GAIN Convening Paper n° 16 - rural diets - session III Role of Markets

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Wellspring Development designed and hosted a series of in-person and online consultations with partners of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to examine challenges in improving the quality of diets of population groups living in rural areas of Low and Lower-Middle Income countries. These groups still largely consume nutrient-inadequate, even unhealthy, diets and face heavy burdens of malnutrition. This third paper out of six, looks specifically at the role of markets in improving nutrition at scale. The aim of the discussions was to gather examples of projects that have delivered success at scale, to understand the challenges involved and to identify important points of convergence in conceptualisation and action in future work.

GAIN Convening Paper n°15: rural diets session II Segmentation

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Wellspring Development designed and hosted a series of in-person and online consultations with partners of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to examine challenges in improving the quality of diets of population groups living in rural areas of Low and Lower-Middle Income countries. These groups largely consume nutrient-inadequate, even unhealthy, diets and face heavy burdens of malnutrition. This second paper, out of six, looks specifically at the challenges of defining and understanding different groups of rural populations. The aim of the discussions was to explore a range of approaches used in defining segments and implications of chosen segments for programme design to help the organisations involved understand how to incorporate these ideas in future work. The bulk of the discussion reflected in this paper is from an online meeting held on 30 September 2024, with the participation of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bopinc, CARE Netherlands, East-West Seeds, GIZ, the Netherlands Food Partnership, One Acre Fund, and the Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation.

GAIN Convening Paper 14 - rural diets session I

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Wellspring Development designed and hosted a series of in-person and online consultations with partners of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to examine challenges in improving the quality of diets of population groups living in rural areas of low- and lower-middle-income countries. These groups largely consume nutrient-inadequate, even unhealthy, diets and face heavy burdens of malnutrition. This first paper, out of six, looks specifically at the challenges of setting targets for dietary quality improvement. The aim of the discussions was to gather examples of successful project interventions at scale, to understand the decision processes of different organisations, and to identify important points of convergence in conceptualisation and action.

GAIN Briefing Paper n°14: Issues In the Design & Delivery of Interventions to Improve Rural Diets in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries

Improving the quality of diets for rural populations is a key priority for many organisations – such as donors, implementing NGOs, and governments – in the nutrition sector. However, success at scale has been elusive. GAIN, with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embarked on a project to improve understanding of how to succeed at scale in rural settings. Eight other organisations (see background) also joined in this effort to pool their knowledge and experiences. Wellspring carried out a literature review in April-May 2024 and facilitated an in-person workshop in Utrecht in May 2024. This was followed by six online calls that focused on deeper discussion on six key topics identified based on the learning until then: dietary quality; segmentation; markets; scale; orchestration; and trade-offs. Each topic has been covered under a separate GAIN convening paper. This overview aims to provide a short summary of each of the six topics.

GAIN World Food Safety Day

GAIN is working to improve the consumption of healthier diets for all, especially the most vulnerable. We know that if food is not safe, it is not food. That is why our mission includes improving the availability, affordability, desirability, and sustainability of nutritious and safe foods, and reducing the consumption of unhealthy and unsafe foods.

GAIN Working Paper n°51: Ambitious Solutions for Ethiopia’s Dairy Challenges

Dairy products are rich in many nutrients essential for healthy growth and development, and they are often more affordable than other animal-source foods. Ethiopia has a very large stock of dairy animals, and milk and other dairy products are popular in the local food culture. Yet the per capita consumption of dairy is surprisingly low, reflecting numerous challenges in production, distribution, and household behaviours. This Working Paper reviews the experience of GAIN Ethiopia tackling some of these challenges in the dairy value chain.

Strengthening Large-Scale Food Fortification Programmes in Rwanda

This brief aims to 1. Describe the micronutrient malnutrition and LSFF programme context in Rwanda; 2. Identify challenges and opportunities to strengthen existing programs; 3. Provide practical, evidence-informed policy and programmatic recommendations; and 4. Catalyse multi-stakeholder collaboration to reduce micronutrient deficiencies.