Globally, one in three people suffer from malnutrition causing negative impacts to their lives and those of their families. Malnutrition also affects businesses and economies worldwide as people’s productivity at workplaces are influenced by their health. As such, companies around the world are increasingly keen to provide services that can improve nutrition and therefore overall wellbeing of their workforce and their families.
These services – dubbed workforce nutrition -include providing access to healthy food at work, nutrition education, nutrition-focused health checks and breastfeeding support, as per the Workforce Nutrition Alliance evidence-based framework. These workforce nutrition programmes are the subject of a new research project by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and olam food ingredients (ofi), which will explore if and how workforce nutrition programmes lead to improved business outcomes.
Building evidence to demonstrate financial returns
To date there is robust evidence that workforce nutrition programmes can be effective in improving employees’ nutritional health but there is a need to build further evidence to demonstrate financial benefits for the companies investing in the services. Without that evidence, employers may be hesitant to initiate investment in cost-effective, high-quality workforce nutrition programmes. Insights into the financial benefits and viability of such programmes are particularly critical for enterprises operating in low- and middle-income contexts where malnutrition may have a more substantial impact on employee wellbeing and therefore on business outcomes.
The new project, running until February 2025, builds on work implemented by GAIN and ofi, both of whom are active in the workforce nutrition space. GAIN has partnered with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) to establish the Workforce Nutrition Alliance, which aims to support employers to adopt and expand healthier workforce nutrition programmes to reach three million employees in organisations and supply chains by 2025 – and over ten million by 2030. ofi understands workforce nutrition is a business imperative and – given its large workforce – as a huge opportunity to improve nutrition outcomes globally. The company is taking a holistic approach to promoting health and wellbeing at work, having set a target to reach 100 percent of its primary workforce with nutrition support by 2030.
The IDS lead researcher for this project, Ayako Ebata, says:
“This is an exciting opportunity to evaluate whether and how better health for workers may translate to companies financially profiting. Working with real data from ofi, the evidence we generate may help to encourage more for-profit companies to invest in their employees’ wellbeing and achieve a win-win for their business and workers simultaneously.”
Study aims across continents
The new study aims to generate evidence based on empirical data from a diverse and robust number of ofi’s worksites across low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The study will address two research questions:
- Do workforce nutrition programmes improve business outcomes for implementing companies? If so, how much?
- How do workforce nutrition programmes translate to nutritional and, in turn, business outcomes? What are the pathways in which nutritional interventions lead to business outcomes?
The project is expected to result in evidence-based insights that will be shared through blogs, workshops, and a journal article. The evidence generated is intended to shed light on the business case for companies to invest in workforce nutrition, which would also be contributing to improved nutritional outcomes for workers across the world.
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