The focus of this research is on programs and policies to improve the diet quality, nutritional status, and health of mothers, infants, and young children in impoverished environments. The action-oriented research focuses on intervening to improve nutrition during the “window of opportunity”—the 1000 days from conception to when the child reaches 24 months of age—and on preventing, rather than treating, childhood undernutrition, as well as analyzing patterns and trends in undernutrition to inform program and policy design. The research is carried out in partnership with program implementers, with a strong focus on monitoring and evaluation using well-defined program theory frameworks. A key emphasis of the work is to generate knowledge on what works and what does not work to improve nutrition, and how to bring nutrition-focused programs to scale.
Current work includes global and national level analysis of nutrition and hunger, and studies of large-scale, multisectoral interventions, including food assistance, behavioral interventions, and agriculture-based programs to improve maternal and child undernutrition in countries as diverse as India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Burundi, Burkina Faso, and Guatemala. The sub-theme also hosts the Agriculture and Health Research Platform (AHRP), which aims to enhance development research by encouraging closer collaboration between the agriculture and health sectors.
