This episode of Bite the Talk, hosted by Mark Gachagua, features a deep dive into the Nutrition Futures Initiative (NFI). The initiative is a collaborative effort designed to bridge the gap between social protection systems and actual nutritional outcomes through a process called co-innovation.

The Core Challenge

While millions of people rely on programs like cash transfers, school meals, and food support, these systems often fail to meet specific nutritional needs. The experts argue that this is often a failure of design—programs are frequently built without being sensitive to local access constraints or the lived realities of the people they serve.

Key Discussion Pillars

1. Defining Co-Innovation

Innovating Together: It is a mindset that brings diverse stakeholders—from senior government officials to local farmers—together to leverage unconventional viewpoints.

Human-Centered Design (HCD): This approach requires experts to set aside their "dominant logic" and step into the shoes of the beneficiaries.

Open Innovation: Commissioner Mugisha emphasizes moving from "closed" government models to "open" ones that actively seek external ideas to inform internal policies.

2. The Digital Infrastructure

The Innovators Team Platform: NFI is hosted on a digital platform developed by GAIN and Proportion Global, providing a guided space for stakeholders to research, ideate, and solve challenges.

Feedback Loops: The initiative aims to move away from traditional "grievance" mechanisms toward iterative feedback loops where users are treated as equal co-partners.

3. The Scaling Innovation Canvas

Thomas Schuumanns introduced a tool for scaling social protection innovations based on three pillars:

The Innovation: A concept that is proven to be feasible and desired at a small scale.

Future Forecast: A clear long-term mission with a defined roadmap and indicators.

Resources: Having the necessary human, financial, and intellectual capital in place.

Insights from Uganda

Commissioner Mugisha highlighted how Uganda is applying these principles to review national policies for MSMEs and food standards. He noted that by listening to local millers, the government can better understand how to scale industrial fortification of maize so that it actually reaches the most vulnerable populations.

"As an innovator, you be humble, you listen, you never know, there could be helping you to save millions... just by listening." — Commissioner Patrick Mugisha

The "Maize" Connection

In a lighter moment of the episode, Mark Gachagua observed that all three guests shared childhood memories connected to corn—from sweet corn with butter in the US to roasted maize with chili and lemon in East Africa. This shared connection underscores the central theme: that the best solutions come from understanding the simple, daily realities of the people we aim to serve.

Core Discussion Topics

The State of the Pledge: The Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge, launched at the 2021 UN Food System Summit, serves as a roadmap for companies to invest in 10 high-impact areas across roughly 90 countries.

Financial Progress: To date, over 100 companies have pledged a total of $800 million, with approximately $440 million already deployed.

Investment Breakdown.

80% of commitments are core business investments rather than charity, proving the business case for food security.

Roughly half of the funding is directed toward on-farm infrastructure (irrigation, productivity), and the other half toward market interventions (cold storage, connecting rural areas).

The Accountability Framework: The episode highlights a rigorous verification process where independent consultants track company spending and outcomes every two years.

Key Challenges and Realities

The Geographic Gap: Only 3% of deployed funds have reached the highest-priority, low-income countries, as many companies find middle-income markets less risky.

Scaling to Billions: While the pledge has reached millions, the world faces a $514 billion gap to end hunger by 2030.

The Changing Global Context: The guests acknowledge a "grim" global atmosphere where some major financial and insurance institutions are backtracking on sustainability commitments.

Success Stories and Innovation

Over-Commitment: Despite economic downturns, five companies exceeded their original spending pledges.

Impact Indicators: For the first time, companies reported on actual outcomes, such as a project in Uganda helping farmers improve pumpkin value chains through better seeds and storage.

Leveraging Funds: Dr. Lawrence Haddad points out the extraordinary 500-to-1 return on the pledge's operating budget, having generated $151 million in incremental commitments from just $300,000 in administrative costs. 

The episode concludes with a call for a more resilient development paradigm that relies less on dwindling foreign aid and more on blended finance, government regulation, and a thriving African private sector.

