Improving affordability of nutritious foods through packaging innovations
Food packaging is ubiquitous in the modern world but also easily forgettable: once we’ve dumped the crackers out of their bag and into our hand, or scraped the last of the yoghurt out of the bottom of its plastic pot, we usually toss the packaging into the bin without a second thought.
From Trash to Table? Opportunities for Repurposing Waste Products into Nutritious Foods
If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, after the U.S. and China: not only does it represent the use of resources and environmental impact without a clear benefit, but as it decomposes in landfills, it releases methane and carbon dioxide. What if some of this could be avoided, and in a way that improved access to safe, nutritious foods for those who need them?
Vegetables for Health and Prosperity: Mary Wamuyu’s Journey to Nourish Her Community
Mary Wamuyu Gathemia, a 41-year-old mother of two, runs a vibrant vegetable stall in Muthumi Village, Muguga Ward, Kabete Sub-County, Kiambu County. For years, Mary operated a small general shop selling household items and a few groceries. However, her shop struggled to break even, and she was on the verge of closing it to focus on being a housewife.
GAIN in Action for Youth: Building Tanzania’s Food Systems and Futures through Entrepreneurship
In Tanzania, nearly 70% of the population is under 30 - a generation full of energy and potential. Yet, for many young people, finding meaningful work isn’t easy. Agri-food jobs could offer huge opportunities, but the section is often seen as outdated and unappealing to youth. The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) funded by the Master Card Foundation through AGRA is working to shift this narrative through the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) initiative, supporting young Tanzanians to find jobs and turn the sector into a vibrant space for innovation.
Bangladesh Sets the Pace: Government Champions Workforce Nutrition
Every day, millions of workers in Bangladesh’s bustling garment factories often face challenges in accessing safe and nutritious food due to long working hours and affordability constraints. Bridging this gap, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) pioneered the implementation of workforce nutrition programme - Strengthening Workers Access to Pertinent Nutrition Opportunities (SWAPNO) since 2015. What began as canteen improvements, Fair Price Shops (FPS), and targeted micronutrient supplementation efforts in a handful of factories have now snowballed into a full-fledged national movement.
Advancing small fish production in Indonesia: Increasing protein and reduce waste
Back then, a lot of bilih were caught by fishermen, then cleaned by women, sometimes even children joined in to earn a bit of extra pocket money before being sold to buyers. But now, it is different’ Prof. Hafrjial Syandri, Bung Hatta University.
GAIN Working Paper n°56:Coping With Rapid Increases in Food Prices: Insights From Urban Ethiopia
- 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.
Food Systems Countdown Initiative Country Policy Brief Zambia
- 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.
Food Systems Countdown Initiative Country-Level Monitoring
- 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.