On April 27, The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, GAIN, launched the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network (SBN) in Ethiopia. Co-convened by the World Food Program, SBN Ethiopia engaged all relevant small and medium-sized businesses involved in the country’s food sector to scale up and invest in the nutrition agenda.
Healthy Diets for Tea Communities is a coalition led by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), with funding from with eight leading tea companies to address poor nutrition in tea supply chains in Assam (India), Kenya, and Malawi.
Dubbed a "Peoples Summit", it is open to unprecedented engagement in every country, from every sector, and every constituency. It is also dubbed a "Solutions Summit" with a focus on action. I lead one of the five thematic areas or "Action Tracks" (ATs) on "Ensuring access to safe and nutritious foods for all". There are four other ATs, a Science Group, a Champions Group, 4 cross-cutting Levers and the over 100 Summit Dialogues to date.
Our food systems profoundly impact our ability to achieve universal goals of human and planetary wellbeing, with food directly or indirectly linked to several of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. With the UN Food Systems Summit scheduled to convene a wide group of stakeholders from all walks of life in September 2021, food systems are rising up the agenda.
Here comes the third wave. Like the first COVID-19 wave and the second wave, we cannot know in advance its peak, scale, or duration. I often think that things could have been different if we could have predicted the pandemic’s impact, but we were found to be ill-prepared. If we had relevant information and better disaster preparedness, we might all be living differently by now, I guess.
In the nine countries where GAIN works, lockdowns and border closures to mitigate the spread of the virus and the concurrent economic impact could greatly increase hunger. In some places, restrictions in movements and lay-offs would mean reduced accessibility to fresh produce and nutrient-rich animal-sourced foods, resulting in millions of people having to resort to less nutritious foods.
GAIN is committed to building a more equitable, diverse and inclusive workforce where all differences between people: their life experiences, professional backgrounds, knowledge and the varied perspectives they bring, are recognised and valued in a meaningful way.
One in three people worldwide suffers from malnutrition today, making it a massive global concern impacting individuals, businesses, and economies alike – in both developing and developed countries. The health impacts of COVID-19 on workforces are bringing heightened concerns to businesses worldwide.
In late February, twenty-four World Food Prize Laureates penned a letter asking the Biden Administration for help. These internationally recognized and exceptional Laureates are known to have advanced the quantity, quality, availability of, or access to food through creative interventions within the food system.
Water is often described as a precious commodity, but it is so much more than that. It enables and sustains life. In households, schools and workplaces. Water can mean health, hygiene, dignity and productivity. In cultural, religious and spiritual places, water can mean a connection with creation, community and oneself. In natural spaces, water can mean peace, harmony and preservation.
