SNV, in partnership with The Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation Agency (SDC), is pioneering a new and innovative model to empower communities in Zambia and Uganda to reduce the causes of malnutrition, themselves.

Malnutrition is caused by inadequate vitamin and mineral consumption as part of a diverse diet, and affects millions of people worldwide. Causing stunted growth and preventing normal physical and mental development, malnutrition not only impacts this generation but its effects can be inherited by the next. There are many complex reasons why people don't eat a healthy diverse diet, including: lack of access to a variety of foods, lack of knowledge of the benefits of a diverse diet, and cultural norms and traditions that govern which foods are eaten by different members of the household.  Many interventions in the past have neglected to address all of these complexities; assuming that with enough food to eat, good nutrition will follow.

The Sustainable Nutrition 4 All (SN4A) programme is different. It is a holistic approach that addresses all of these factors simultaneously; improving nutrition by building the capacity of communities to make the change themselves.

Improved nutrition outcomes are addressed by encouraging community adoption of agro-biodiversity and improved dietary diversity, particularly at household level. The SN4A approach induces behavioural change by triggering an understanding of the critical factors for improved nutrition, with a special focus on intra-household gender relations. SN4A also increases local capacity to trigger demand for more nutritious foods, while also improving the supply of nutrient-rich vegetables from smallholder farmers, and increasing national governance capacity.