Complementary Feeding Toolkit

How cost analysis reveals critical gaps in programs designed to combat poverty and hungerThe World Food Programme's groundbreaking "Mind the Gap" report reveals a critical oversight in global social protection systems: while programs successfully address income poverty, they often fail to ensure access to nutritious diets. This comprehensive analysis of 12 countries demonstrates how the affordability gap between basic caloric needs and truly nutritious diets undermines efforts to combat malnutrition, even when people escape monetary poverty.The research introduces the Fill the Nutrient Gap (FNG) methodology, which calculates the minimum cost of nutritious diets and compares this against household food expenditure. The findings are stark: while energy-only diets cost around $1 daily in African countries, nutritious diets cost 2-4 times more. This affordability gap affects billions globally, with 88% of people in low-income countries unable to afford healthy diets, despite many having access to basic social protection programs.The report examines case studies from diverse contexts including Burundi, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Ecuador, revealing that existing cash transfer programs typically cover only 8-38% of nutritious diet costs. For example, Pakistan's Benazir Income Support Programme could cover just 13% of a nutritious diet's cost, leaving 65-75% of people unable to afford adequate nutrition. These gaps persist even when caloric needs are met, highlighting the distinction between food security and nutrition security.The analysis proposes six key dimensions for designing effective food security and nutrition-sensitive social protection: coverage, adequacy, comprehensiveness, quality, responsiveness, and sustainability. Successful interventions require moving beyond simple cash transfers to include food fortification, targeted nutrition supplements, improved school meals, and multi-sectoral approaches that address both immediate and underlying causes of malnutrition.The report's practical recommendations have already influenced policy changes across multiple countries, from Ecuador's new social protection program for pregnant adolescents to Pakistan's Benazir Nashonuma conditional cash transfer program. These evidence-based approaches demonstrate how understanding diet affordability gaps can transform social protection from a safety net into a comprehensive platform for breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and malnutrition.

The World Health Organization's comprehensive guideline on sugars intake provides critical evidence-based recommendations to combat the global rise of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Published in 2015, this landmark document addresses the growing concern over free sugars consumption and its association with obesity, dental caries, and other health complications that contribute to the 38 million annual NCD-related deaths worldwide.The WHO strongly recommends that both adults and children reduce their intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total daily energy intake. Free sugars include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods and beverages by manufacturers, cooks, or consumers, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and fruit juice concentrates. The guidelines go further with a conditional recommendation to limit free sugars intake to below 5% of total energy intake for additional health benefits.These recommendations are based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials and observational studies. The evidence shows a clear association between reduced free sugars intake and decreased body weight in adults, with moderate quality evidence supporting this relationship. For dental health, the research demonstrates that higher free sugars consumption significantly increases the risk of dental caries across all age groups, with particularly strong evidence when intake exceeds 10% of total energy.The guidelines emphasize that countries with already low free sugars intake should not increase consumption levels, as higher intakes threaten dietary quality by providing energy without essential nutrients. Implementation strategies include consumer education, food labeling improvements, marketing regulations for high-sugar products, and fiscal policies targeting sugar-sweetened beverages. These evidence-based recommendations serve as a crucial tool for policymakers, healthcare providers, and public health officials working to reduce the global burden of diet-related diseases and improve population health outcomes through targeted nutrition interventions.

This comprehensive training handbook serves as a vital resource for community-based health workers, nutrition collaborators, and Vietnam Women's Union members implementing infant and young child feeding (IYCF) programs. Developed by Alive & Thrive in partnership with leading health organizations, this guide addresses Vietnam's critical child malnutrition challenges through evidence-based behavior change communication strategies.The handbook forms part of a comprehensive four-manual training package designed to support the establishment of IYCF counseling services across fifteen Vietnamese provinces. With child stunting rates remaining high at 31.9% among children under five, this resource specifically targets improving exclusive breastfeeding rates and complementary feeding practices for children aged 0-24 months through community-level interventions.Community health workers will find practical guidance for implementing the franchise model approach to infant and young child feeding education. The handbook provides structured training materials developed in collaboration with Vietnam's National Institute of Nutrition and the Ministry of Health, ensuring content aligns with national health policies and cultural contexts.Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this training resource reflects five years of implementation experience (2009-2013) in reducing malnutrition through improved feeding practices. The handbook emphasizes sustainable, community-driven approaches that empower local health workers to provide ongoing IYCF counseling and support services.The guide includes acknowledgments of technical experts, field-tested training methodologies, and reproducible content designed for widespread implementation across rural and urban Vietnamese communities. This resource represents a collaborative effort between international development organizations and Vietnamese health authorities to address persistent child nutrition challenges through community engagement and professional development.

Agrifood system pathways to healthy diets This course uses a stepwise approach to identify critical entry points for actions within the agrifood systems to improve availability, accessibility, affordability and consumption of nutritious food, as part of healthy diets.

Sustainable Food Value Chains for Nutrition This e-course aims to equip project designers and managers with the concepts, principles and tools they need to leverage value chain approaches to improve nutrition through agriculture and food systems. The course primarily targets development practitioners and policy makers working on the development of…

Nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems programmes This e-learning courses on Nutrition and Food Systems guides participants through the steps required to design a nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food system programme. The course is designed to assist professionals from any fields related to agriculture and food systems who are…

Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Training This package provides guidance, recommendations and ideas for individuals charged with training others on nutrition-sensitive agriculture. The following steps for designing a training are detailed in this document: setting workshop goals and objectives, drafting the agenda, adapting exercises and session…

Improving Nutrition Through Home Gardening This training package is intended for agricultural extension agents and others involved in nutrition, home economics, health and community development in Africa. The intention is to improve training participants' ability to promote home gardening within communities as a means to improve food security and…

Document cover of "Food-Based Recommendations Guide for Household-Level Programming" This guide is assists those who are implementing nutrition programmes to improve child feeding practices through the development of recipes utilizing locally available, nutrient-rich foods. It was developed with the primary purpose of creating recipes for meals…

Manual for Country-Level Nutrition Advocacy This resource provides comprehensive, step-by-step instructions for facilitating a national country-level nutrition advocacy planning process using the PROFILES nutrition advocacy tool and nutrition costing. Designed for practitioners working in and with government and their stakeholders to conduct…

Facilitator Guide The Community Infant and Young Child Feeding Counselling Package guides the local adaptation, design, planning and implementation of community-based counselling on early childhood nutrition counselling and support services at scale. The training uses an interactive and expriential adult learning approach that enhances counselling…

This position paper outlines five key strategic priorities aimed at maximizing the coordination between nutrition and social protection programs to improve outcomes for children:1) Taking a multi-level approach to integrating nutrition and social protection2) Implementing fit-for-purpose programs3) Adapting and scaling up for urgent humanitarian needs4) Strengthening convergence and local capacities for enhancing implementation5) Investing in gender-transformative programsThe position paper emphasizes the critical significance of prioritizing the first 1,000 days, highlighting that the effectiveness of cash transfers is notably enhanced when they are specifically directed towards the most vulnerable individuals (children and women during the first 1,000 days).