The conversation unpacks the specific challenges facing different demographics, from corporate mothers targeted by formula marketing to market vendors who lack the time to breastfeed3333. Ultimately, the episode highlights the need to bridge the gap between high-level government policy and household knowledge to ensure Uganda's agricultural abundance translates into better health for its people

In Episode 27 of "Bite the Talk," host Mark Gachagua is joined by Oliver Camp, the Environment and Food Systems Advocacy Advisor at GAIN. The episode provides a deep dive into the critical intersection of climate change and nutrition, exploring how these two agendas are being integrated across policies, finance, and national strategies.

Key Discussion Points

The "Helicopter View": Ollie begins by outlining the crucial connections between climate and nutrition. He explains that climate change impacts nutrition in numerous ways, such as reducing crop yields and their nutritional content, causing livestock losses, increasing food spoilage due to higher temperatures, and physically disrupting access to food through climate shocks. Conversely, food production itself contributes to climate change through emissions from agriculture, land clearing, and livestock .

GAIN and the I-CAN Initiative: A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN), which GAIN helps lead. Ollie explains that I-CAN works to identify "win-win" solutions by assessing how well climate and nutrition are integrated in policies (like NDCs and NAPs), finance (like the GCF and ODA), and private sector behavior . The goal is to encourage greater integration, making climate policies more nutrition-sensitive and nutrition policies more climate-sensitive.

Country Progress and "Win-Wins": While cautious about picking favorites, Ollie notes that many countries are making progress, citing examples like Cambodia and small island states (e.g., Barbados, UAE) for their comprehensive approaches . He emphasizes that aligning these agendas offers significant "win-win" opportunities, such as cutting food loss and waste, which benefits both the environment and food availability .

The Finance Gap: A major challenge identified is the gap in climate finance. Ollie highlights that only a small percentage of climate finance is directed toward food systems and nutrition , despite food systems accounting for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions. He argues for the need to translate high-level strategies into robust, "investable proposals" that speak the language of climate funders and leverage private finance.

Looking Ahead to COP30: The conversation shifts to the upcoming COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Ollie sees opportunities to raise nutrition's visibility through new NDCs, the Brazilian-led "Belém Declaration on Hunger", and the COP Presidency's Action Agenda, which includes a specific objective on nutrition and diets. His key advice for governments is to look for "multiple outcomes" (co-benefits like health, jobs, and nutrition) and to create detailed, investable proposals based on their climate commitments.

Lighter Moments: The episode concludes with a lighter segment where Mark asks Ollie about his favorite childhood snack. Mark shares his love for roasted maize with chili and lemon , while Ollie admits to being a "proper British boy" who eats porridge daily but has a weakness for roasted, salted cashew nuts.

Parting Shot: Ollie's final message is one of optimism, reiterating that the "win-win opportunities... are too good to miss" and that now is the time for commitment, creativity, and connection to drive action .

In this episode, host Mark Gachagua speaks with Dr. Jessica Fanzo (Columbia University) and Dr. Ty Beal (GAIN) about the Global Food Systems Dashboard. They explain it was created to solve the problem of scattered and complex food data by consolidating information from over 40 sources into one user-friendly, visually appealing platform. Described as a "map of your food system from farm to fork," the dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of everything from agricultural production to health, environment, and livelihood outcomes.

The dashboard is a vital tool for a wide range of users, including major organizations like the FAO, governments, and educators. A key feature is the development of subnational dashboards in countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan, which provide localized data to inform policy.

Future plans for the dashboard are ambitious and include integrating AI-powered natural language queries, adding climate change projections to anticipate future impacts on food security, and launching more country-specific dashboards. The ultimate goal is to empower decision-makers with the data they need to drive global food systems transformation.

Faiz reflects on the challenges of turning policy into action, the power of cross-sector partnerships, and the importance of data in shaping decisions that affect millions. His journey shows how systemic change is possible when vision meets commitment.

Tune in for insights on how one country is rewriting the future of food security—and what the rest of the world can learn from it.

Eugenia discusses how food is an interdisciplinary entry point for change—affecting every aspect of life and society—and why empowering youth to have a genuine voice in decision-making is essential. She introduces listeners to Act for Food, a global campaign hosted by The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), which unites 25 youth leaders worldwide to champion local and indigenous foods, promote school nutrition, and hold multinational corporations accountable.

