30 years of impact

Three decades of better nutrition globally.

Nutrition International is a global nutrition organization headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. Since 1992, we have grown to become a world-class leader in delivering high-impact, low-cost nutrition interventions.

Learn more about our history

Our 30 years of experience, expertise and dedication have allowed us to reach millions of people with better nutrition year after year.

Our commitment to results helped us navigate the challenges of the past year to keep delivering quality nutrition programming despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, increasing commodity costs and supply chain disruptions as well as new and continuing conflicts around the world and in the countries in which we work.

Our past has made us stronger and guides us as we continue to work towards a future where everyone, everywhere is free from malnutrition.

From the President and CEO

Looking forward.

Nutrition International’s President and CEO Joel C. Spicer reflects on global challenges and how we need to move forward at this critical time for nutrition.

Letter from the Board Chair

Leading the charge on nutrition.

Good nutrition is the foundation of development. It supports overall health and growth as well as learning and education, all of which allow people to reach their full potential whether at school, work or in their community. Every facet of every life is, in some way, impacted by having or not having the right nutrition at the right time.

Read the full letter

For 30 years, Nutrition International has been helping build a better world by increasing people’s access to the nutrition they need, when they need it. What began as the Micronutrient Initiative, a small secretariat created by Canada, has grown to become a global powerhouse of nutrition action – delivering essential nutrition interventions, contributing valuable data and evidence to the global community, and leading advocacy efforts at every level to increase prioritization and investment.

Nutrition International’s approach of working hand in hand with local governments as an expert ally has resulted in sustainable improvements to people’s nutrition around the world and led to advancements in health, equality and human capital.

Our Investment Case

By 2030, we aim to transform the lives of one billion people by improving their nutritional status.

COVID-19 continued to have a tremendous impact on our work, as new waves and closures interrupted programs and demanded new ways of thinking.

More on our investment case

Despite the challenges we faced through the pandemic, we remain on track to meet or exceed most of the targets laid out in our six-year Strategic Plan and Investment Case, which launched in 2018.

As we pass the midway point of our strategy, we are examining and re-evaluating the way forward as we adapt to the ever-changing new normal. The lessons we have learned over the past two years – and our 30 years of experience and growth – will guide us as we begin the development of our next investment case, which will carry us through the sprint to reach our 2030 goal.

Regardless of changing obstacles and approaches, we remain committed to our mission of building a world where everyone, everywhere is free from malnutrition and able to reach their full potential.

Country Highlights

Making an impact in our core countries.

In our 10 core countries across Africa and Asia, we support programming from the national to local level, working with governments and partners across sectors to implement policies, build the knowledge base, and deliver quality nutrition interventions. Here are just a few highlights from our work:

Explore Our Global Projects

We support government efforts and health workers on the ground to strengthen nutrition programs, especially for women, children and adolescent girls. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • In June 2021, the Iodized Salt Bill was passed into law, the culmination of Nutrition International’s longstanding advocacy and technical assistance efforts with the Government of Bangladesh.
  • Nutrition International developed five public service announcements on adolescent nutrition that were broadcast by the government across all national TV channels and other media outlets, reaching millions of adolescents.
  • Nutrition International district coordinators visited 594 new mothers in their homes and conducted 6,741 virtual monitoring and in-person visits to health facilities to support maternal and newborn health and nutrition programming.

We are collaborating with partners, including governments, schools and local organizations, to increase access and build understanding about the importance of nutrition, for women, girls and communities. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • More than 285,000 girls and boys received gender-sensitive nutrition education at school.
  • For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pregnant Women Conferences returned, reaching 18,183 pregnant women and other social influencers with messaging on maternal and newborn health and nutrition care.
  • With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we launched a project to test double-fortified salt with iodine and folic acid and introduce it to the marketplace, helping to reduce the prevalence of neural tube defects.

India has been severely affected by COVID-19, leading to a sharp decline in the delivery of critical health and nutrition services. We worked with government and partners to continue to deliver quality nutrition programs and new projects for the entire population, especially women, girls and children. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • Nutrition International’s Adolescent Nutrition and Anaemia online course was adapted into the Indian Institute for Public Health’s Maternal, Infant, Child and Adolescent Nutrition e-learning course.
  • Our delivery support reached an additional 13,488,826 children under five with two doses of vitamin A.
  • We began an implementation research project to increase coverage, access and adherence to iron folic acid and calcium supplements during pregnancy and postpartum.

We support government to strengthen nutrition policies and improve nutrition programs to help improve the nutritional status of the population. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • Our advocacy efforts led to the Government of Indonesia instating a new standard for wheat flour fortification, meaning more than 133 million additional people had access to wheat flour fortified with iron.
  • More than 1,500 frontline workers, teachers and adolescent girls received training to strengthen their knowledge and skills on the weekly iron and folic acid supplementation program.
  • In partnership with the Ministry of Health, we launched the Adolescent Nutrition and Anaemia course in Bahasa to help health and nutrition program planners and implementers to design national and local evidence-based programs to improve nutrition in Indonesia.

