Climate change and malnutrition are deeply intertwined challenges in Kenya, where climate related
shocks continue to threaten food systems, health services, and vulnerable populations. This policy brief summarizes f indings f rom a rapid assessment of 27 national policies and key stakeholder interviews, conducted to support the I-CAN initiative. The analysis reveals uneven climate–nutrition integration across sectors, with strong implementation f rameworks in some policies but persistent gaps in coordination, data systems, and f inancing. Overreliance on donor funding, limited engagement of diverse stakeholders, and underutilized governance structures further hinder progress. At the same time, there are clear opportunities to strengthen policy
alignment, institutional reform, cross-sector collaboration, and stakeholder inclusion to build a more resilient and nutrition-secure Kenya.
Nigeria faces a dual crisis of rising food insecurity and worsening climate impacts. By 2025, an estimated 33.1 million Nigerians are expected to be food insecure, with around 35% of children under five stunted, especially in the north. Ranked 110th of 127 countries on the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria’s challenges are driven by economic, environmental, and nutritional factors. GAIN engaged Sawubon Advisory Services to generate insights on the climate–nutrition nexus, supporting the integration of climate and nutrition into policies and programs. Climate change—rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and extreme weather—has already reduced agricultural productivity, and by 2080, yields of millet and sorghum in northern Nigeria could fall 13–20%. With over 80% of agriculture rain-dependent, these trends threaten sustainable food production and nutrition outcomes.
GAIN marks African Day of School Feeding and International School Meals Day, using these moments to highlight how school meals can improve nutrition, learning outcomes, and local food systems when designed with quality, equity, and sustainability in mind.
A child’s diet is central to their long-term development, health, and well-being. For children, access to healthy diets can be instrumental for doing well in school, and ultimately shapes a child’s ability to attain a dignified, productive livelihood and decent quality of life in the future.
From a loan of 150,000 Ugandan Shillings, to Changing How a Community Eats
When school was no longer an option, Victoria Winyana didn't back down. Armed with a modest loan from her mother and a vision to make healthy eating effortless, she transformed a simple market stall into a hub for community well-being.
Read how this young Ugandan vendor turned a struggle for survival into a movement for nutrition, trust, and empowerment, one bundle of greens at a time.
The story highlights Rose Nabasirye, a vegetable vendor in Uganda with over twenty years of experience in the informal food economy, who uses her market stall as an informal classroom to promote healthy eating. Through daily interactions, she guides customers on dietary diversity, taste, and simple recipes, helping transform vegetables into an accessible and creative part of their daily meals. Her involvement with GAIN’s Fit Foods initiative has further enhanced her stall's visibility and credibility, demonstrating how market vendors serve as essential, trusted frontline influencers in improving community nutrition outcomes.
As a vital bridge in Uganda’s local food system, supplier Jamada Nduga travels across rural villages to scout fresh, safe, and chemical-free produce directly from smallholder farmers. By connecting hardworking growers with market vendors through initiatives like GAIN's Fit Foods project, Jamada ensures fair market access for farmers and reliable, high-quality inventory for sellers while playing an essential upstream role in elevating community diets, food safety, and household livelihoods—one fresh vegetable at a time.
This story highlights Rehema Nakamya, a long-time vendor at Wakiso Central Daily Market in Uganda, who uses her stall as an educational platform to promote community health and nutrition through the Vegetables For All project. Over fifteen years of market changes, Rehema adapted her business to sell both traditional local greens (nakati, dodo, buga) and exotic varieties (spinach, lettuce), while actively teaching customers how to properly wash, prepare, and incorporate leafy vegetables into their daily diets. By building trust and sharing practical advice on disease prevention and healthy habits, she transforms the simple act of selling produce into a powerful tool for shaping better diets and long-term community well-being.
Nigeria’s food systems are critical for national development, yet women face
deep-seated gender inequalities that restrict their participation, productivity, and access to resources, significantly hindering overall food security.
Achieving a resilient and equitable food system requires moving beyond genderneutral rhetoric towards intentional policy shifts, fostering inclusive governance, and investing in gender equity across the entire food system.
Prioritise equitable access to productive resources, strengthen women’s leadership in decision-making, enhance gender-disaggregated data systems, and champion community-led social norm change to build a sustainable food system where no one is left behind.
In the heart of Nampula, an old market is shifting into something new and so are the lives within it. What began as an ordinary field visit became an unexpected turning point, captured through a lens that witnessed far more than change in bricks and sand.
This photo story follows that quiet transformation: the people who have waited for it, the place that needed it, and the question that emerged and only later found its answer.
