This document provides the agenda for the "Delivering for Nutrition in India" conference held on September 24, 2019 in New Delhi. The conference was co-hosted by several organizations and aimed to share findings from implementation research studies in India and discuss how to strengthen coverage, equity and quality of nutrition interventions. The agenda included sessions on topics like ICDS-CAS technology integration, social and behavioral change communication approaches, and factors affecting frontline health workers and service delivery models. The conference brought together researchers and stakeholders to convey evidence-based insights to policymakers in order to bolster actions against malnutrition in India.

1. September 24, 2019, 8:30 – 18:00 hrs
Multipurpose Hall, India International Center, New Delhi
Delivering for Nutrition in India
Insights from Implementation Research
AGENDA

2. Co-hosts
In alphabetical order:
Alive & Thrive (A&T)
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
National Institute of Nutrition (NIN)
NITI Aayog
The India Nutrition Initiative (TINI)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
World Bank (WB)
About the banner
The banner is a stylized representation of the variability in India in the coverage of
maternal and child nutrition interventions along the continuum of care during the first
1000 days. The bar heights are in proportion of the data according to India’s fourth
round of National Family Health Survey of 2016. The infographic icons, from left to
right, represent the antenatal check-up, consumption of iron and folic acid during
pregnancy, institutional delivery, postnatal care for babies, exclusive breastfeeding,
immunization, weighing, care seeking during acute respiratory infections and food
supplementation during early childhood. The nutrition community in India strives for
the successful convergence of all core nutrition interventions on the same mother-
child dyad, as shown in the photograph, in all 1000-day households across the
country.
Design credits
This photograph was shot by Shawn Sebastian, freelance photographer and film-
maker, for IFPRI, in Balangir district, Odisha. The design was created by Lee Dixon,
Graphic Designer in IFPRI’s Communications and Public Affairs team, based in
Washington DC.

3. 1
BACKGROUND
Why are we gathering?
In 2017-18, with the launch of India’s National Nutrition Mission, or POSHAN
Abhiyaan, there has been a ramping up of action towards the goal of attaining
malnutrition-free India by 2022. Initiatives like Anemia Mukt Bharat have also been
launched, focusing on specific nutrition challenges such as anemia. POSHAN
Abhiyaan is backed by an evidence-based National Nutrition Strategy. Its
implementation is centred around four main pillars to support the scale-up and
convergence of services on vulnerable populations - Technology (ICDS-CAS),
Convergence Action Planning, Behavioral Change Communication/IEC Advocacy,
and Training/Capacity building. Data and data use are deemed central to the
success of this mission, and several efforts are being made to use and improve
programs using data.
The evidence base which anchors POSHAN Abhiyaan is primarily the scientific
literature that emphasizes the importance of focusing on multiple nutrition goals to
support the overall development of the country. It recognizes the centrality of all
forms of malnutrition, the importance of the first 1000 days of life, the role of
improving nutrition-related behaviors while also delivering a range of nutrition
interventions across sectors to address the well-recognized underlying social
determinants of India’s malnutrition challenge. It also recognizes the importance of
political and administrative leadership.
The ultimate impact of POSHAN Abhiyaan’s efforts, however, now rests on the
ability of these efforts to catalyse better coverage and quality of interventions, to
close equity gaps in the major determinants of malnutrition, to support families to
improving nutrition-related behaviors and to mitigate other social determinants of
malnutrition. Implementation research in nutrition is recognized to be a critical body
of evidence to support effective programs reach these goals. It can take multiple
forms and use diverse research methods. The effective use of implementation
research can help to improve a range of issues related to organizational, financial,
capacity, as well as client-side contextual factors. These are factors that come
together to influence how interventions are implemented, how they reach client
populations and how they are acted upon.
In the context of India’s nutrition efforts, a range of implementation research studies
have either been completed or are ongoing. These include studies on the use of
technology in the ICDS, on the reach and effectiveness of behavior change
communications efforts, on the challenges faced by frontline workers, and on factors
affecting how client populations use major platforms, engage with interventions.
Studies are also being conducted on major components of India’s flagship programs,
such as the food supplements, growth monitoring, micronutrient supply chains and
other services.
In 2016, with a range of partners, the first-ever nutrition implementation research (IR)
conference was held in India. The conference was based on the theme of achieving
full coverage of interventions across the continuum of care. Critical upstream issues

