Research Engagement on Food Interventions for Nutritional Effectiveness: Maintaining and Expanding the REFINE Repository for Food Assistance Research

The FAQR project provides support to the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and its partners with actionable recommendations on ways to improve nutrition among vulnerable populations for whom the direct distribution of food aid can make a significant impact. REFINE is a knowledge-sharing mechanism that aims to improve the effectiveness of food-supported interventions in emergency and non-emergency contexts. REFINE's ultimate goal is to improve the nutritional or health status of vulnerable populations worldwide. The REFINE website catalogs the research activity surrounding food-supported interventions by documenting ongoing studies relevant to food assistance policy and programming, collecting both policy-relevant publications and grey literature. These resources are organized according to intervention type and research gap being addressed, and are assembled into the REFINE Resource Review, which is shared with FAQR partners and the global nutrition assistance community on a quarterly basis. Since 2009, the FAQR project has been providing support to USAID's BHA, the legacy Office of Food for Peace (FFP), and its partners with actionable recommendations on ways to improve nutrition among vulnerable populations. In 2012, FAQR developed a website at REFINEnutrition.org to house a resource called Research Engagement on Food Interventions for Nutritional Effectiveness (REFINE). REFINE is a knowledge-sharing mechanism that seeks to improve the cost and effectiveness of food-supported interventions in emergency and non-emergency contexts. The REFINE website was established to address the need for a centralized repository of research on food assistance for nutrition. The website aims to provide a platform for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to share and access information on food-supported interventions, with the ultimate goal of improving the nutritional or health status of vulnerable populations worldwide. The REFINE website has been successful in achieving this goal, with a growing collection of resources and a quarterly Resource Review that is widely shared within the global nutrition assistance community. The REFINE website has a geographic scope that is global, with a focus on emergency and non-emergency contexts. The website addresses a range of nutritional problems, including malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and environmental enteric dysfunction. The interventions used on the REFINE website include food assistance programs, nutrition education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions. The website also targets research gaps in the field of food assistance for nutrition, including the effectiveness of different types of food assistance programs and the impact of food assistance on nutritional outcomes. The REFINE website uses a systematic search to identify relevant studies and resources, which are then organized according to intervention type and research gap being addressed. The website also uses a quarterly Resource Review to share these resources with FAQR partners and the global nutrition assistance community. The REFINE website has a workflow that is designed to be flexible and adaptable, with a focus on continuous improvement and expansion. The REFINE website has a number of benefits, including improved access to information on food-supported interventions, enhanced collaboration and knowledge-sharing among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, and improved nutritional or health outcomes for vulnerable populations. The website also has a number of challenges, including the need for ongoing funding and support, the need to stay up-to-date with the latest research and developments in the field, and the need to ensure that the website remains relevant and useful to its users. In order to maintain and expand the REFINE website, a number of recommendations have been made. These recommendations include the need for ongoing funding and support, the need to stay up-to-date with the latest research and developments in the field, and the need to ensure that the website remains relevant and useful to its users. The recommendations also include the need to expand the scope of the website to include more countries and contexts, and to develop a more robust and user-friendly interface. The REFINE website has a number of future priorities, including the need to expand its scope to include more countries and contexts, and to develop a more robust and user-friendly interface. The website also needs to stay up-to-date with the latest research and developments in the field, and to ensure that it remains relevant and useful to its users. Additionally, the website needs to continue to provide actionable recommendations on ways to improve nutrition among vulnerable populations, and to support the development of evidence-based policies and programs in the field of food assistance for nutrition.