iDE Innovation Lab

Designing for Impact: A Human-Centered Approach to Maternal Nutrition.

At the 𝗶𝗗𝗘 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 lab, we are often supporting iDE’s country offices to explore and understand how we can empower entrepreneurs to create impact in novel sectors and market ecosystems. When this occurs, w𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 (𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗱-𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 (𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀). Once that is done, we can begin to ideate possible products and services, and the business models which may be 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲.
This is exactly the research process that the iDE Innovation lab team has been conducting, in collaboration with the SHE by iDE team for the 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗡𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁. Working in the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MICYN) sector, the team has been trying to understand what they key issues are that impact nutrition, especially for mothers and babies in the first 1000 days of life, a crucial window which establishes the foundations for a child’s future.
This information will help us to work with entrepreneurs, healthcare workers and other key actors to deliver sustained behavior change, in relation to exclusive breastfeeding and high quality complementary feeding for working mothers, mainly women garment factory workers.
To help us understand the sector, we’ve been hard at work conducting feminist action research, with a focus on mapping out women’s health and nutrition journeys in the first 1000 days of their child’s life. As such, we’ve spoken with women to understand their care work responsibilities and how this impacts their other priorities in life. We also spoke with their mothers, husbands, health care providers and maternity product and service providers to holistically map out the journeys of these women, and identify needs which the market currently does not address.
Once we’ve addressed these unmet needs, we ideate potential products and services and use a participatory and visual approach to test the potential of these service models with potential end-users and with the suppliers who may play a role in providing these services.
This is a small puzzle piece in the process we undertake when we are attempting to create impact by empowering entrepreneurs at the last mile! How do you apply Human Centered Design? How do you embed women-centered approaches to your work to create inclusive services?

Last week, our partner Pauline Van Leeuwen shared BCOMING–Kasetsart Uni microbiome research at the 8th International Rodent Biology Conference in Australia.
🌏 Proud to see our work on biodiversity & disease risk go global!

𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸📐
Last year, we stepped into Burundi with a clear vision: t𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗠𝗕𝗦) 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. What we didn’t have was an iDE office on the ground. What we did have was a committed team in World Vision Burundi. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞-𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝘿𝙀 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, where each country brings unique stories, challenges, and opportunities to the table. Burundi is no exception.

From day one, this partnership has been about more than strategy, it’s been about learning, experimentation, collaboration and capacity building. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘝 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦.

Now we’re preparing for the sales demo, a moment where all the prototypes, stories, and insights come together to test everything we’ve learned, and 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶.