The document summarizes the Research Programme Consortium called Transform Nutrition. It focuses on reducing child stunting in several countries through research on scaling up direct nutrition interventions, leveraging indirect interventions, and promoting an enabling policy environment. The consortium includes six partner organizations conducting research across four pillars on governance, inclusion, and fragility with the goal of accelerating reductions in undernutrition.
3. Conceptual Framework:
Determinants and Interventions
Interventions
Breastfeeding
Complementary
feeding Food / nutrient Health Immediate
Vitamin A intake causes
Zinc
Agriculture
Hygiene
Poverty reduction
Income generation Maternal and
Access to food Water / Sanitation Underlying
Education childcare practices Health services causes
Social protection
Health systems
INSTITUTIONS
POLITICAL & IDEOLOGICAL Basic causes
FRAMEWORK
ECONOMIC STRUCTURE
strengthening
Women’s
Adapted from 990 RESOURCES
Source: Ruel, SCN News 2008 UNICEF 1 ENVIRONMENT, TECHNOLOGY, PEOPLE
empowerment
4. Transform Nutrition Consortium Partners
International Food Policy Research Institute
Institute for Development Studies
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease
Research, Bangladesh
Public Health Foundation of India
Save the Children
University of Nairobi
5. Focus countries
• India
• Bangladesh
• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• Nepal,Vietnam,
Nigeria, Zimbabwe
(outer ring)
6. Transform Nutrition’s Theory of Change
OUTCOMES
Accelerated reduction in
undernutrition
Transformed thinking
Nutrition moved higher up
and action for
development agenda
undernutrition reduction
PURPOSE
Unlock puzzles to
transform thinking and OUTPUTS
action on nutrition
Actionable evidence
on scaling direct
interventions
Increased profile of
nutrition in public Strong network
policy through Improved capacity to of nutrition
maximise nutrition sensitivity champions
communication of indirect interventions
processes
Developing and sustaining
a robust enabling
environment
7. Core Research Pillars / Questions
1. How can direct nutrition-specific interventions targeted to the
“window of opportunity” be appropriately prioritized,
implemented, scaled up and sustained in different settings?
2. How can indirect interventions (social protection, agriculture,
and women’s empowerment) have a greater impact on
improving nutrition?
3. How can an enabling environment be promoted, and existing
and enhanced political and economic resources be used most
effectively to improve nutrition?
4. Cross-cutting themes: governance, inclusion, fragility
8. Transform Nutrition’s Research Framework
Scaling up Making indirect Promoting an enabling
nutrition-specific interventions more environment for
actions effectively nutrition-sensitive nutrition
Weak incentives, Low issue salience, weak leadership
Weak commitment and
Governance institutions and from state and civil society and lack
coordination capacity to realize
infrastructure can of accountability mechanisms make
win-win solutions
undermine scaling up. environments unsupportive
Gender, economic, caste, Social exclusion undermines
ethnic, geographic factors efforts to reduce disparities in,
Inclusion Social exclusion not recognized or
exclude large population and improve status of,
prioritized by policy actors
groups from direct underlying preconditions for
services nutrition security.
Political conflict, natural Stakeholders lack the ability to
Political conflict, natural
Crisis and disasters, famine-proneness track nutritional status under
disasters, famine-
Fragility threaten underlying rapidly shifting and unpredictable
proneness all affect access,
preconditions for nutrition situations. Shocks in fragile
scalability, impact and
security (food security, access contexts often have long tails in the
sustainability of direct
to water and health services, absence of awareness of the
interventions.
caring capacity) consequences of undernutrition.
9. Transform Nutrition’s Focal Areas
Functional competencies
Communications, Capacity,
Development and M & E
Research Pillars
Direct (scaling)
Indirect (leveraging)
Geography
Environment (enabling)
Sub-Saharan Africa
(Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Cross-cutting themes
Zimbabwe) Governance,
Inclusion and Fragility
& South Asia
(Bangladesh, India, Nepal,
Vietnam)
11. Governance and management
• 6 partner organizations (Consortium Steering Group)
• 4 focal countries, 4 outer ring countries
• CEO, two Research Directors, Communications Manager, Operations
Coordinator
• Research pillar leads
• Cross-cut “watchdogs”
• Working groups
– Capacity strengthening
– Communications
– M&E, impact assessment
• Consortium Advisory Group (CAG)
• DFID
12. Research uptake / communications
• Research uptake strategy
• Engagement with stakeholders/
recruiting champions
• National communications officers
• Communications Working Group
• Stakeholder and audience mapping
• Web portal, e-newsletter
