The project has developed a reliable and feasible method for data collection, along with a suite of diet quality indicators that encompass both nutrient adequacy and the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). As of 2024, it has adapted and translated its 5-minute questionnaire, the Diet Quality Questionnaire (DQQ), for use in over 120 countries and has collected nationally representative data in 85 countries across all continents, representing 85% of the global population. The Global Diet Quality Project is a partnership between Gallup, Harvard University, and GAIN.

Motivation and Aims

This project aims to collect dietary quality data in the general adult population across countries worldwide, and to provide the tools for valid and feasible diet quality monitoring within countries. The project enables the collection of consistent, comparable dietary data across countries for the first time.

All data are collected in the Gallup World Poll. The DQQ was administered in national probability-based samples of civilian, non-institutionalized individuals of any gender, aged 15 and older. Data collection occurred either using face-to-face or telephone surveys. Country-specific details of data collection can be found here. The Gallup World Poll is the only survey in the world that covers more than 98% of the world's adult population through annual, nationally representative surveys with comparable metrics across countries.

Visit Global Diet Quality Project website

I-CAN Playbook: Integrating Nutrition into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

I-CAN presents a new playbook offering step-by-step guidance to embedding nutrition-sensitive ambition and action into nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Drawing on I-CAN experience support climate-nutrition integration in different countries, it highlights practical entry points, resources, and provides policy examples to create nutrition–climate win-wins across food systems, health, agriculture, and social protection. By aligning nutrition with climate goals, countries can strengthen food and health systems, advance progress on the SDGs, and pursue the Paris Agreement 1.5 °C target.

I-CAN Report on Biodiversity and Nutrition Synergies

The Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN) presents a new report that analyses the intersection of biodiversity and nutrition, "Biodiversity and Nutrition Synergies: Evaluating National Biodiversity Strategies and Actions Plans for Integration." The report offers a comprehensive analysis of 192 National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), revealing the current state of nutrition integration in biodiversity policies worldwide.

The study highlights a significant gap: 62% of NBSAPs show no intentional connections between biodiversity and nutrition. It uncovers regional variations, with Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South and East Asia and the Pacific demonstrating higher integration levels, though overall progress remains limited. It looks at how biodiversity and human health are connected. This study is a valuable tool for people working on both environmental and nutrition issues. It offers useful ideas to help make policies and practices better.

About the programme:

In 2022, GAIN began to implement a new generation of large projects targeting the entire value chain for selected nutrient-dense foods.

I-CAN was launched in 2022 during COP27 by the Presidency of Egypt, and is co-chaired by Egypt and GAIN, with core partners including WHO, FAO and the SUN movement. I-CAN gained significant attention in 2023, being featured at various high-level international events and mentioned by the Director-Generals of both WHO and FAO during COP28 in Dubai. In 2024, I-CAN will focus on providing national-level support to country governments.

Five Pillars of Action to Unlock the Potential of I-CAN in 2024:

1. Strengthening National Policies and Plans: I-CAN will focus on delivering targeted and tailored support at the country level, complementing national policies, plans and strategies. Examples of this include working with governments to integrate more nutrition considerations into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) or integrating more climate considerations into national nutrition plans.
2. Building a Strong Alliance: I-CAN aims to advance joint actions across countries and regions, connecting countries who are leaders in this space. We will support in building and executing multi-year engagement strategies with the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) process.
3. Improving Data on Integrated Action: As shown from the I-CAN 2023 baseline report, data and evidence on integrated climate and nutrition action is currently lacking. I-CAN will help drive research and monitoring efforts in this area, tracking progress to 2030 and beyond.
4. Mobilising Finance and the Private Sector: Financing is lagging behind policy, with private sector integration being one of the lowest performing areas in the space. I-CAN will work to unlock joint financing for climate and nutrition from Development Finance Institutions and private sector actors.
5. Becoming the ‘Go-To’ Place for Amplifying Efforts: I-CAN's ambition is to become the top platform for promoting, connecting, and advancing all efforts to improve climate and nutrition action.

