Our Programs

Mainstreaming Gender in Large-Scale Food Fortification Programs

India

| 2022–2025

This program, funded by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), integrated gender perspectives into nutrition programs—including large-scale food fortification (LSFF)—across 18 states in India.

Integrating Gender into Large-Scale Food Fortification in India

Malnutrition remains a critical health challenge in India, with women and girls disproportionately affected. National surveys show that more than half of women of reproductive age are anemic, largely due to poor nutrition. Gender dynamics—within households, communities, and food systems—play a major role in determining who eats, what they eat, and when.

To address this, EngenderHealth and GAIN partnered to integrate gender considerations into LSFF programs, which add essential vitamins and minerals to staple foods such as wheat, rice, and edible oil. This approach makes nutritious food more widely available through markets and social safety nets. By embedding gender analysis into LSFF, the program aims to ensure that fortified foods reach those most at risk, while also making food systems more equitable and inclusive.

Why This Program Matters

Large-scale food fortification has proven to be one of the most cost-effective ways to combat micronutrient deficiencies. But without attention to gender, nutrition programs can overlook or even reinforce existing inequalities. This program demonstrates how gender mainstreaming not only strengthens LSFF interventions but also improves outcomes for the most vulnerable—especially women and children.

Key Program Activities

Conducted a comprehensive gender analysis and risk assessment of LSFF interventions, engaging government, food industry leaders, technical agencies, development partners, frontline workers, and community members
Developed an overarching strategy for gender integration in LSFF programs across India
Generated evidence and research to explore how gender and power dynamics influence nutrition
Supported partners to include gender indicators in results frameworks and workplans
Conducted gender audit of various communication material developed under LSFF project
Developed various gender related capacity building tools in the form of digital gender training package

Outcomes

Increased awareness of gender and nutrition among LSFF program implementers
Strengthened institutional capacity to apply gender-sensitive approaches (anecdotal)
Increased understanding of how gender and power dynamics influence nutrition outcomes (anecdotal)
More gender intentional and gender transformative LSFF program and activities (anecdotal)
Gender indicators included in the the results framework and workplans of the partners
Gender-informed research studies are helping unpack gender and power dynamics in the LSFF evidence-generation

Looking Ahead

By integrating gender considerations into large-scale food fortification, this program has strengthened the design and delivery of LSFF interventions in India. The evidence and lessons generated are informing future nutrition and LSFF initiatives, demonstrating how gender-responsive approaches can improve nutrition outcomes, advance equity, and build more resilient food systems.

Want to see how these lessons play out in real life? Read our article, Food, Gender, and Equality: What We Learned in India, to explore how putting gender at the center of nutrition programs transforms lives and builds fairer food systems.

Read the project brief for more information.

Photo courtesy of Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment. Some rights reserved.