- 08/09/2025
Stunting is a major concern in Eastern Africa, where nearly 1 in 3 children under 5, about 22.6 million, are
affected (UNICEF, WHO, Worldbank, 2023). In Kenya, the prevalence has declined to approximately one in
five children (18%), outperforming the regional average of 31.6%. However, this still represents more than
1.2 million children at risk (KNBS, Ministry of Health, ICF, 2023). The consequences are far-reaching;
stunting contributes to child mortality, vulnerability, and lifelong impairments in physical growth and
cognitive development, impacting both individual well-being and national productivity. In Kenya, child
undernutrition, including stunting as a key component, is estimated to cost the economy KES 374 billion
(approximately USD 4.2 billion) annually, equivalent to 6.9% of the GDP (Government of Kenya, 2019).
Stunting, a persistent form of long-term nutritional deprivation, acts as a silent driver of inequality, limiting
opportunities, lowering future earnings and reducing the potential to contribute equally to the economy.
Yet the returns on investment in nutrition are high, with every dollar yielding up to $22 in economic
benefit. (Eberwein, et al., 2016)
- 02/10/2025
Food culture refers to a shared value system, norms, symbols, and perceptions. Yet within the food and nutrition sector, it is often reduced to traditional foods, dishes, or cuisines—a narrow view that constrains how food culture could be leveraged to shape future food preferences and habits. This working paper reviews Indonesian food culture broadly, seeking to understand and appreciate the country’s diverse cuisine. The paper draws on data from governmental reports, academic papers, media reports, social media analysis, and expert interviews.
- 29/09/2025
The world is currently facing two interconnected and severe crises: widespread malnutrition and environmental degradation. Food systems are central to both issues, as they are responsible for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions, natural resource depletion, and environmental damage, while simultaneously feeding billions of people. Diets are a crucial link between human and planetary health and have been identified as a key lever to address both the climate and malnutrition crises. However, there are inherent trade-offs between nutritional and environmental goals, making it difficult to find solutions that simultaneously improve both outcomes. This paper introduces nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) as an evidence-based tool to guide policy, programmatic, and industry decision-making, and demonstrates how nLCA can provide actionable, context-specific insights that help reconcile (often competing) nutritional and environmental priorities.
- 24/09/2025
Food policy has been an active area in the UK throughout 2025. Three of four UK nations having recently published food strategies and plans, with another in preparation, all within a changing geopolitical context. Against this backdrop, this working paper highlights key gaps and potential actions for fostering coherence within food strategies and governments in the UK based on an analysis of UK food strategies using a new tool, the Food Systems Policy Coherence (FSPC) Diagnostic tool. This tool, composed of two modules, aims to provide a simplified and standardised approach to measure policy coherence.
- 11/09/2025
While Rwanda has made notable progress in recent decades on areas linked to improved prosperity such as growth in agricultural production and poverty reduction,rates of malnutrition remain a public health concern, particularly among vulnerable groups like young children.
- 09/09/2025
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.
- 02/09/2025
In 2022, rapid food price increases raised interest in how such shocks impact markets and consumers—and how policy can mitigate them. To examine this, we undertook a detailed qualitative study in urban Ethiopia, a country particularly hard hit by food inflation. Over two periods in summer 2022, in-depth interviews were undertaken with 83 consumers and market vendors in Hawassa, a mid-sized city, including structured free-listing and ranking exercises.
- 29/08/2025
Zambia has demonstrated strong political commitment to food systems transformation while grappling with persistent systemic vulnerabilities that threaten progress toward sustainable food and nutrition security.
As a landlocked country in southern Africa with a population largely dependent on climatesensitive smallholder agriculture, Zambia faces the urgent imperative to build resilience while addressing deep-rooted challenges of malnutrition, poverty, and environmental degradation.
- 28/08/2025
The Countdown then undertook a consultative process to select a set of 50 indicators across these themes, which constitutes the global indicator framework. The Countdown publishes annual monitoring updates and additional analysis to support the transformation of food systems so they become equitable, sustainable, and resilient and positively contribute to achieving the 2030 SDGs and other global goals.
- 05/08/2025
The Government of Benin played an active role in the 2021 N4G Summit, demonstrating a strong
commitment to reducing malnutrition. In 2021, through the Permanent Secretariat of the National
Council for Food and Nutrition (SP/CAN), Benin outlined several ambitious goals aimed at ensuring
optimal nutrition for all its citizens. To achieve its vision by 2030, Benin set several objectives in 2021
