Alexandra Payne

What is a nutrition investment? Although many development partners, DFIs, and impact investors recognize the need to invest in sustainable food systems that ensure greater availability and affordability of nutritious foods for all, there was no common definition of the types of businesses and projects they should be targeting. To help USAID and its partners execute its nutrition financing activities effectively, Wellspring Development Capital Ltd developed a nutrition-lens investing framework. Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships (MSP) is now sharing the framework more widely to help increase both the quality and volume of nutrition impact generated by the impact investing community by providing clear guidance on what constitutes a “nutrition investment”. https://lnkd.in/dGDDcZbT The framework includes:  ➡ A nutrition-lens investing theory of change, highlighting key impact pathways (e.g., production, processing and packaging, storage, distribution, and marketing) that investors can target     ➡ Deal screening criteria linked to food products and impact pathways ➡ A downloadable Excel tool that investment officers can use to speed up the screening process This initiative is timely as we look forward to the upcoming Africa Food Systems Forum, where leaders and stakeholders from across the continent will gather to discuss and advance solutions for food systems transformation, to get nutritious foods to underserved markets. The forum offers a valuable platform to align our efforts and strategies with the latest insights and opportunities in the field. Thank you to Joel Moktar and Michael Shaw from Wellspring Development and Leah Lucas, formerly from Wellspring Development for leading this work, and to USAID champions Songbae Lee and Adina Kuncz Rebecca Egan This work was conducted through USAID’s Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships (MSP) Activity led by DAI. #AFSForum2024

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Nutrition is a topic that all of us at Wellspring are passionate about. Over the past few years we've advised donors, investors, and businesses on the linkages between their investments and nutrition outcomes, as well as the win-wins and trade-offs between nutrition, climate, and jobs and livelihoods. One thing we've found is a lack of consensus among investors and DFIs about what constitutes a "nutrition investment", which isn't surprising given food systems are complex and the different pathways to increasing the availability and affordability of nutritious foods can be very context specific. But this shouldn't put off impact investors and DFIs from trying to invest for nutrition impact. Over the past couple of years we've worked with the USAID team (Rebecca Egan, Songbae Lee, Adina Kuncz) to develop and test a simple nutrition-lens investing framework and tool to help guide their nutrition financing activities. We're now sharing this more widely to help impact investors and DFIs to identify nutrition investments - please take a look and share feedback! Thanks also to all those who input along the way, including Ekin Birol Stella Nordhagen Roberta Bove Brian Milder Eddah Makinia Nangole Yasser Toor Doreen Hashemi Joshua Bicknell Leah Lucas Jonathan Thomas Daniella Maor

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📖 Published today! Our new book on strengthening food and farming systems - "Planning Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems: From Soil to Soil" “The book focuses on land-based systems, starting with agriculture’s role in ensuring the U.S. can deliver an affordable and nutritious food supply while improving environmental outcomes and addressing economic disparities,” shares author, AFT Senior Fellow and Senior Program Advisor, Julia Freedgood. “It addresses food security in the context of a changing climate, recognizing the importance of America’s farmers and ranchers and supporting rural communities.”  ➡ Order your copy: https://bit.ly/3Ya5Tzk

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EAT is proud to be an international partner of the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU). Since 2017, FOLU has been working to enhance #FoodSystems outcomes for people 👩‍🌾, nature 🌿, and climate 🌦. As we approach 2025, the Coalition is sharing its first Impact Report. The report provides a snapshot of FOLU's efforts over the past three and a half years, told through nine impactful stories. Each story illustrates how our Coalition drives change in the various contexts where it operates. Explore the report to discover how FOLU has been: 🧠 Mainstreaming food systems thinking 🤝 Building movements for change in Colombia 🌱 Scaling regenerative agriculture in Ethiopia 🌾 Accelerating eco-regional approaches in Indonesia 👨‍🌾 Unlocking sustainable and inclusive agricultural policies in India 💵 Driving finance to Nature-based Solutions 💼 Mobilizing business action on climate 🌽 Catalyzing Brazilian leadership on food 🔗 Linking global ambition with local action Learn what food systems transformation looks like in practice and how FOLU delivers impactful outcomes by reading the report 👇 https://lnkd.in/dxZAfN6Z Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU)

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We can build a better relationship between food, nature, climate & people. The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) report showcases the positive impact of putting smarter, more sustainable #foodsystems thinking into action. 👏

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