Sectors
Food Security Evidence Brokerage has expertise in food systems transformation, maternal and child health, HIV, WASH, and other sectors. It can conduct desk reviews and primary evidence research projects to provide your organization with the information you need to make decisions in each sectoral area. My contributions to the sector are listed below.
Food System Transformation
Food system transformation requires a systems-level approach, and evidence on what works across the system. To make that evidence accessible, I spent over three years developing and maintaining a comprehensive evidence and gap map which now contains over 2,300 impact evaluations and systematic reviews on the effects of interventions within the food system on food security and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries. This map has been used as a key database in peer-reviewed publications, working papers, policy briefs, and blogs on topics ranging from women’s empowerment in agriculture to the effects of fiscal policies to support a healthy diet.
Peer-reviewed publications
Marion, Pierre & Charlotte Lane. “Assessing the available evidence of long-term impacts from food systems interventions in sub-Saharan Africa.” Accepted at Evaluation Matters.
Santoso, Victoria et al. “A mixed-methods exploration of the role of participation in a nutrition-sensitive agroecology intervention in rural Tanzania” Current Developments in Nutrition (2023).
Berretta, Miriam, et al. “Rapid evidence assessment on women’s empowerment interventions within the food system: a meta-analysis.” Agriculture & Food Security (2023).
Hammaker, Jane et al. “Systematic review on fiscal policy interventions in nutrition.” Frontiers in Nutrition (2022)
Tree, Veronika, et al. “The ‘living’ evidence gap map: facilitating access to food systems and nutrition knowledge.” UN-Nutrition Journal (2022)
Storhaug, Ingunn, et al. “Making the most of existing research: an evidence gap map of the effects of food systems interventions in low-income and middle-income countries.” BMJ Open (2022).
Hammaker, Jane, et al. “Systematic review on fiscal policy interventions for healthy diets.” Frontiers in Nutrition (2022).
Working papers and evidence gap maps
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “What do we know about the long-term outcomes of food systems interventions? A rapid evidence assessment.” Policy Report, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). In press.
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Living food systems and nutrition evidence & gap map: Describing the evidence from 2000 to 2023.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Addressing the systematic causes of malnutrition: The nutrition-sensitive agriculture evidence gap map.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lwamba, Etienne, et al. “Accessing, understanding, and using evidence to improve the design and implementation of food security and nutrition interventions.” Guidance Document, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2022).
Moore, Nick, et al. “The effects of food system interventions on food security and nutrition outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.” 3ie Evidence Gap Map Report, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Policy briefs
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “What do we know about the long-term outcomes of food systems interventions? A rapid evidence assessment.” Policy Report, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). In press.
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Living food systems and nutrition evidence & gap map: Describing the evidence from 2000 to 2023.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Addressing the systematic causes of malnutrition: The nutrition-sensitive agriculture evidence gap map.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lwamba, Etienne, et al. “Accessing, understanding, and using evidence to improve the design and implementation of food security and nutrition interventions.” Guidance Document, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2022).
Moore, Nick, et al. “The effects of food system interventions on food security and nutrition outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.” 3ie Evidence Gap Map Report, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Blogs
Lane, Charlotte “3ie’s living food systems evidence and gap map: mixed mid-term findings and project extension.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lane, Charlotte “3ie living evidence gap map: new food systems evaluations focus on the big picture.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lane, Charlotte “Groundbreaking studies now part of 3ie’s Food Systems and Nutrition Evidence Gap Map.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2022).
Lane, Charlotte “Effects of women’s empowerment interventions in food systems.” Evidence Explainer, CGIAR Gender Platform (2022).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “In the fast-growing field of food systems impact evaluations, a shift toward evaluating consumer behaviour.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2022).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “New research on food systems and nutrition still neglects priority topics.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Lane, Charlotte, et al., “On world food day, think once more about food systems, instead of just deciding what to eat today.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2020).
Storhaug, Ingunn & Charlotte Lane. “This new evidence gap map shows what we know – and what we don’t know- about food systems interventions.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Maternal, newborn, and child health and HIV
Nutrition and food security are dominant drivers of maternal and child health. In turn, maternal, newborn, and child health drive nutritional needs and vulnerability to food insecurity. A great demonstration of this is the effect of maternal HIV on infant growth. A detailed understanding of health and nutrition, as well as their interrelationship, can support the development of integrated services that support women and children.
Publications
Peer reviewed
Rickman, Rachel, et al. “Body composition trajectories during the first 23 months of life differ by HIV exposure among infants in western Kenya: a prospective study.” Journal of Nutrition (2023).
Jain, Monica, et al. “Use of community engagement interventions to improve child immunisation in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review and meta‐analysis.” Campbell Collaboration (2022).
