Opinion Brief: Why we work on Food, Nutrition and Development: Two Perspectives
- 15/10/2025
Hear from a professional at the start of her career in food systems transformation, and one near the end with decades of experience Key Messages • We choose to work in food systems because food is, at its core, a way to drive a fairer and safer future for the world. Food is not just fuel. It carries our culture, our traditions, our dignity, and our sense of belonging. To fix food is to unlock society’s potential. Over 3 billion people globally can’t afford to eat healthily right now. This widens inequities and keeps the vulnerable trapped in cycles of poor health. • Food systems transformation touches every aspect of our lives and cannot be achieved in isolation. It spans agriculture, health, trade, finance, education, environment, and social protection, and it relies on people all along the supply chain, from farmers and traders to processors, retailers, policymakers, and consumers. Few other areas of work demand such breadth. That is why transforming food systems requires collaboration across sectors directly and indirectly linked to food, and why it offers opportunities for people with different skills, perspectives, and passions to contribute. • The 2025 World Food Day theme calls for greater collaboration across sectors and silos to transform agrifood systems for people and planet. This is a huge part of the work that must be done, and we remain hopeful that solidarity and compassion will win over more selfish politics. At GAIN we work hard to bring disparate voices across the food system together, for real transformation.
Ultra-Processed Foods: Time for a More Nuanced Conversation
‘Ultra-processed food’ (UPF) has been the nutrition buzzword of the past few years, making its way from scientific research into headlines and policy debates. These foods, commonly defined as industrial food formulations made with ingredients rarely used in home cooking, make up a shockingly large share of diets and have been associated with various negative health effects – but their role remains complicated and contested. At the recent Stockholm Food Forum, I joined this debate, participating on a panel discussion on the topic.
Investment Opportunities at the Intersection of Environment and Nutrition
- 14/10/2025
Through the Nourishing Food Pathways programme, GAIN has collaborated with Hystra on a new study exploring how investments in nutritious food value chains can deliver both nutrition and environmental benefits in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. The research highlights opportunities for impact-oriented investors, specifically Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), to direct capital towards businesses that improve diets while advancing sustainable food systems. The study prioritises six nutritious food value chains; fruits, vegetables, legumes, milk, poultry, and aquaculture, selected for their inherent nutritional value, potential to reduce environmental pressures and high investment potential. In each region, case studies of investable enterprise illustrate how targeted investments can expand access to affordable and diverse nutritious foods, reduce post-harvest losses, promote climate-friendly practices such as regenerative agriculture and circular resource use, and enhance productivity. The report provides practical insights for DFIs and other impact-oriented investors who are committed to advancing SDG2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG13 (Climate Action). By making strategic investments in businesses operating in these value chains, investors can simultaneously reduce environmental impacts and expand access to nutritious, affordable foods in local markets, creating a virtuous cycle of sustainable growth and resilience.
Transforming Kenya’s Food Future: Insights from the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy Review
In mid-September, 2025, stakeholders from across Kenya’s food, health, trade, and development sectors gathered at Sawela Lodges in Naivasha to review and revise the Draft National Food and Nutrition Security Policy (NFNSP). The meeting, convened by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development with the support of the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), saw participation from experts in agriculture, livestock, health, education, trade, arid and semi-arid lands, fisheries, and gender. This multi-sectoral gathering contributed to the ongoing comprehensive review of Kenya’s food and nutrition security policy.
True Cost of Food Basket
- 11/10/2025
Global food systems generate a wide range of health, environmental, and socio-economic externalities that vary across regions, demographic groups, value chains, and production contexts. These include positive effects such as improved food and nutrition security, better air and water quality, job creation and community development, but also negative outcomes such as malnutrition and diet-related diseases, climate change and land degradation, unfair labour practices and rights violations. Yet, these costs and benefits are rarely reflected in the market price of food. To design future food systems that promote health, environmental sustainability, social equity/justice, and resilience, we must make these hidden impacts visible and act upon them.
2nd World Summit for Social Development Solutions Session
- , Global
This Solutions Session side event explores inclusive innovation as a practical tool for reaching the most vulnerable and eradicating poverty, focusing on how locally-driven, participatory approaches can enhance the quality and impact of development interventions. Designed as an interactive and participatory experience, the session will give participants firsthand exposure to how inclusive innovation operates in real-world contexts.
Reconciling Nutrition and Sustainability: A New Tool for Nourishing People and Planet
When we tell people we analyze the environmental and nutritional impacts of food, we're almost always met with the same question: “So, what should I eat?” It's a deceptively complex question that highlights one of the greatest challenges facing our food systems today—how do we nourish a growing global population while protecting the planet we all share? This challenge has driven us at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to develop a new approach that we're excited to share in our latest briefing paper, "Nourishing People and Planet: Enviro-Nutritional Insights into Local Foods for Policy, Programmes, and Industry."