Evidence-informed decision making: Insights from the nutrition field

30 November 2022. The scope of nutrition science has broadened to a multi-sectoral and transdisciplinary approach for a systemic understanding of malnutrition, a complexity that adds to the already existing obstacles to evidence-informed decision-making in nutrition.

Furthermore, though widely acknowledged, using scientific evidence in the design of nutrition policies many sub-Saharan African countries is still poorly documented, despite some emerging good practices and innovative initiatives.

In this context, the Knowledge and Research for Nutrition project launched by the European Commission aims to provide improved knowledge and evidence for policy and programme design, management and monitoring & evaluation in order to reach better nutrition outcomes.

It has set up a “Nutrition Research Facility” pooling expertise from European academia and operating in a way to (i) stimulate the demand for scientific input from decision makers; (ii) bring evidence through research and analyses; (iii) provide expertise for the M&E of policies and programmes; and (iv) share knowledge and build the capacity of decision makers.

Ultimately, this initiative aims to contribute to improving the connection, collaboration, communication and coordination between researchers and decision makers and to strengthening monitoring & evaluation systems for tracking the nutrition benefits of policies and programmes.

Recording available on the link of the conference

https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/news-and-events/events/infopoint-conference-evidence-informed-decision-making-insights-nutrition-field-2022-11-30_en

• Leonard Mizzi, Head of Unit, INTPA F3- Sustainable Agri-Food systems and Fisheries
• Carl Lachat, Professor, University of Gent
• Paolo Sarfatti