Jain, Monica, et al. “Use of community engagement interventions to improve child immunisation in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” BMJ Open (2022).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Longitudinal interrelationship between HIV viral suppression, maternal weight change, breastfeeding, and length in HIV-exposed and -uninfected infants participating in the Kabeho study in Kigali, Rwanda.” Annals of Epidemiology (2020).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “HIV-exposed, uninfected infants in Uganda experience poorer growth and body composition trajectories than HIV-unexposed infants.” Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (2020).
Flax, Valerie L., et al. "Using a quality improvement approach in the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission program in Uganda improves key outcomes and is sustainable in demonstration facilities: Partnership for HIV-Free Survival." JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (2020).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. "Determinants of growth in HIV‐exposed and HIV‐uninfected infants in the Kabeho Study." Maternal & child nutrition (2019).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. "Decreased consumption of common weaning foods is associated with poor linear growth among HIV‐exposed infants participating in the Kigali antiretroviral and breastfeeding assessment for the elimination of HIV (Kabeho) study." American Journal of Human Biology 31.6 (2019).
Blog
Lane, Charlotte and Avantika Bagai. “All eyes on immunization: what do we know about effective vaccination campaigns?” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Water, sanitation, and hygiene
The interplay between water, sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition is intuitive, but difficult to prove. The WASH-benefits and SHINE trials showed that, in contexts with poor WASH at baseline, basic WASH interventions do not improve nutrition outcomes. This unlikely finding is probably driven by the fact that basic WASH interventions do not sufficiently transform the WASH context to alleviate disease burden enough to cause meaningful change in nutrition outcomes. Therefore, more evidence on transformative WASH programming is needed.
Peer-reviewed and working papers
Pasad, Sridevi, et al. “Rapid evidence assessment of the impacts of sewerage, drainage, and chlorination in urban settings of low- and middle-income countries.” Journal of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for Development (2021).
Jones, Rachel & Charlotte Lane. “Understanding barriers to and facilitators of latrine use in rural India.” 3ie Working Paper 44. New Delhi: International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Policy briefs
3ie. “What is the effect of water source improvement interventions on waterborne disease and malnutrition?” Rapid Response Brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
3ie. “Does access to latrines and other WASH interventions reduce child malnutrition?” Rapid Response Brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Hammaker, Jane & Charlotte Lane. “Using behavioural science to support latrine use in rural India: Findings from Behaviour change interventions in Bihar.” Learnings brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021). Translated to Hindi.
Hammaker, Jane & Charlotte Lane. “Using behavioural science to support latrine use in rural India: Findings from Behaviour change interventions in Gujarat.” Learnings brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021). Translated to Gujarati.
Hammaker, Jane & Charlotte Lane. “Using behavioural science to support latrine use in rural India: Findings from Behaviour change interventions in Karnataka.” Learnings brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021). Translated to Kanada.
Hammaker, Jane & Charlotte Lane. “Using behavioural science to support latrine use in rural India: Findings from Behaviour change interventions in Odisha.” Learnings brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021). Translated to Odiya.
Prassad, Sridevi, et al. “Do large-scale water infrastructure interventions reduce disease?” Policy Brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2020).
Blogs
Lane, Charlotte. “World Toilet Day: building latrines is not enough to get people to use them.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2020).
Lane, Charlotte. “Access is not the same as use: tackling behavioural barriers to the use of new resources.” Blog, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2020).
Resilience and democratization
Food security is a major pillar of resilience. Democratization shapes food security through the broader socio-political context in which they both are situated. For example, food insecurity was a cause of the Arab Spring. Understanding the socio-political context in which food security and resilience challenges occur is necessary to understand the global system in which the food system is situated.
Working papers and evidence gap maps
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Addressing the systematic causes of malnutrition: The nutrition-sensitive agriculture evidence gap map.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Parrao, Constanza Gonzalez, et al. “Promoting political competition through elections in low- and middle-income countries.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Parrao, Constanza Gonzales, et al. “Strengthening good governance in low- and middle-income countries.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Berretta, Miriam ,et al. “Summary of evidence on strengthening civil society interventions in L&MICs.” Summary Report, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Berretta, Miriam, et al. “A summary of evidence on independent media and free flow of information.” Summary Report, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2022).
Berretta, Miriam, et al. “Independent media EGM.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Berretta, Miriam, et al. “Strengthening civil society EGM.” Evidence Gap Map, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Berretta, Miriam, et al. “Protocol – Strengthening Civil Society: an evidence gap map.” Protocol, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Berretta, Miriam, et al. “Protocol – Independent media and free flow of information: an evidence gap map.” Protocol, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2021).
Policy briefs
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Addressing the systematic causes of malnutrition: The nutrition-sensitive agriculture evidence gap map.” Policy Brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Interventions aiming at monitoring public and private institutions via civil society.” Practitioner Brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Lane, Charlotte, et al. “Strengthening civil society in ‘closed’ contexts.” Practitioner Brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2023).
Berretta, Miriam, et al. “Disseminating information through media for governance and electoral change.” Practitioner Brief, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (2022).
