The Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally project (SPRING) is dedicated to strengthening global and country efforts to scale up high-impact nutrition practices and policies. SPRING provides state-of-the-art technical support focused on preventing stunting and maternal and child anemia in the first 1,000 days, linking agriculture and nutrition, and creating social change and behavior change through communication. SPRING’s mission supports two major U.S. Government initiatives: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths and Feed the Future.

SPRING is funded by USAID under a five-year cooperative agreement. SPRING's experienced implementation team consists of experts from JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., Helen Keller International, The International Food Policy Research Institute, Save the Children, and The Manoff Group.

SPRING plans, implements, and evaluates activities across a range of global nutrition topics.

Technical Areas

SPRING focuses on improving nutrition and preventable child and maternal deaths through the four core focus areas below. In addition, SPRING’s country programs draw on our global expertise to tailor interventions to individual country need.

Catalyzing Social and Behavior Change

Behaviors and practices are critical to improving nutrition. Creating social and behavior change and using effective communication methods, media, and messages (SBCC) is an integral element in the prevention of undernutrition and the delivery of high-impact nutrition interventions. SPRING places a heightened focus on SBCC as a key and fundamental, cross-cutting strategy to address both stunting and anemia.

Linking Agriculture and Nutrition

SPRING is building the evidence base around how to improve nutrition through agricultural programming. In collaboration with USAID and other global development partners, SPRING is identifying, strengthening, and documenting implementation strategies and innovations to make programs effective and sustainable.

Preventing Anemia

Iron deficiency and anemia affect approximately two billion people worldwide and are associated with maternal and perinatal deaths. SPRING is working with countries and partners to prevent and control anemia among vulnerable populations. SPRING does this by strengthening global evidence, guiding policy makers and program managers to better understand the multiple causes of anemia in their populations, and building coordinated and sustained country ownership of high-impact, cost-effective anemia interventions.

Strengthening Systems for Nutrition

Successful nutrition programming leverages synergies between components of different systems (health, agriculture, education) to improve nutrition. Working within and across components of these systems, collectively considered “nutrition systems”, SPRING is building a growing understanding of this area, including consensus about how such thinking can strengthen implementation, results, and commitment for nutrition.