Worldwide—Nutrition Action for Systemic Change (NASC)

Nutrition Action for Systemic Change (NASC) Technical Assistance Facility is managed by DAI and contracted through the Expert Advisory Call Down Service 2 (EACDS2) Lot 4: Climate, Nature and Global Health funded by the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). EACDS2 technical advisory services provide rapid, quality-assured, short-term technical expertise to support the development of U.K. aid programs.

NASC provides technical expertise on nutrition and food systems, building on previous achievements and new initiatives funded by the FCDO. NASC supports the FCDO to uphold its commitments made at the 2021 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit to integrate nutrition across its aid portfolio in different sectors, spend at least £1.5 billion up to 2030 on programs that help improve nutrition, and adopt and embed the Nutrition Policy Marker (NPM) within FCDO systems. We will also work with the FCDO to integrate new commitments made at the 2025 Paris N4G Summit. The facility follows on from the Technical Assistance to Strengthen Capabilities (TASC) Project, which contributed to improved nutrition planning and programing and accelerated action on nutrition as part of the Technical Assistance for Nutrition (TAN) Programme. NASC had an initial one-year contract from December 2023 to December 2024 and is currently implementing a second contract from February 2025 to February 2026.

Our consortium partners are NutritionWorks, The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and Options.

NASC supports FCDO’s core nutrition objectives:

1. Enhancing Nutrition Policy & Programming – Supporting FCDO in developing and implementing innovative, cost-effective nutrition policies and country plans aligned with government priorities.
2. Strengthening Global Engagement – Assisting in shaping FCDO’s nutrition strategy for the 2025 N4G Summit and collaborating with global partners to drive impact.
3. Improving Evidence & Risk Management – Using research to design effective programs, strengthen agriculture links, and integrate ‘do no harm’ principles.

The TA Facility will also continue to strengthen links with FCDO’s broader commitment to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and children by 2030, including in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Technical assistance is provided as short- or long-term expertise and targets programs across all stages, from design to implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and learning. NASC’s approach revolves around ensuring good coordination, communication, engagement, capacity building, and production of high-quality deliverables.

Sample Activities

• Building the capacity of FCDO advisors to develop and monitor strategic approaches to integrate nutrition across sectors, particularly in health, food, and agriculture (including commercial agriculture), social protection, humanitarian assistance, economic development, and climate, to strengthen nutrition outcomes.
• Strengthening programing and resilience of services to treat and prevent child wasting in the face of changes to the climate.
• Tracking FCDO nutrition investment and scoring programs against the Nutrition Policy Marker for accountability.
• Supporting the improvement, use, and learning around nutrition information systems for decision-making.

Select results

• Submitted 59 deliverables during 2024.
• Developed a framing paper to support FCDO in advocating for nutrition integration into primary health care systems as part of the Universal Health Coverage agenda.
• Completed a baseline review of 827 FCDO programs and supported multisectoral nutrition integration in selected priority programs in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and South Sudan.
• Engaged with seven commercial agriculture programs to support FCDO’s response to the International Commission on Aid Impact (ICAI) review of UK aid to agriculture in a time of climate changes.
• Conducted a review of nutrition-related information systems in Afghanistan, mapping all data sources, and developed a recommendation brief for FCDO to improve decision-making, and presented findings to partners to strengthen the response to malnutrition.
• Supported FCDO Zambia to integrate nutrition more widely across their program portfolio, including climate resilience and social protection programing.