Food Security, Environments, Nutrition: Structured Evidence (FoodSENSE) Framework application in Mpigi District, Central Uganda

There is an increasing recognition that achieving food security and good nutrition requires coordinated action between multiple sectors. The causes of food and nutrition insecurity are multifaceted and often interlinked. To improve food security, a good understanding of the different dimensions in the food system and food environment is important to prioritize intervention points. The concept of the ‘food system’ has become an organizing narrative in recent years, with UN agencies and national governments developing food systems action plans aimed at addressing food insecurity and promoting healthy diets for all. There is, however, a gap at finer-grained spatial levels: there are few guidelines on how to implement food systems thinking at the more local levels, to guide local decision-making.

This report presents the first implementation of the Food Systems, Environments, and Nutrition: Structured Evidence Framework (FoodSENSE Framework). The framework is designed to be used at sub-national levels, guiding the description of the food system, food environment, food security and nutritional outcomes. Through application of the framework and a stakeholder engagement process, blockages to improving food and nutrition security can be identified and prioritized, groups of people requiring specific support identified, and potential solutions shortlisted.

The main issues contained within the framework are illustrated in Figure 1 Information is collected from secondary sources such as household surveys and from primary sources including focus group discussions, key informant interviews and from stakeholder evaluations during a workshop. Information is synthesized into a standardized reporting format, and issues prioritized. An Excel-based tool is used to match challenges with potential food and nutrition-related interventions, which are then put to stakeholders for evaluation. A clear chain of evidence is thus presented for each intervention.