Reports and publications

GAIN Discussion Paper n°20 Integrating Gender Into Large-Scale Food Fortification for Greater Impact

- 04/09/2026

Large-scale food fortification (LSFF) is widely implemented to reduce micronutrient deficiencies at the population level. LSFF programmes involve an array of decision-makers and actors across the value chain. Understanding how gender norms, roles, decision- making power, and consumption patterns shape participation across the LSFF value chain can help identify opportunities to improve programme effectiveness, equity, and sustainability.

GAIN Working Paper n°76: Advocating for Workforce Nutrition

- 04/09/2026

Successful implementation of workforce nutrition programmes relies on gaining employer commitment; without it, activities cannot be adopted or sustained. Prior to the implementation of workforce nutrition programmes, employers must thus be brought on board with the approach. This paper draws on primary data from GAIN programme teams in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, and Uganda to analyse the strategies and processes used to gain this employer buy-in, including which strategies were effective, what challenges arose, and the underlying reasons.

GAIN Working Paper n°74: Improving Diet Quality in West Africa- The Role of Intra-regional Food Trade

- 20/08/2026

Food trade plays a significant role in shaping food security and nutrition worldwide, with both positive and negative implications for diet quality. This is particularly relevant in West Africa, where persistent challenges such as low dietary diversity and limited affordability of healthy diets coexist with rapidly changing food consumption patterns. Intra-regional food trade is especially important in this context, yet its scale and nutritional significance remain poorly understood due to the large share of trade that goes unrecorded in official statistics.

Beyond Tokenism: Meaningful Youth Engagement in Bangladesh's Food Systems

- 27/07/2026

Youth participation is increasingly recognised as essential for transforming food systems, yet many young people remain underrepresented in formal decision-making, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Bangladesh, recent policy momentum and growing youth mobilisation have created new spaces for engagement, yet how these developments translate into meaningful influence over planning and policy processes in practice remains unclear. This qualitative case study explored how youth engage in Bangladesh's food system policy development through 27 semi-structured interviews with youth leaders and policymakers. Youth participants were purposively selected from GAIN's Food System Youth Leadership initiative while policymakers were selected based on their roles in nutrition, food systems policy, and youth development. Data were analysed thematically using hybrid deductiveinductive approach.

Accelerating Food Systems Transformation Across Asia

- 06/07/2026

Despite progress in reducing hunger and improving the affordability of healthy diets, the region’s food systems are not transforming quickly enough to deliver equitable nutrition, environmental sustainability, resilience and shared prosperity. This report presents eight practical tools covering food-systems monitoring, data visualisation, diet-quality measurement, policy coherence, climate nutrition integration, political-economy analysis, innovative financing and financial-flow tracking that governments and partners can use to identify gaps and opportunities, develop evidence-based plans, align policies across sectors, overcome implementation barriers and direct investment towards priority areas. Drawing on cases and data from across Asia, it highlights substantial differences between countries and subregions, alongside persistent challenges in food security, diet quality, emissions, water use, governance and financing. It concludes that accelerated, coordinated and government-led action supported by reliable data, coherent policies, inclusive decision-making and better-targeted finance is urgently needed to build healthier, fairer and more sustainable food systems and advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Private Sector Principles of Engagement

- 25/06/2026

Achieving healthier, more inclusive and sustainable food systems requires a fundamental shift in how public and private finance, coordinated action and policy incentives are mobilised and aligned.

Final Report I-CAN: Landscaping Analysis On Climate And Nutrition Policies In Uganda.

- 23/06/2026

Uganda is increasingly recognizing the importance of addressing the intersection of climate change and nutrition, with a growing number of policies and institutional actors engaging with the climate–nutrition nexus. Several policies and initiatives demonstrate that integrated action is both possible and already underway, particularly where explicit pathways, costed commitments, and system-level resilience investments are included. Institutions such as the Office of the Prime Minister, the National Planning Authority, and the Ministry of Health provide important entry points for strengthening coordination, while informal influence networks and policy windows offer additional opportunities to advance integration.

Integrating Nutrition Into Occupational Chemical Safety Standards

- 21/05/2026

The health effects of chemical exposure depend not only on the hazard itself, but also on the body’s capacity to defend, adapt, and recover. This varies between individuals and is strongly shaped by nutritional status, making nutrition a foundational determinant of occupational health risk. Adequate nutrition supports immune function, metabolic regulation, tissue repair, and detoxification processes. Sufficient energy, protein, essential minerals, micronutrients, and antioxidants are required for the body to maintain physiological stability and respond effectively to harmful substances. When these nutritional needs are met, workers are better equipped to withstand and recover from ongoing occupational exposures.

Nourishing Progress: Three Years of Action on WHA76.19. Accelerating Efforts to Prevent Micronutrient Deficiencies and Their Consequences Through Safe and Effective Food Fortification

- 15/05/2026

In May 2023, every Member State at the World Health Assembly resolved to accelerate safe and effective foodfortification. Nourishing Progress highlights meaningful progress, growing momentum and emerging opportunities since the resolution's adoption, and the growing coalition of governments, industry, patient associations, and health professionals driving this agenda forward. Anchored in a landmark Lancet Global Health analysis modeling the current and potential impact of large-scale food fortification programs, the report celebrates the progress made since the 2023 WHA resolution and outlines the growing global momentum towards transformative impact.