Food and Nutrition

Diet-related noncommunicable diseases are a growing burden in Ethiopia, and the country just gave itself a powerful new tool to fight them. The Ethiopian Nutrient Profile Model (E-NPM), developed under the leadership of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) and the Ministry of Health, provides a science-based approach to identify pre-packaged foods and beverages high in sodium, free sugars, saturated fat or trans fat, as well as those containing non-sugar sweeteners or caffeine. Paired with a Front-of-Package Warning Nutrition Labelling (FOPWL) framework informed by national consumer research, the E-NPM gives Ethiopia a strong foundation for policies that can help consumers quickly identify unhealthy products while tackling diet-related noncommunicable diseases.

This August, in Dakar, Senegal, the Pan-African Legal Network on Food & Nutrition (PALNEF) was formally inaugurated. Convened during the Global Health Advocacy Incubator’s (GHAI) Third Pan-African Legal Capacity Strengthening Symposium on Food and Nutrition Governance, the network is now registered in Tanzania as an international legal network, complete with its own constitution and governing structure.

When the FIFA World Cup kicked off in June 2026, so did one of the largest ultra-processed product (UPP) marketing pushes in the sport's history. All over the world, UPP companies, such as Coca-Cola, Lays and Pepsico,  spent months embedding their products into the emotional core of the world's most-watched sporting event, reaching billions of fans. 

The FIFA World Cup is more than a football tournament; it stirs passion and captures the attention of billions worldwide, making it one of the most powerful commercial platforms on earth. Global brands compete to associate their products with the excitement and sense of belonging the sport inspires. But when that marketing targets children and adolescents, boundaries of advertising should be drawn. 

To help advocates, public health professionals, policymakers and researchers apply that science in their own countries, the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) has launched a new free online course, “Nutrient Profile Models: A Tool for Healthy Food Policies.” The course allows users to go at their own pace, explains how NPMs work and offers practical examples for using them in policy advocacy. 

The Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) developed this Sweetened Beverages Tax Position Paper as a guide on how to explicitly design SB taxes to improve population health.  The paper recommends ways to ensure that the tax will make all unhealthy drinks less affordable, reduce their consumption over time and result in a decrease in diet-related diseases. It urges governments to reinvest the revenue towards health promotion to further its health and equity impact. It argues that there is a missed opportunity if governments do not design strong SB taxes primed to reach their intended public health potential.