A nutrition approach for 2026-2030, first applied in The Gambia with SPRING
According to the SOFI 2026 report, 2.69 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2025. Against this backdrop, COLEAD has formalised its nutrition approach for 2026-2030. The principle is simple: nutrition is not a new line of business but a lens through which the organisation looks afresh at the work it already does with agricultural and food value chains. The SPRING programme in The Gambia is its first testing ground.
Bringing supply and demand through a nutrition lens
COLEAD sits at the interface between supply (farmers, cooperatives, SMEs, processors) and demand (schools, communities, markets, retailers, households). The nutrition lens is about bringing these two sides together so that safe, diverse and nutritious foods are available, affordable, competitive and actually consumed.
The approach is fully embedded in the COLEAD 2030 strategy, where nutrition is one of the cross-cutting priorities, and plays out across the organisation's three levels of intervention: the enabling environment (policy dialogue, institutional strengthening, evidence), systems and markets (technical assistance, value-chain development, partnerships) and access and demand (support to producers, MSMEs and retailers, consumer and household engagement). The results chain is explicit: stronger food systems lead to safe, available, diverse and affordable foods, to healthier food environments and, ultimately, to healthier diets.
Five pillars, a role for every department
The approach is built around five pillars: transforming value chains for better nutrition, notably through nutrient-rich and biofortified crops that respond to market demand; making food safety the foundation of healthy diets; building competitive markets for nutritious foods; accelerating innovation and knowledge; and catalysing partnerships. Every COLEAD department contributes from its own area of expertise, whether technical assistance and training, regulations, research and innovation and market intelligence, or networks and access to finance. Nutrition is thus integrated into existing work rather than carried by a dedicated structure.
From approach to action: The Gambia as the first live application
Moving into action follows four steps: operationalising the approach across all departments, equipping teams with dedicated tools -A Rapid Nutrition Assessment tool (R-NAT) and Nutrition AFS), applying it in real conditions, then testing, learning and refining with a view to wider roll-out.
The first live application is taking place in The Gambia through SPRING. Funded by the European Union and implemented by COLEAD over 2025-2030, the programme aims to strengthen the contribution of Gambian horticulture to growth, food security and nutrition, through a market-oriented agroecological transition centered on women and young people. Its third specific objective focuses precisely on nutrition-sensitive horticultural value chains, with biofortified crops (orange-fleshed sweet potato, iron-rich beans, cassava) alongside value chains for the domestic market and for export. The programme also includes nutrition education and nutrition-sensitive initiatives, creating complementary pathways to strengthen both the supply of nutritious foods and the knowledge, practices and enabling conditions that support healthier diets.
Lessons learned will help consolidate the approach before it is extended to COLEAD's other programmes.
Find out more about the SPRING programme.
This activity is supported by the "Sustainable Production for Resilient and Inclusive New Generations" (SPRING) programme, funded by the European Union and implemented by COLEAD. This communication has been produced with the financial support of the EU. Its content is the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the EU.