Listeners hear about the challenges young advocates face in accessing high-level policy spaces, such as UN forums, and the danger of tokenistic engagement. Eugenia highlights the importance of meaningful inclusion, where youth perspectives influence actual decisions rather than being symbolic.

The conversation also explores practical strategies for overcoming barriers—such as building strong networks, leveraging mentorship, and engaging in youth-adult partnerships that blend innovative ideas with experienced guidance. Eugenia shares her personal success stories from cold-messaging peers and mentors, leading to unexpected opportunities like attending the UN’s High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Together, Mark and Eugenia identify solutions for institutions—governments, NGOs, and the private sector—to better support youth engagement, emphasizing the creation of dedicated spaces for youth input, financial and skill-building investment, and the integration of youth-led initiatives into organizational priorities.

When imagining speaking to world leaders at the United Nations, Eugenia explains she would tailor her message to each policymaker’s field, connecting food system transformation to climate goals, educational outcomes, cultural preservation, and public health. Her key point: food is connected to everything, and transforming food systems has ripple effects across all sectors.

The episode closes with Eugenia’s call to action: start with what you know. Whether through art, coding, agriculture, or activism, every skill can contribute to building better food systems. This movement thrives on uniting diverse talents toward a shared goal—balancing what people are good at with what the world needs.

Mark reinforces the message that youth voices are not optional—they are indispensable in creating a sustainable and just food future. From students to farmers to activists, everyone has a role in the transformation.

Bottom line: Youth are 25% of the population but 100% of the future—and their involvement is the change the food system needs.

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Lawrence shares his reflections about things that he's found surprising in the last year, and what he feels we need to do to keep the momentum going on food systems transformation into 2022. Outcomes in terms of commitments made by various stakeholders at N4G and UNFSS are discussed, and Lawrence looks forward to 2022 as a major year to set in motion some of these commitments and to bring Food Systems thinking to the fore in our work to tackle universal goals for healthier people and planet. 

2022 is also a milestone for GAIN – it’s GAIN's 20th anniversary year, and Lawrence discusses what this means for GAIN and partners. Finally, we hear about Lawrence's New Year's resolution regarding food. Tune in to find out more!

On the occasion of the United Nations Food Systems Summit Pre-Summit taking place in Rome (July 26th to 28th), we talked to GAIN’s Executive Director and lead of the UNFSS Action Track 1 – Dr Lawrence Haddad – about his impressions of this 'People's Summit'; about the challenges and rewards of inclusivity; and heard more about the action coalitions emerging in advance of the historical Summit scheduled for September.  

It's been half a year since we heard from Lawrence on this subject, and a lot of progress has been made. He reflects on his impressions so far, as well as sharing some insights into three exciting emerging coalitions around a) Achieving Zero Hunger, b) Food Safety, and c) Healthy diets from sustainable food systems.  

Lawrence shares his hopes for the pre-summit, particularly for Member States and for the Private Sector, and reflects on what it means for GAIN as an organisation, where a lot of energy and effort has been invested in engaging with these multistakeholder processes in preparation for the Summit.

Tune in to Episode 10 Sprinting through the super year and preparing for the marathon to 2030 to find out how can we all change food systems. As Lawrence says, "we cannot do just one thing to change systems – and we all have a responsibility". 

In this podcast episode, we dive into the perspective of urban governments, their role and their opportunity to shape city food systems. Today we chat with experts Panayota Nicolarea, Senior Advisor at the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), Jess Halliday, Associate of the RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems, and Sharelle Polack, Programme Lead for the Urban Governance for Nutrition Programme at GAIN. These experts share with us an important platform that will help urban governments with their policy decision making through learning from the experiences of other cities. To learn more about the platform, go to www.foodactioncities.org 

While the pandemic continues to unfold, there is an urgent need to address the alarming projections modelled by the Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium. In their most recent paper, they warn of the 3 crises in 1 – the economic, the food systems, and health system crisis will have severe consequences on nutrition, with inaction condemning a whole generation. 

On this podcast episode we chat to experts and members of the STfN Coalition; Dr Anna Lartey, leading academic at the University of Ghana and former Director of Nutrition at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and our very own Dr Lynnette Neufeld, Director of Knowledge Leadership at GAIN. Both guests share their views on the possible consequences the pandemic might bring, highlighting vulnerable groups such as women and children, but also all the opportunities which arises from the pandemic, like the STFN consortium that collectively seeks to fill in the knowledge gaps in terms of malnutrition. 

