Drastic cuts to donor aid in early 2025 are projected to have lasting consequences for nutrition in the coming decades. Governments and implementers need to do more with less. Timely and accurate food and nutrition data are needed to guide strategic choices about how to use available resources.

Growing demand for nutrition data and information systems is evident in the commitments made for the 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit—our review of the pre-Summit commitments found that 21 of the 201 commitments (10%) aim to develop, shape, apply, or use nutrition information systems in countries.

But there is a challenge to meeting this growing demand: data has a cost, and the costs of investing across the food and nutrition data value chain (DVC) are often underestimated.

DataDENT has developed a Cost Considerations Framework for Food and Nutrition Data to help guide decisions around DVC investments. Based on our work in Ethiopia and Nigeria and consultations with experts, the framework supports government decision-makers, advocates, and implementing partners to understand the full range of monetary and non-monetary costs that go into prioritizing, collecting, aggregating, communicating, and using food and nutrition data.

Monetary costs in the framework fall into four activity cost categories (Figure 1). Activity costs reflect standard inputs including labor, workshops, travel, and printing.

Figure 1. Activity categories with monetary costs across the data value chain

There are also non-monetary costs associated with investments along the DVC. These costs can significantly influence the effectiveness and sustainability of food and nutrition data activities. Five types of non-monetary costs occur frequently and are reflected in the framework (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Non-monetary considerations across the data value chain

Why does this matter?

When governments and their partners fail to account for costs along the DVC —monetary and non-monetary—it can result in implementation roadblocks. Ignoring non-monetary costs can undermine even well-funded initiatives. By contrast, planning with a realistic understanding of costs can drive the design and implementation of more sustainable, impactful, and equitable food and nutrition data systems.

For DataDENT we are using the cost considerations framework to identify the full range of monetary and non-monetary costs that governments in Ethiopia and Nigeria may incur to strengthen multisectoral nutrition data systems. The framework and accompanying user guide can also be used to:

• Compare data collection options (e.g., adding new nutrition indicators to a household survey vs. an established administrative data system)
• Plan for inputs and trade-offs required to sustain data systems
• Inform realistic budgeting, resource mobilization, and financing strategies for DVC investments

The resources will be available by the end of 2025. Follow DataDENT on LinkedIn, Bluesky & X to know when they are available.