Micronutrient deficiencies are one of the world’s most widespread health crises, impacting one in two children and two in three women globally. Inadequate intake of essential vitamins and minerals can have lasting consequences on survival, health, and well-being that echo across generations and limit economic growth. As climate change and other crises disrupt food systems and livelihoods, addressing micronutrient deficiencies has never been more urgent.
The Micronutrient Forum’s 7th Global Conference, themed “Nutrition at the Frontiers of a Changing Environment,” will take place in Accra, Ghana, and online, from September 28 to October 1, 2026. This hybrid conference will convene the global nutrition community to build knowledge, strengthen advocacy, and sustain nutrition progress in a changing world.
The program examines evidence, policy, and innovation across nutrition, food systems, climate, and development, exploring how emerging technologies, advanced data, and new partnership models can drive sustainable, equitable impact. Plenary sessions, oral presentations, and research posters are organized around three tracks: (1) biology, data, and efficacy of interventions; (2) program implementation and effectiveness; and (3) designing an enabling environment. IFPRI researchers will be actively involved in the conference, from leading thematic tracks to presenting research findings from around the world.
September 29, 2026
0480 – Concurrent Session (CSB7) | Agriculture and broader food systems solutions to address micronutrient gaps | 11:10 – 12:40 (Africa/Accra)
- Update on what’s known on food based approaches to improving intake and status: Lilia Bliznashka, Research Fellow, IFPRI
- Fruit and vegetable diversity and affordability of a healthy diet in northern Tanzania: Trends and linkages with local production: Quinn Marshall, Research Fellow, IFPRI
1210 – Plenary Session (PC2) | Protecting nutrition in the context of conflict and humanitarian emergencies | 17:20 – 18:50 (Africa/Accra)
- Session Chair: Danielle Resnick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
September 30, 2026
0770 – Concurrent Session (CSC4) | Enabling environment from large-scale food fortification interventions | 10:40 – 12:10 (Africa/Accra)
- Enablers and constraints of LSFF: Danielle Resnick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
October 1, 2026
1100 – Oral Presentation Session: Track B (CSB8) | What works and how to achieve impact on micronutrient intake or status? New evidence on impact or effectiveness | 10:10– 11:40 (Africa/Accra)
- Impacts of food and cash transfers during pregnancy on maternal diet, birth outcomes, and intrahousehold dynamics: A cluster randomized trial in Bangladesh: Jef L. Leroy, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
1160 | Rapid Fire Session: Track C | 11:50 – 12:50 (Africa/Accra)
- Identifying optimal diets for children in Burkina Faso through multi-objective modelling of tradeoffs between health, affordability, and environmental sustainability: Loty Diop, Senior Research Analyst, IFPRI
1130 – Concurrent Sessions (CSB5) | Design of social protection programs to improve diets and nutritional status (design, delivery/implementation and effectiveness) | 11:50 – 12:50 (Africa/Accra)
- The impact of a nutrition-sensitive graduation model program on child nutrition: Experimental evidence from Ethiopia: Daniel Gilligan, Director, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI)
1190– Plenary Session (PB1) | Doing Better with Less: Optimizing Investments for Nutrition Impact | 14:10 – 15:40 (Africa/Accra)
- Session Chair: Deanna Olney, Director, Nutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH), IFPRI