Through this engagement R4D will consult with a wide range of government and private actors in each country to understand current processes, partnerships and assets for scaling up innovations that enhance agricultural productivity and performance. The findings will inform new World Bank investments and operations in both countries, including the Bank’s upcoming AgriConnect Compact with the Government of Ethiopia.

R4D brings deep experience supporting African governments to strengthen innovation ecosystems and scale high-impact solutions. This includes its ongoing partnership with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, its leadership of the FCDO-funded Research and Innovation Systems for Africa (RISA) Fund, its support to national innovation ministries in Nigeria and Ghana under the Sankore program, and the co-development of the Mountain Model for public sector innovation scaling used by the governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

“We are excited at the opportunity to continue expanding our work supporting governments and their country partners to surface and synthesize insights informing locally owned strategies for strengthening agricultural systems. This is a timely opportunity to look at how to modernize agricultural practices and equip farmers with the latest innovations to help them thrive in challenging climate and economic environments,” said Thomas Feeny, R4D UK country director and Scaling Innovation Practice lead at R4D.

This initial phase of the program is expected to run through July 2026.

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About R4D

Results for Development (R4D) is a leading nonprofit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — supporting them as they navigate complex change processes to achieve large-scale, lasting outcomes in health, education and nutrition. We work with country leaders to diagnose challenges, co-create, innovate and implement solutions built on evidence and stakeholder input. We also support them to engage in learning to adapt, iterate and improve the efficacy of programs. At the same time, we are working to strengthen global, regional and country ecosystems that support country leaders with expertise, evidence, and innovations. R4D helps country leaders solve their immediate challenges today, while also strengthening systems and institutions to address tomorrow’s challenges. And we share what we learn so others around the world can achieve results for development too. www.R4D.org

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The R4D-led Ethiopia Market Shaping Capacity Improvement Program (EMSCIP), which launched in 2019, has launched phase two and will continue through 2026 and build on its initial success.

Historically, many low- and middle-income countries have relied heavily on external partners to conduct market assessments and address key blockages for life-saving commodities. These interventions tend to be short term and product specific. They fail to address broader system-level needs or strengthen capacity within a country. Through EMSCIP, R4D is supporting the government of Ethiopia with a novel approach that is shifting the paradigm and ensuring the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service will be able to serve in the lead market manager role.

“Results for Development is proud to be working alongside the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service to strengthen the agency’s ability to become the lead market manager. The Ethiopian government is charting a new and exciting path that ensures market shaping activities are owned and managed by the national government and responsive to national-level priorities and decision-making.” said R4D Ethiopia Country Director Yosef Alemu.

In 2020, R4D worked with the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service to conduct a comprehensive market assessment to review market dynamics and better understand critical market shortcomings. Based on the findings, R4D provided coaching and recommendations in key areas and developed a government in-service training program focused on market shaping. A follow-up assessment in 2023 showed progress across many areas, including financing, procurement processes, the supplier base and product registration, wastage and more. Additionally, 112 central and hub staff completed the market shaping courses — and 95 percent were certified.

Phase two of the program will focus on further institutionalizing the market shaping approach by improving coordination within and across government agencies, routinizing and strengthening market shaping practices within the public health supply system, addressing last mile commodity bottlenecks, developing a sourcing strategy for products that are not included in the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service Pharmaceutical Procurement List (PPL), strengthening supply chain emergency preparedness, and developing a sustainable commodity financing plan.

A sustainable commodity financing plan is the backbone for the provision of comprehensive and uninterrupted health services at all levels. Building this will require close collaboration and coordination across government agencies and donors and working in a harmonized manner to support government led-resource mobilization and allocation practices. With this phase two investment, R4D will help play a bridging role across the various stakeholders to support the Ethiopian government.

“A lot of donors and global development partners talk about sustainability, but this program is walking the talk. It’s an investment that is tailored to the needs of the Government of Ethiopia and centered around co-creation of solutions. This ensures solutions will be supported and that they’re a good fit, while also strengthening the in-house market shaping capacity within government sectors to decrease reliance on external donors and partners,” Alemu continued.

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On February 16th, 2024, on the side of the 37th Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, the Government of Ethiopia, African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and Results for Development, with support from esteemed partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID, hosted a high-level side event on nutrition financing. The side event convened nutrition experts from around the world for a discussion on how to mobilize more funding for nutrition, how to leverage sources of funding to strategically maximize nutrition gains, and how to engage the private sector to improve nutrition.   

Approximately 200 participants joined in-person and virtually from across 45 countries, with 83% of participants joining from Africa.  

Four key messages emerged from the high-level side event to strengthen sustainable nutrition financing for countries in Africa, which are important for the Post-Malabo Agenda:  

KEY MESSAGE 1: Institutionalize guidelines for nutrition financing and resource tracking within annual budgeting.
KEY MESSAGE 2: Intensify country–led resource mobilization to ensure sustainability of funding and reduce the risk of fragmentation across partners.
KEY MESSAGE 3: Strengthen existing country investments to maximize their impact on nutrition outcomes and ensure more strategic use of funding.
KEY MESSAGE 4: Mainstream nutrition within national planning and budgeting processes as a priority at all levels of government -national and subnational.