4. 2
affecting implementation scale and quality, such as financing, frontline worker
performance, policy issues related to supplementary foods and the use of emerging
platforms (e.g., self-help groups and technology platforms) for nutrition were also
featured.
This second India-focused nutrition implementation research conference, Delivering
for Nutrition 2019, coincides with other national nutrition month events in
September. It brings together an updated body of evidence on the major program
pillars of POSHAN Abhiyaan and the major program platforms. It aims to provide
insights from implementation research to the current program efforts under POSHAN
Abhiyaan. The conference convenes researchers from multiple institutes on a
common platform to share evidence on strengthening the implementation of
maternal and child nutrition initiatives. In a collective voice we aim to convey
research-based insights to the larger group of nutrition stakeholders and
policymakers to bolster actions for tackling India’s nutrition challenge.
The conference is co-hosted by the International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI), the National Institute of Nutrition, India’s premier nutrition research institute
and NITI Aayog, India’s national policy think tank. It is also supported and co-hosted
by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Alive & Thrive (A&T), UNICEF, the
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the World Bank, and The India
Nutrition Initiative (TINI).
The event is anchored by IFPRI’s flagship nutrition initiative in India, POSHAN
(Partnerships and Opportunities to Strengthen and Harmonize Actions for Nutrition in
India), which commenced in 2011 and since then, has been bringing data and
evidence to the nutrition community.
Objectives
1. Share findings from ongoing or recently completed implementation research
studies in nutrition
2. Deliberate on ways of tapping into research insights to help strengthen the
coverage, equity and quality of maternal and child nutrition interventions in
India.

5. 3
AGENDA
Time Session
8:30 – 9:00 hrs Registration
9:00 –10:15 hrs
Opening: Why implementation research matters for
scaling up nutrition programs with equity and quality
Co-chairs: Ajay Tirkey, MWCD, Alok Kumar, NITI Aayog and
R. Hemalatha, NIN
Welcome remarks
Shahidur Rashid, IFPRI
Why are we here? What do we know about coverage and
equity of nutrition interventions across India?
Purnima Menon, IFPRI
Keynote: History and relevance of implementation research
in nutrition
Marie Ruel, IFPRI
An evidence gap map for implementation research in nutrition
in India
Stuti Tripathi, 3ie
Co-chair remarks/ Q&A
10:15 – 10:30 hrs
Poster session I: Key findings from ongoing
implementation studies
9 presentations – list of presenters is appended
Each presenter will do a 90-second presentation/pitch of their
poster
10:30 – 11.00 hrs Tea/coffee break & posters
11:00 – 12:15 hrs
M-Health interventions and their role in service delivery:
Learnings from the field
Co-chairs: Sajjan Singh Yadav, MWCD and Rahul Mullick,
BMGF
Overview and current reach of ICDS-CAS under POSHAN
Abhiyaan

6. 4
Time Session
Sajjan Singh Yadav, MWCD
Insights on technology integration from the ICDS-CAS process
evaluation
Rasmi Avula, IFPRI
Learnings from a technology-based nutrition surveillance
system – a six state study
Kakani Sreerama Krishna, NIN
Data use in the ICDS: Implications for ICDS-CAS
Divya Nair, IDinsight
Co-chair remarks/ Q&A
12:15 – 13:00 hrs
Maternal nutrition implementation research update
Chair: Purnima Menon, IFPRI
Overview of ongoing maternal nutrition implementation
research
Purnima Menon, IFPRI
Pathways from program inputs to service delivery: Experience
from maternal nutrition interventions in Uttar Pradesh, India
Shivani Kachwaha, IFPRI
Evidence based and actionable dietary advice for pregnant
and lactating women in Rajasthan
Goutam Sadhu, IIHMR and Namita Wadhwa, IPE Global
Q&A
13:00 – 13:45 hrs Lunch
13:45 – 14:45 hrs
Scaling up social and behavioral change communication
through multiple platforms: What does the evidence tell
us?
Co-Chairs: Sebanti Ghosh, A&T and Rachana Sharma,
UNICEF
Global evidence: Summary of findings from multiple
evaluations of SBCC programs
Phuong Nguyen, IFPRI

7. 5
Time Session
Women’s group platforms for health and nutrition SBCC:
What does the evidence say? What more is needed?
Madhavi Misra, Population Council
Organizing and attendance of community-based events –
Learnings from organizing of Annaprashan Diwas
Sai Mala, CARE India
Reaching families, reaching mothers, shaping behaviors:
Insights from the national SBCC survey
Pulkit Agarwal, IDinsight
Co-chair remarks/Q&A
14:45 – 15:25 hrs
Frontline worker capacity, financing and governance
Co-chairs: Gayatri Singh, UNICEF and Suneeta Krishnan,
BMGF
Factors affecting implementation of ICDS services -
governance, human resource capacity, and other barriers
William Joe, IEG
Financial factors, human resources, and bottlenecks: Delivery
of services through Integrated Child Development Services
Avani Kapur, AI
Co-chair remarks/ Q&A
15:25 – 15:40 hrs
Poster session II: Key findings from implementation
research
8 presentations – list of presenters is appended
Each presenter will do a 90-second presentation/pitch of their
poster
15:40 – 16:00 hrs Tea and posters
16:00 – 17:30 hrs
Take-home rations, cash or hot meals? What’s the
scoop?
Co-chairs: Roli Singh, GoR, HPS Sachdev, Sitaram Bharti
Hospital and Medical Research Centre and Sudharsanam M.
Balasubramaniam, CIFF
Update of evidence on India’s ICDS Supplementary Nutrition
Program