Other Resources

• FAO’s I-CAN technical report: “Climate Action and Nutrition: Pathways to Impact”, text: “This report led by I-CAN partner, FAO, outlines the evidence and opportunities to integrate climate and nutrition action across four core systems: agri-food, water, health, and social protection.”
• I-CAN is formally hosted as a Climate and Nutrition Working Group under the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH), which was launched in COP26 and is hosted by the Government of UK. The ATACH community has over 80 member states and 5 working groups, with resources available online. Click here to view I-CAN on the ATACH member page.

About the programme

In 2022, GAIN began to implement a new generation of large projects targeting the entire value chain for selected nutrient-dense foods.

A number of foods are particularly rich in the nutrients that are commonly lacking in resource-poor populations such as iron, zinc, folate, vitamin A, calcium, and vitamin B12. Priority foods for improving dietary quality have been identified by GAIN researchers Ty Beal and Flaminia Ortenzi. When examples of these priority foods are also accessibly priced and can be produced in an environmentally sustainable manner, they become prime candidates for efforts to increase access and consumption by vulnerable groups.

Numerous barriers have been identified that prevent consumers from accessing these foods; they occur at all stages of the supply chain from production inputs right through to household behaviours. GAIN’s approach to analysing supply chain blockages is described here. More recently, we have used systems dynamics modelling to understand the potential of different intervention strategies. We also always use qualitative research methods to understand consumer motivation and behaviour.

GAIN supports food fortification at global, regional and country levels. In collaboration with our Thriving Nutrition Enterprises programme, we aim to empower fortified foods producers with a whole-of-business approach to fortification, combining fortification quality assurance and control with business support services such as supply chain management, product development, and marketing to incentivise fortified foods producers. We also facilitate development or strengthening of policies, legislation, governance and institutions to deliver quality fortified foods.

GAIN is committed to supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by improving access to fortified foods to 1.2 billion people by 2025.

Countries

GAIN works to support and strengthen LSFF programmes as a key component of national nutrition and food systems strategies.

LSFF works best when governments enact mandates, requiring that widely consumed foods and condiments are fortified with essential vitamins and minerals.

GAIN works with food producers, governments, academia and civil society stakeholders, supporting these national actors to:

1. Start or expand fortification programmes where there is a need and an appropriate food vehicle.
2. Improve quality and compliance of national LSFF programmes.
3. Monitor, measure, troubleshoot, and sustain LSFF to ensure availability of quality fortified foods and programme impact.

Since 2019, GAIN has been supporting the scaling up of nutrient-enriched crops, also known as biofortified crops, in Africa and Asia to improve the intakes of micronutrients or nutrients necessary for healthy growth and development. These micronutrient rich crops are developed through conventional breeding techniques (they are not genetically modified) to increase their density of iron, zinc, or vitamin A – all critical micronutrients for maintaining good health. They are also bred with other traits for improved productivity and resilience as demanded by farming communities such as high yield, drought tolerance, and resistance to disease and pests. GAIN currently supports the scaling up of a variety of nutrient enriched crops including iron enriched beans, zinc enriched rice and wheat and vitamin A enriched maize, cassava and sweet potatoes.

Our programme objectives are to

1. Motivate healthy choices by addressing consumers’ emotional tensions.
2. Provide practical support that makes it easier to practice healthy diets everyday, including promotion at point-of-sale and labelling.
3. Build a supportive food culture that favours healthy and sustainable diets through the Food Culture Alliance, a multi-stakeholder initiative co-established by GAIN, EAT and the Global Business School Network that seeks to shift food preferences and increase society’s demand for nutritious and sustainable foods.

We will achieve our programme objectives by

1. Using the Emotivate™ approach to solve the emotional tensions parents face for feeding nutritious meals.
2. Designing point-of-sale promotion that improves purchase frequency of nutritious foods among low-income consumers. Use consumer-friendly labelling systems that nudge towards better choices.
3. Deploying an action framework and operating model to deploy society-wide food culture interventions through the Food Culture Alliance.

To learn how we deploy Emotivate to motivate consumers and provide practical support at point-of-sale for vegetable purchases, see projects in Kenya, Benin and Uganda. 

