Translating national policies and guidelines into effective action at the subnational level is a prerequisite for ensuring an impact on nutrition. In Viet Nam this process is affected by the quality of the decentralized process of planning and action.

In northern Nigeria, interventions are urgently needed to narrow the large gap between international breastfeeding recommendations and actual breastfeeding practices.

This implementation manual for BRAC’s community-based Alive & Thrive IYCF program describes four core interventions (home visits, antenatal/postnatal care, health forums, and community mobilization) and the human resources, training, supervision, incentives, and monitoring to support them.

Effective advocacy is essential for meeting global targets for stunting reduction and other nutritional problems.

This article was part of a special supplement in the Food and Nutrition Bulletin on the Alive & Thrive (A&T) project. Despite the existence of a strong evidence base for investing in infant and young child feeding (IYCF), sufficiently supported IYCF policies and programs are rare.