8. 6
Time Session
Saachi Bhalla, BMGF
Global evidence on relative impacts of cash and food on child
nutrition outcomes
Harold Alderman, IFPRI
Implications of the global evidence for India’s cash transfer
programs
Urvashi Wattal, J-PAL South Asia
Overview of “one full meal” programs for maternal nutrition
and evidence needs
Rasmi Avula, IFPRI
Delivering cash to mothers: Insights from implementation
research on the Pradhan Mantri Matrutva Vandana Program
(PMMVY)
Manoj Mohanan, Duke University
Design overview: Plans for a cash versus take-home ration
pilot study
G.S. Toteja, ICMR
Co-chair remarks/ Q&A
17:30 – 18:00 hrs
From evidence to programs: How can implementation
research findings be used to improve program coverage,
equity and quality
Chair/moderator: Alok Ranjan, BMGF and Purnima Menon,
IFPRI
Remarks:
- Vinod Paul, NITI Aayog
- Arti Ahuja, LBSNAA
- Kapil Yadav, AIIMS
- Rajan Sankar, Tata Trusts
18:00 hrs Closing remarks followed by high tea and photo exhibit

9. 7
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Poster presenters will each get 90 seconds to do an overview and a pitch on their
posters. The posters will be displayed during breaks so that the participants have an
opportunity to meet poster presenters and learn about their work in more depth.
Poster session I topics; session 1 presenters will be at their
posters during the morning tea break
No. Topic Presenter
1. Understanding the processes of growth
monitoring in ICDS - a multi-state study
Sumati Bajaj, IFPRI
2. Understanding the use of ICDS-CAS Dashboard
and features of dashboard
Sarvesh Tewari, Dimagi
3. India’s Integrated Child Development Services
programme: equity and extent of coverage in
2006 and 2016
Purnima Menon, IFPRI
4. Goal setting and identification of priority
interventions for stunting reduction in Odisha: A
Lives Saved Tool (LiST) based approach
Santanu Bhaumik,
APPI
5. Maternal spot feeding evaluation in Chhattisgarh
and strengthening its quality in southern states
William Joe, IEG
6. Effect Of ‘Anna Amrutha Hastham (Full meal
programme)’ On Nutritional Status of pregnant
women and lactating mothers in Andhra Pradesh
Kakani Sreerama
Krishna, NIN
7. Use of the Jeevika SHG platform for the delivery
of BCC messages: Impact and factors influencing
impact
Kalyani Raghunathan,
IFPRI
8. Integrated multisectoral strategy to improve girls’
and women’s nutrition before conception, during
pregnancy and after birth in India (Swabhimaan):
a prospective, non-randomized controlled
evaluation 2016-2021
Vani Sethi, UNICEF
9. Testing the impact of layered health & nutrition
interventions in Rajasthan
Neha Raykar, OPM

10. 8
Poster session II; session 2 presenters will be at their posters
during the afternoon tea break
No. Topic Presenter
1. Understanding of factors influencing pregnant
and lactating women’s decisions on food intake:
Findings from a formative research in Rajasthan
Subir Kole, IPE Global
2. Determinants of the performance of state-
implemented programs - the case of ICDS
Shilpa Deshpande,
Independent researcher
3. Mapping Foods for Community Based
Management of Children with Severe Acute
Malnutrition (CMAM) in India
Shivani Rohatgi,
Kalawati Saran
Children’s Hospital
4. Tracking and influencing budgetary allocations
for Anemia Mukt Bharat
Vani Sethi and Avi
Saini, UNICEF
5. Re-thinking effective nutrition convergence in
India: A conceptual and empirical illustration of
outcome of intervention co-coverage
Samuel Scott, IFPRI
6. Mapping NIPI implementation in Telangana &
understanding facilitators and barriers
Little Flower Augustine,
NIN
7. Visiting dieticians’ model for PMSMA Tashi Choedon and
Naman Kaur, NCEARD
8. Feasibility of layering MN services package for
pregnant women in ANC
Mansi Chopra,
NCEARD

11. 9
KNOWLEDGE CONTRIBUTORS
Accountability Initiative (AI)
Alive & Thrive (A&T)
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI)
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
CARE India
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
Dimagi
Duke University
Government of Rajasthan (GoR)
IDInsight
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR)
Institute of Economic Growth (IEG)
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
IPE Global
J-PAL, South Asia
Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital
Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA)
Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)
National Centre for Excellence & Advanced Research on Diets (NCEARD)
National Institute of Nutrition (NIN)
NITI Aayog
Oxford Policy Management (OPM)
Population Council
Sitaram Bhartia Hospital and Medical Research Center
The India Nutrition Initiative (TINI)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
World Bank (WB)
And of course, all the conference participants!

12. Financial support
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through POSHAN, managed by IFPRI
About POSHAN
POSHAN (Partnerships and Opportunities to Strengthen and Harmonize Actions for
Nutrition in India) is a multi-year nutrition knowledge initiative, started in 2011, that
aims to build evidence on effective actions for nutrition and support the use of
evidence in decision-making. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in India.
Web: http://poshan.ifpri.info/
Twitter: @poshansm
About IFPRI
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions
for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and
analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the
food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income
countries and on the poorer groups in those countries.
Web: www.ifpri.org
Twitter: @ifpri