Watch a video of the full event here.

See below for a full list of speakers from the African Union Summit High-level Nutrition Side Event.

The Official Session:

• Moderator: Mrs. Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong, Director of Agriculture, Food Security and Environmental Sustainability – AUDA-NEPAD     
• H.E. Mrs. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO, AUDA-NEPAD  
• Dr. Hameed Nuru, United Nations Representative to the AU and ECA   
• ASG Afshan Khan, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Coordinator (virtual)   
• Dr. Mohamed Kadah, COMESA Assistant Secretary General   
• Mabita Luwabelwa, Director, Policy, Planning and Resource Mobilisation SADC 
• Keynote Address: H.E. Dr. Dereje Duguma, State Minister of Health, Ethiopia    

The Technical Session:

• Moderator: Dr Namukulo Covic, Director General’s Representative to Ethiopia, CGIAR Ethiopia Country Convenor, CGIAR Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, President of the African Nutrition Society  
• Dr. Sisay Sinamo, Senior Programme Manager, Seqota Declaration, Federal Programme Delivery Unit & SUN Focal Point, Ethiopia   
• Mrs. Chito N. Nelson, Deputy Director/Head Food and Nutrition Division, Dept of Social Development, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Nigeria   
• Mr. Blessings Muwalo, Deputy Director of Nutrition, Ministry of Health, Department of Nutrition, Malawi   
• Mrs. Mary Mpereh, Technical Advisor, Food Systems and Nutrition Security, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ghana   
• Dr. Patricia N’Goran, Adviser to the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and SUN Focal Point   
• Ms. Providence Mavubi, Director, Agriculture and Industry, COMESA   
• Ms. Kefilwe Moalosi, Nutrition and Food Safety, Programme Officer, AUDA-NEPAD  

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Mu’azu is a senior program officer in R4D’s Market Shaping practice where he provides strategic and programmatic leadership in managing market shaping projects in Nigeria. He leads in transforming markets for maternal, newborn and child health medicines and devices, by identifying underlying market challenges and opportunities to create advocacy and market-shaping roadmaps to introduce and scale-up lifesaving commodities for the health and wellbeing of women and children. Mu’azu further manages both new and existing key internal and external partnerships at the national and sub-national levels.

Before joining R4D, Mu’azu worked with and managed Global Funds- and USAID-funded projects strengthening primary health care systems and establishing durable community partnerships for the reduction of maternal newborn and child mortality in Nigeria by addressing barriers to access and use of health care services through social and behavior change. He previously contributed to the introduction and the scale-up of chlorhexidine (a low dose antiseptic) to prevent newborn death by preventing umbilical cord infection, and misoprostol for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage in Nigeria.

He currently served on the advisory board of Lafiya Nigeria, and had previously served in the same capacity at Family Empowerment Media (FEM).

Mu’azu holds an MPA in development practice from Columbia University, a master’s degree in international studies and a bachelor’s degree in history from Usmanu Dan Fodio University Sokoto. He speaks English and Hausa fluently and is currently learning Arabic and French. 

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At Results for Development (R4D), Mr. Dubik is FHM Engage and Frequent Assessment of Systems and Tools for Resilience (FASTR) program officer for Ghana. He supports the FHM Engage and FASTR activities in Ghana by performing administrative, project management, research, business development, and communication tasks, among others. At FHM Engage, he specifically supports activities relating to the Network of Practice (NoPs), Health Facility Regulatory Authority (HeFRA) and data systems and governance with the Ministry of Health. At FASTR, he is supporting activities leading to the strengthening of health systems and RAMNCAH-N outcomes through rapid cycle analytics and data use for decision-making.

Prior to joining R4D, Mr Dubik was a technical officer for JICA MNH-KAIZEN project where he led the project activities in the Northern region of Ghana. He also provided consultancy services to notable organizations such as the World Health Organization, International Water Resource Center-Ghana (IRC-Ghana), and Fujita Planning Co., Ltd. As a consultant, he led a team of technical experts to develop the National Patient Safety Strategy for Ghana.

Mr. Dubik is a published academic author and has written and published over 16 journal articles on health systems, maternal and child health, WASH, infection control and nutrition.

Mr. Dubik holds a Master of Philosophy degree in public health nutrition from the University for Development Studies, a Master of Public Health from the University of Ghana, a Bachelor of Science in public health from the University of Ghana and a Diploma in education from the University of Cape Coast. He speaks English, Twi and his native language Moar.

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Combating malnutrition requires a coordinated effort across sectors. While there is a growing body of evidence on what works to improve maternal and child nutrition, comparable evidence on the costs and cost-effectiveness of multisectoral nutrition strategies has been limited (Keats et al 2021, Ruel et al. 2018, Swinnen et al. 2018 and Wun et al. 2022).

Decision makers rely on available evidence to inform strategic planning, priority setting and resource allocation for multisectoral nutrition programming. The lack of reliable, robust, and comparable economic evaluation information impedes the ability of funders, policymakers and program managers to make informed decisions about which interventions to prioritize to improve nutrition outcomes and achieve nutrition-related development targets. It is crucial to close the data gap in evidence on the costs and cost-effectiveness of nutrition-sensitive interventions within multisectoral programs.