Food safety must be considered along the whole supply chain, including farmers, processors, retailers, and consumers - and deserves greater attention from food systems actors.  

In this episode of Bite The Talk, we unpack what Food Safety means in 2021 with Bonnie McClafferty, the Food Safety lead at GAIN. Bonnie shares experiences of the EatSafe project, as well as reflections on how food safety concerns have been both linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and amplified by it.  

With food safety rising up the agendas of governments, businesses, and other stakeholders, as well as new technological and policy innovations on the horizon, is there a hopeful future for safer, more nourishing food, from safe food systems? We certainly hope so.

In this episode of Bite the Talk, we embark on a conversation around India's food system transformation with Pawan Agarwal, IAS, Special Secretary (Logistics), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India and Tarun Vij, GAIN India Country Director. With both guests, we navigate through India's successes and the "unfinished agenda" on the need to diversify at agricultural level, the need to identify ways to increase farmers’ income, and the need to understand how to leverage the SME culture more.

Tune in to Episode 06: Food Systems Transformation – India’s Journey to find out how India has been adapting their tactics regarding food systems through research.

* Podcast edit (min 15:48): "Foodborne diseases cause around 120.000 deaths per year in India" (source: World Health Organization)

In this episode, our guest Catherine Bertini takes us through some of her personal experiences, showing how they shaped her path to becoming the woman she is today. At an early age, Catherine heard the words "Sometimes we must let the boys win" – a short sentence that represents a reality for many. This and several other experiences have brought her to fight for gender equality throughout her career, choosing to challenge the status quo.  

The roles women play within food systems are wide and varied – and increasingly recognised. Women purchase food, they are the cooks, and they are often the ones who decide what food ends up on the table. If we are to end hunger and improve nutritional outcomes in populations, it is essential to involve, engage, and learn from women in the process.  

Catherine Bertini is a 2003 World Food Prize Laureate and public servant, recipient of several awards. Currently, she is a distinguished fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Chair of the Board of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). She has also been named a Champion of the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit. In 2013, she received the Women Extraordinaire Award from the International Women Associates.

While 2020 meant a crisis to most, to our guest Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), it also meant opportunity. Looking forward to next year, 2021 brings a wealth of opportunities to bring the nutrition agenda forward with important events such as the Nutrition for Growth (also known as Japan N4G) and the UN Food Systems Summit.  

Tune in to Episode 04 of Bite the Talk: “Looking ahead”, an episode that takes us through a journey in time, collecting the events of this year and transforming them into opportunities with bright and optimistic lenses.

In this new podcast episode, our guests Miriam Shindler, GAIN's Programme Lead on the Better Diets for Children Programme, and Abenezer Feleke, Marketing and Behaviour Communication Change Specialist, help us answer part of that question. We discuss all the different layers of complexity that need to be accounted for in their daily work in order to ensure malnutrition is not part of the picture in children's development. 

Tune in to Episode 03 of Bite the Talk: "A closer look into children's diets" to discover why it was necessary to shift to a food systems perspective in order to tackle malnutrition at early stages in life.

In the first episode of this podcast series our guest, Steve Godfrey, Director of Policy and External Relations at GAIN, will share his thoughts on this topic, particularly in light of two big events in 2021: the UN Food Systems Summit (FSS) and the Japan Nutrition for Growth (N4G). This episode takes us through a conversation around the needs to make food systems more people- and sustainability-oriented. This is the promise of the UN Food Systems Summit next year: a “people summit”.

Tune in to Episode 01 of Bite the Talk: “Do we have a healthy food system?” to discover all the challenges and opportunities lay ahead to redirecting food systems into delivering healthier and more sustainable solutions.

Countries and the global community alike need to ensure that food fortification remains a priority throughout the coming decades. In this episode, we will discuss why food fortification matters, and why it is integral to contemporary food systems no matter where you live.

Featured guests include Dipika Matthias, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with GAIN's Programme Lead on Large Scale Food Fortification Penjani Mkambula.