DELIVERING FOR NUTRITION IN SOUTH ASIA: 2026 – ABOUT D4N2026

Concept Note

Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia 2026: Navigating Systems in Transition

December 1–3, 2026 | Colombo, Sri Lanka and online

South Asia is undergoing substantial transitions that will affect food and nutrition outcomes into the future.  The region is deeply vulnerable to climate change and affected by regional and global conflicts, political and governance transitions, rapid urbanization, and demographic change. At the same time, technological advances and policy investments are reshaping economies and contributing to positive outcomes for hundreds of millions, though progress remains uneven.   

Agrifood systems are deeply affected by these transitions and must adapt in ways that ensure access to affordable, healthy diets for millions across the region. Other systems that contribute both to diets and good nutrition—health systems, water and sanitation systems, social protection systems, markets, and education—are also affected by these forces, and must similarly adapt to provide stability and support resilience. Positive exemplars of adapting and navigating transitions also abound across the region, offering opportunities for cross-learning. 

While the concept of "systems" is increasingly used across nutrition and development, it is understood and applied in different ways. For Delivering for Nutrition, navigating systems in transition means understanding how these interconnected systems that shape diets and nutrition are changing, how those changes interact, and where opportunities exist to adapt, innovate, and strengthen them to improve nutrition outcomes

Accelerating nutrition gains will, therefore, benefit from stronger regional learning, cross-sector collaboration, locally-led action, governance arrangements that enable coordinated, accountable, and inclusive responses to changing contexts, and more effective pathways for translating evidence into policy and practice. By sharing evidence, innovations, and practical experience, South Asia can not only respond to systems in transition but help people and communities thrive through change.  It also has the potential to offer examples of success to other parts of the world.

This year's Delivering for Nutrition Conference will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka and online from December 1–3, 2026. The 2026 conference theme, Navigating Systems in Transition, will look across systems in transition, and aim to feature insights on:

• Promising innovations—including digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and data and information systems—that help systems adapt in real time to shifting demographic, urban, political, and economic conditions, while improving decision-making, service delivery, and accountability.
• Scaling proven solutions, including biofortified crops, nutrient-rich value chains, and nutrition-sensitive social protection, in ways adapted to changing contexts—from urbanizing food environments to climate-stressed agricultural systems.
• Building resilient food, health, education, social protection, and governance systems that mitigate the nutrition impacts of climate change, economic shocks, political transitions, conflict, and public health emergencies , as well as improve diets and nutrition.
• Strengthening adaptive leadership, governance, and capacity to translate evidence into effective action across agriculture, health, social protection, education, and markets as these sectors themselves transform.

These insights will be captured throughout the conference in the form of plenary sessions on carefully curated topics; abstracts from across South Asia spanning research, implementation, policy, and capacity sharing; learning labs; and side events that bring regional and global learning into practical action.

About Delivering for Nutrition

Delivering for Nutrition (D4N) is an annual conference dedicated to showcasing evidence-based strategies for improving nutrition across South Asia. With a strong emphasis on implementation research, D4N has emerged as a regional platform over the past few years bringing together policymakers, implementers, and researchers from across the region.

D4N2026 will be the sixth regional conference and the ninth overall. Previous D4N conferences were held in 2016, 2019 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.