On the horizon is a new project to determine how we can create demand among rural households who are both producers and consumers of food.

About the Food Culture Alliance

The Food Culture Alliance has been established with a single vision – a world where society’s preference is for nutritious and sustainable foods. Our mission is to champion food culture and leverage the toolbox of strategies it provides to shift preferences and increase society’s demand for nutritious and sustainable foods.

The Food Culture Alliance framework provides further information on the social and cultural strategies the alliance aims to deploy.

How and where we operate

The Food Culture Alliance secretariat is hosted by GAIN and co-led by EAT and the Global Business School Network. We are establishing Alliances in Kenya, India, and Indonesia.

Our 3-pillar operating model is set to deliver on the Food Culture Alliance’s mission:

1. We build knowledge: we build and spotlight evidence, knowledge and resources to illuminate the realm of food culture and its boundless possibilities.
2. We strengthen collaboration: working across sectors and geographies, we identify and convene relevant stakeholders and establish alliances that generate ideas and pinpoint prospects for advancing the food culture missions locally.
3. We enable action: as local stakeholder alliances refine ideas and build enthusiasm in food culture, we support them in forming coalitions to develop and implement food culture strategies at scale.

Visit the Food Culture Alliance website for further information on our approach and work.  The Food Culture Alliance is a key component of the Consumer Demand Generation Programme.

Through partnerships, policy advocacy, and programmes, GAIN is working in seven countries to make social protection systems more nutrition-sensitive and better equipped to combat systemic and intergenerational inequities that limit the reach of vital services.

GAIN's social protection programme currently encompasses the following synergistic work areas:

• Policy Advocacy. We provide technical advice to governments, engages In policy advocacy, and mobilises multilateral stakeholders to ensure that social protection policy environments are conducive to nutrition impact.
• Value Chain Integration. We create and reinforce sustainable linkages between social protection systems and private-sector nutritious food value chains by scaling-up public procurement of nutritious foods, connecting small - and medium- enterprises (SMEs) to public procurement pipelines, and improving the nutritional value and regulatory compliance of nutritious foods destined for social protection systems.
• Social Protection Design. We develop and scale-up models of social protection that provide effective nutrition services for the most vulnerable households, with a particular focus on human-centered design (HCD) and social and behaviour change communication (SBCC)

GAIN's work in these areas seeks to improve both the delivery and effective utilisation of nutrition services in social protection systems, ensuring that recipients attain the intended nutritional benefits. We believe that improving the delivery and utilisation of nutrition-sensitive social protection is key to achieving longer-term dietary resilience for the most vulnerable households.

Our social protection programme is rooted in four guiding principles: gender sensitivity, human centeredness, sustainability, and climate-awareness. These principles serve as lenses through which we view our work, and to which we hold ourselves accountable.

Download our Human-Centered Design (HCD) Toolkit 

Download the Social Protection Programme Overview 

Over 1000 MSMEs have been supported across nearly all of GAIN’s programme countries and covering input suppliers, primary producers, distributors and wholesalers, as well as retailers. Some example beneficiary companies are featured HERE.

GAIN’s support has included basic business development services, technical assistance for food safety, processing and product formulation, marketing and the like, as well as financial assistance in the form of small grants. (Our non-grant financial support is covered under Nutritious Food Financing). Four big projects delivered these interventions:

Most of the food that is produced, processed, transported, and sold in the Global South is handled by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While SMEs play a substantial role in bringing foods to market, their success is hindered by several constraints, including a lack of financial and technical capacity to improve and grow their businesses. Women-led enterprises face additional constraints, as there is a large gender gap in access to business finance across many world regions, exacerbating the already challenging act of securing financing for a business in the agri-food sector. 

N3F is committed to financing 60 nutritious food SMEs across 15+ countries in SSA (Sub-Saharan Africa), aiming to reach between 7–10 million end consumers with safe, nutritious foods.  

Beyond the N3F, we aim to explore other opportunities for innovative financing to scale nutrition impact, i.e. outcome-based financing and incentive-based impact-linked finance.