The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) organises the second edition of the executive short course, Together for Nutrition, which focuses on public-private engagement to improve the consumption of nutritious and safe food.
Food systems are our number one opportunity for improving climate, human health, biodiversity and equity.
With 2030 identified as both a point of no return in climate change, and the deadline to meet all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the next ten years will determine our future.
At GAIN we strive for sustained impact. Our aim is to improve the consumption of nutritious and safe food for all, especially the most vulnerable. We work hard to make sure our programming, policy and knowledge work form a virtuous circle that generates that impact. Hence, we take knowledge seriously: as producers, but also as consumers. Here is our end-of-year list for the articles, books, blogs, videos and reports that have influenced our thinking this year.
There is increasing evidence that improved agrobiodiversity (that is, the diversity of crop and livestock genetic resources – domesticated or wild – which contributes to agriculture and food production) can enhance human nutrition through several pathways.
Making Markets Work (MMW) is a joint programme between GAIN and six leading development agencies which aims to catalyse the power of markets and the private sector to make nutritious and safe foods more available, affordable and desirable. The programme charts new models, approaches and concepts to guide governments, investors and business to equip and shape markets to tackle malnutrition.
Malnutrition is a major problem across many parts of the world, leading to poorer outcomes in infants and children and health problems throughout life, which reduce economic growth and quality of life. Many of the causes of malnutrition have to do with diets, and diets are shaped by the food system.
Through the MNF, GAIN has supported Tarakwo Dairies – an enterprise based in Kenya's Rift Valley – to scale up their supply of safe and affordable milk. Tarakwo's distribution model uses automated milk dispensing machines, or milk ATMs, which help to improve milk availability and safety, while maintaining affordable prices for resource-constrained consumers.
I go to many meetings where the term "food system transformation" is bandied about. Sometimes the term goes unquestioned - for some people it has entered into the rarefied atmosphere of development jargon. But increasingly (thank goodness) the question is being asked: what does food system transformation mean? So what is the answer?
The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Global Gathering brings together all SUN Government Focal Points and representatives of their partners from civil society, donors, United Nations agencies, private sector partners, academia, media, parliamentarians.
GAIN works on supply and demand, as well as on changing incentives, rules and regulations to encourage production and consumption of nutritious and safe foods. We seek to understand and tackle barriers faced by small enterprises working to boost availability, affordability, desirability, and convenience of nutritious foods like eggs, especially for people on low-incomes.