DEADLINE: 7TH SEPTEMBER, 2022
GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR IMPROVED NUTRITION (GAIN)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION RESEARCH TO IMPROVE FORTIFICATION QUALITY IN INDIA, NIGERIA, AND BANGLADESH
ABOUT GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with both governments and businesses, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver more nutritious food for all people.
At GAIN, we believe that everyone in the world should have access to nutritious and safe food. We work to understand and deliver specific solutions to the daily challenge of food insecurity faced by poor people. By understanding that there is no “one-size-fits-all” model, we develop alliances and build tailored programmes, using a variety of flexible models and approaches.
We build alliances between governments, local and global businesses, and civil society to deliver sustainable improvements at scale. We are part of a global network of partners working together to create sustainable solutions to malnutrition. Through alliances, we provide technical, financial and policy support to key participants in the food system. We use specific learning, evidence of impact, and results of projects and programmes to shape and influence the actions of others.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, GAIN has representative offices in Denmark, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, we have country offices in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania. Programmes and projects are carried out in a variety of other countries, particularly in Africa and Asia.
BACKGROUND
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) and will be the administrative lead organisation for this RFP.
The purpose of this RFP is to engage services of a Service Provider to design and conduct implementation research activities to test and refine the digitization theory of change, with particular focus on the digitization and gender equity efforts, in Bangladesh, Nigeria and India as part of GAIN’s work on digitizing fortification quality and strengthening enabling environments.
DIGITIZING FORTIFICATION QUALITY AND STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENTS
Fortification programs today suffer from a lack of fortification quality across almost all food vehicles due to weak government enforcement mechanisms that are a result of poor incentives, lack of trained personnel, and limited resources. Without the enforcement that could level the playing field, mills/refiners are not held accountable to fortify to government standards – and many do not fortify at all, reducing effective coverage and diminishing the contribution fortification can have on micronutrient intakes and disease prevention. To date, quality improvements in fortification have largely been achieved through accreditation services (i.e., premix) and traditional capacity building of industry, labs, and government regulators by international non-governmental organisations (NGOs).These efforts have been important, but they have failed to build sustainable, cost-effective systems, as they continue to rely heavily on resource-constrained government enforcement programs for monitoring and on international donors to support the work of the NGOs.
With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), GAIN aims to lead the co-creation, design, test and scale up with partners of a digital, field-friendly, replicable solution that enables mills and regulators to produce and access traceable data on food fortification quality while also supporting data quality, knowledge management, technical assistance, and standards for large-scale food fortification (LSFF).
