Richard Greene (Center). Photo by: IFPRI / CC BY-NC-ND
In June 2013, the influential Lancet Journal published a new Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition. A4NH researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) took the lead on two of the four papers in the series, which included a literature review of current knowledge and research needs on the impact of nutrition-sensitive programs in the agriculture, social protection, education, and other sectors.
Since being published, the series has continued to influence global decisionmakers, including those beyond the nutrition sector.
One of the Lancet articles in the Maternal and Child Nutrition Series, “Nutrition-sensitive interventions and programmes,” written by IFPRI authors Ruel and Alderman, led the Agriculture and Nutrition team at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to invite the first author to discuss the paper with Melinda Gates in a closed learning session on Agriculture and Nutrition.
Just this month, in an interview with Devex, Richard Greene, senior deputy assistant to the USAID administrator, cited the Lancet series’ influence on the development of the agency’s new nutrition strategy, which utilizes a multi-sectoral approach to addressing the problem.
"Things have now evolved. We have a lot of new evidence, based on the 2013 Lancet Series on nutrition. …This is a real compendium of new data, which we want to take advantage of. There’s growing evidence that nutrition needs to be looked at in terms of a multi-sectoral approach … not only health, but also food security, water, hygiene, sanitation, women’s empowerment."
"Things have now evolved. We have a lot of new evidence, based on the 2013 Lancet Series on nutrition. …This is a real compendium of new data, which we want to take advantage of.
There’s growing evidence that nutrition needs to be looked at in terms of a multi-sectoral approach … not only health, but also food security, water, hygiene, sanitation, women’s empowerment."
