The Transform Nutrition West Africa project is a regional platform that aims to improve and support policy and program decisions and actions to accelerate reductions in maternal and child undernutrition through an inclusive process of knowledge generation and mobilization. Recognizing that knowledge is derived from evidence and experience, TNWA takes a ‘knowledge for action’ approach. As such, TNWA focuses on strengthening the latter stages of the data value chain (namely analysis, translation, and dissemination for decision-making). Through a regional consultation with different stakeholders (researchers, NGOs, civil society, private sector, government, UN, donor agencies) from various sectors, key priorities for future action in the region were identified. These included capturing, documenting, and learning from implementation experiences, and accelerating equitable program coverage of mother, infant and young child interventions at scale. We apply evidence synthesis approaches (i.e., rapid reviews) to identify best practices on topics as prioritized by regional stakeholders. Previous topics include effectiveness and implementation experience of interventions to improve exclusive breastfeeding and early initiation of breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), implementation tools for nutrition, and a landscape analysis of research on adolescent nutrition in the region. Through engagements with UNICEF, the Regional Nutrition Working Group (which is a collective of donors, INGO’s, researchers, development agencies that are active in nutrition in the region), and other stakeholders, the next topic identified as a key issue for the region was wasting among children under five years of age. The output of this rapid review will not only inform various stakeholders active in the region but will also support the Integrated Research on Acute Malnutrition in the Sahel project (IRAM). IRAM aims to generate evidence on wasting prevention and treatment interventions in four countries: Chad, Mauritania, Mali and Niger (multi-country partnership between UNICEF and IFPRI). Stakeholders (review users, such as implementers and researchers) will be involved throughout. They will be consulted to set and refine the review question, eligibility criteria, and the outcome of interest. Consultations will ensure that this rapid review is fit for purpose.

Decisionmakers (including implementers, policymakers, technical agencies) require accurate and relevant evidence by which to plan, develop, and implement nutrition and health programs in a timely fashion. They need to know the effectiveness of interventions and policies, how and in what settings these interventions work, and their cost-effectiveness. Systematic reviews are increasingly used to inform policy decisions and produce guidance for health systems. Production of systematic reviews, however, is often protracted, resource intensive, and incompatible with decision-making timelines; they can take one to two years to complete. Rapid reviews offer an alternative, rapid and timely approach to providing actionable and relevant evidence that can be used to inform decisions about health systems in both routine and emergency contexts. Rapid reviews are generated through a transparent, scientific, and reproducible method that preserves key principles of knowledge synthesis.

Adolescence is an important period of physical and cognitive development during which optimal nutrition is crucial. It is an essential time for forming preferences and habits and a key window of opportunity for influencing adult health. In West Africa, while undernutrition rates remains high, there has also been a steady rise in overweight and obesity, and an increasing share of mortality and morbidity due to diet-related noncommunicable diseases (DR-NCDs) among adolescents. f concern is that adolescents are experiencing these diseases earlier in life than previous generations. It is crucial to address adolescents’ nutrition to prevent them from carrying malnutrition into adulthood and to protect their overall health later in life.

This brief provides an overview of existing literature on nutrition in Ghana, summarizing the issues covered by existing evidence and identifying remaining evidence gaps. It also describes promising new research initiatives underway to further build the evidence base for nutrition action in Ghana.

Cette note propose un résumé des politiques, stratégies et plans d’action ayant trait à la nutrition (désignés ici sous le terme de « politiques ») en Afrique de l’Ouest. En nous concentrant sur les six défis en matière de nutrition qui constituent les objectifs mondiaux de l’Assemblée mondiale de la santé (AMS), nous examinons i) le contexte nutritionnel, les objectifs des politiques en place, les indicateurs, le budget et les activités menées, ii) les principaux bénéficiaires et acteurs, et la coordination, iii) les mécanismes de suivi-évaluation et de responsabilisation des politiques, et iv) la mesure dans laquelle les politiques actuelles sont alignées sur les objectifs de l’AMS.