We are working with national and county governments to improve policies and mobilize more resources for nutrition programming, to ensure everyone, especially women, girls and children, have access to the nutrition they need. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • Newly activated community health volunteers played a significant role in boosting vitamin A coverage, achieving higher than 80% coverage in nine of the 10 counties supported by Nutrition International.
  • We provided customized technical assistance to 56 milling companies, providing training on food safety and fortification, leading to a 10% improvement in adequately fortified flour.
  • We launched an implementation research study in Vihiga County to explore whether promoting the supply of zinc and low-osmolarity oral rehydration salts co-packs through the private sector can increase not only care-seeking for childhood diarrhoea through increased access to treatment, but also demand.

Working with partners, we support the government to deliver quality nutrition programs and ensure they are available for those who need them. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • We partnered with the Society for Women Development and Empowerment in Nigeria to mainstream gender into the behaviour change intervention strategy in seven states, aimed at addressing norms, barriers and practices that limit access and decision-making power of girls and women around healthcare.
  • Nearly two million pregnant women were reached with iron and folic acid.
  • More than 238,000 caregivers were reached with information on prevention and management of childhood diarrhoea.

Together with governments and global partners, we are leading the charge on fortification and nutrition programming to ensure everyone, especially women, girls and children, has access. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • Four districts established Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) Committees to ensure smooth implementation of the newly established KMC wards.
  • Our delivery support reached an additional 12,147,211 children under five with two doses of vitamin A.
  • Our continued advocacy efforts contributed to the passing of laws mandating fortification of edible oil and wheat flour in the provinces of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

We support national and subnational governments to deliver effective maternal and newborn health and nutrition programming. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • The Barangay First 1,000 Days National Program was scaled up to 1,086 program sites, exceeding the targeted 800 sites.
  • The Barangay First 1,000 Days training module was digitized and adopted by the government for nationwide training of health workers and facilitators. The e-module is currently being hosted as part of the government’s e-learning resources.
  • We hosted a high-level subnational webinar on technical assistance for prioritization and integration of nutrition into local planning networks.

We work with governments and partners to reach adolescents with improved nutrition and support nutrition policies and programs that benefit the general population. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • The findings of the sex- and gender-based analysis were disseminated to government partners and other stakeholders.
  • All 45 targeted sub-regional micro plans across four regions were implemented to guide quality control processes for iodized salt production.
  • We supported the resumption of the Adolescent Health and Nutrition program, which was disrupted by the pandemic in 2020, helping to expand the program to regions covering 77% of the adolescent population.

We support governments to improve policies and deliver quality programs to ensure the right nutrition gets to those in need, especially pregnant women, adolescent girls and children. Some key highlights from this year include:

  • We revised and developed a gender-responsive national strategy to guide nutrition stakeholders in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating nutrition social behaviour change communication and behaviour change intervention strategies.
  • We provided five modern iodization machines and supported the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Center in sensitizing the Regional and Council Health Management Teams about the importance of their use.
  • We provided technical and financial support for the development and launch of the second National Maternal Nutrition Action Plan.

Financial Highlights

Program Interventions 2022

March 31, 2022 (in U.S. dollars)

Vitamin A
$26,223,435
$4,004,432
Women & Adolescents’ Nutrition
Universal Salt Iodization
$2,878,355
Zinc & ORS
$3,877,608
Infant & Young Child Nutrition
$799,339
Research & Quality Assurance
$3,274,148
Maternal & Newborn Health & Nutrition
$6,352,396
Global Advocacy
$1,142,260
Food Fortification
$3,018,674
Integrated Nutrition Programs
$696,894
Technical Assistance Mechanism
$2,810,328
Vitamin A $ 26,223,435
Women and Adolescents’ Nutrition 4,004,432
Universal Salt Iodization 2,878,355
Zinc and ORS 3,877,608
Infant and Young Child Nutrition 799,339
Research and Quality Assurance 3,274,148
Maternal and Newborn Health and Nutrition 6,352,396
Global Advocacy 1,142,260
Food Fortification 3,018,674
Integrated Nutrition Programs 696,894
Technical Assistance Mechanism 2,810,328
Total 55,077,869

About Nutrition International

We nourish people to nourish life.

For nearly 30 years, we have focused on delivering low-cost, high-impact, nutrition interventions to people in need.

Working alongside governments as an expert ally, we combine deep technical expertise with a flexible approach, increasing impact without increasing complexity or cost. We serve as a force multiplier across the development ecosystem, using our unique combination of capabilities to help countries overcome barriers to scaling up nutrition, domestic resource mobilization as well as local government capacity and ownership. In more than 60 countries, primarily in Asia and Africa, Nutrition International nourishes people to nourish life.