The most useful information from economic evaluations of nutrition programs will be data that is robust, data that is collected using transparent, comparable, standardized methods, and data that can directly inform decision making. The Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition) consortium has developed a common approach to conduct costing studies that is integrated with program impact evaluations for multisector nutrition programs. The common approach aims to strengthen the design and implementation of economic evaluations, with a focus on context-specific operational plans, or study protocols. It utilizes a comprehensive and fully customizable set of cost data collection tools for estimating financial and economic costs.

This guidance document is a how-to guide on the common approach that can be applied by practitioners, field researchers, evaluators, and implementors. For more on the SEEMS-Nutrition project, including applications in Malawi, Bangladesh, and Nepal (forthcoming), please see the R4D Project Page and the SEEMS-Nutrition website.

To view the guidance document online, click here.

Referenced Tools

References:

Keats, E. C., Das, J. K., Salam, R. A., Lassi, Z. S., Imdad, A., Black, R. E., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2021). Effective interventions to address maternal and child malnutrition: an update of the evidence. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 5(5), 367-384. 

Swinnen, Tui, Jeremy Shoham, Carmel Dolan, Charulatha Banerjee, Lillian Karanja-Odhiambo, and Ambarka Youssoufane. 2018. “Exploring multi-sector programming at district level in Senegal, Nepal and Kenya.” Field Exchange 57, Aug. 4, 2018, 21. 

Ruel, Marie T., Agnes R. Quisumbing, and Mysbah Balagamwala. 2018. “Nutrition-sensitive agriculture: What have we learned so far?” Global Food Security 17 (June 1): 128–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2018.01.002. 

The post Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies (SEEMS) – Nutrition: Common Approach Guidance Document appeared first on Results for Development.

Wura is a program officer in the Market Shaping practice at Results for Development (R4D) where she draws insights from analyses and supports the development of high quality and actionable government, donor and partner-facing documents. She supports the design of market shaping solutions via a hypothesis-driven approach to develop recommendations for internal and external stakeholders, to drive sustainable impact on MMS and MCW projects.

Before joining R4D, Wura worked with an indigenous health consulting firm, Solina, from 2016 to 2021 to implement projects funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Aliko Dangote. She utilized her analytical and problem-solving skills, working with government ministries, departments and agencies and global partners such as BMGF, USAID, UNICEF and WHO to implement interventions and policies aimed at improving access to and coverage of health care services. After completing her master’s degree in 2022, she did a short stint at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance before working with a digital health firm. She also served as a 2023 Youth Delegate at the World Bank Group.

Wura holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Oxford and a first class degree in B.Sc. economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

She speaks Yoruba, English and a little bit of French.

Publications:

Considerations for integrating COVID-19 vaccination into immunization programmes and primary health care for 2022 and beyond

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Mr. Ahmed is a senior program officer in the DataDENT program at Results for Development (R4D), where he coordinates the program across key implementing partners including John Hopkins University (JHU), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the African Population & Health Research Center (APHRC). He oversees and contributes to DataDENT’s three major outcomes with a focus on multisectoral nutrition data alliances and strengthening the data value chain to ensure quality data collection, synthesis and utilization.

Abel contributed to the introduction and scale-up of multisectoral coordination for addressing nutrition and health related issues. He led an agriculture-health-education linkage through executing key nutrition packages at the community and household level including cooking demonstrations, backyard farming and school gardening. As an advisor to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Industry, he helped to change the food fortification landscape and led the approval of mandatory fortification of wheat flour and edible oil.

Abel has also managed coordination of multiple stakeholders at the household, community and facility level, an approach that has been expanded to national level flagship programs. He has provided evidence about how to integrate gender and nutrition explicit objectives into multidisciplinary agricultural interventions to improve the nutritional status of entire communities. He has helped translate micronutrient data into evidence for policymakers, made program recommendations, and assisted the food fortification program transition from planning and preparation through implementation. He also led the 5-year national food fortification strategic plan to orchestrate the program implementation phase.

Abel has served as the secretary for Ethiopia’s national food fortification steering and technical committee, and a member of the national nutrition technical committee.  

He holds a master’s degree in food science and nutrition from Addis Ababa University and a B.Sc. in food science and post-harvest technology from Haramaya University. He is a native speaker of Amharic and speaks intermediate English.  

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At Results for Development (R4D), Mrs. Fisseha is a senior program officer in the market shaping practice where she works on child wasting and family planning projects.

Prior to joining R4D, she led a field team of diverse experts in the implementation of the Ethiopian Pharmaceuticals Logistics System (IPLS). IPLS, which relies on both manual and automated tools, was designed and implemented in all of Ethiopia’s major hospitals and health centers and helped facilities improve storage, generate reports and make requests to the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service (EPSS) for major program commodities. She was also engaged in the process of integrating RMNCH and nutrition commodities into this system and designing and implementing the automated tool used to support storage and inventory management in high volume hospitals and health centers.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and a M.Sc. degree in public health.

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