for the entire family. This is a 27-minute podcast.
Data Collection and Analysis Tools for Food Security and Nutrition: Towards Enhancing Effective, Inclusive, Evidence-Informed, Decision Making
Food and Agriculture Organization, September 2022
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
Priorities include securing additional financial investment to fill data gaps, addressing low levels of data literacy and analysis skills among data users, and improving global data governance to allow for broad circulation of relevant information while preserving individual rights.
Data for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women: Understanding New Guidelines, Evidence, and Survey Tools Webinar
USAID Advancing Nutrition, June 2022
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Events
Presenters share new global guidance on indicators, their experience with developing and using updated guidelines, pilot results from using these indicators, and country-specific adaptations of questions. This is a webinar.
Data4Diets: Building Blocks for Diet-Related Food Security Analysis
International Dietary Data Expansion (INDDEX) Project, January 2020
- Knowledge Management
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Events
The new Data4Diets platform is a multi-dimensional tool that can help program implementers, policymakers, and researchers measure food safety through the use of various indicators and data sources. This webinar explained the functionality of the Data4Diets platform and it’s organizing framework. Presenters demonstrated how to use the platform’s online tools.
DataDENT Indicator Mapping Technical Brief
DataDENT, August 2019
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
A landscape assessment of nutrition data visualization tools by DataDENT (Data for Decisions to Expand Nutrition Transformation) found that these tools often report on various indicators without uniform definitions. This can lead to differing conclusions and makes it challenging to determine which indicators and tools implementers should use for decision-making and advocacy. In an effort to better understand this challenge, DataDENT summarized the overlaps and differences in indicator definitions across a select set of data visualization tools and nutrition monitoring frameworks. The resulting technical brief links to a blog post and excel spreadsheet of indicators across nutrition data and tools.