2024 saw a growth in innovation to improve the health of women, highlighting the potential for transformative change — but the path to lasting impact will require sustained collaboration, increased funding, and unwavering commitment to center women’s voices in every decision

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In early 2023, the Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health partnered with Camber Collective to establish the Innovation Equity Forum (IEF)—a global coalition of women’s health experts, innovators, and advocates. The IEF was launched to identify and prioritize critical opportunities to advance women’s health innovation worldwide. Its flagship initiative, the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map, serves as a strategic blueprint to accelerate innovations that reduce women’s morbidity and mortality. 

A year after the Opportunity Map’s launch, Camber was re-engaged to produce a progress report tracking advancements in women’s health innovation over the past year. The report aims to promote accountability, assess how effectively partners are targeting under-resourced and high-priority areas, and provide insights to guide stakeholder decision-making within the context of the Opportunity Map. It focuses on three key areas: the broader women’s health research and development (R&D) ecosystem, Opportunity Map topics, and organizational success stories. 

Over the past year, women’s health innovation has gained momentum, fueled by increased advocacy, new partnerships, and growing funding commitments. Substantial progress has been made in six of the 50 high-impact opportunities identified in the 2023 Opportunity Map: Innovation hubs expanded in both HICs and LMICs to accelerate solutions to improve women’s health. Burden of disease and cost estimates improved through sex- and gender-intentional data practices, alongside ROI data that bolstered the case for investment. Breakthroughs in vaccines, diagnostics, and preventive measures addressed several communicable diseases, including STIs, RSV, and GBS, and the inclusion of pregnant and lactating individuals in tuberculosis clinical trials marked a pivotal step toward equity in research. Progress in female-specific conditions included new drug approvals for uterine fibroids and PCOS, while advancements in maternal health research delivered tools to improve outcomes for mothers and infants. In non-communicable diseases, a deeper understanding of sex- and gender-specific differences in cardiometabolic conditions has paved the way for more precise prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies.

More modest progress was made across 33 additional opportunities, reflecting important but incremental advancements in women’s health innovation. Medical institutions in some regions began incorporating gender considerations into training curricula. Advances in sex- and gender-intentional research gained traction in some regions, and regulatory actors increased their application of sex- and gender-intentional policies and frameworks. Encouraging developments also emerged in vaginal microbiome research, contraceptive technology, fertility optimization, menopause, autoimmune diseases, neurological disorders, and mental health. The remaining 11 opportunities stalled or experienced setbacks.

These advancements underscore the bold vision of the IEF’s 250+ members, but persistent barriers in the systems enabling innovation continue to hold back more significant progress in improving women’s health. Notably, a lack of accountability for the systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of sex- and gender-specific data limits understanding of the true burden of women’s health issues and the impact of interventions, impeding evidence-based decision-making. Gaps in ecosystem indicators prevent visibility into the breadth of the women’s health R&D pipeline, particularly for conditions beyond sexual and reproductive health. Pathways to market remain a critical obstacle, particularly in LMICs, where barriers to accessing innovations are most pronounced. Compounding these challenges are deep-rooted societal and structural inequities that have historically limited women’s participation and advancement in R&D careers. These inequities contribute to the ongoing attrition of women from the research field, stalling progress toward a more inclusive and representative research ecosystem. Finally, while promising funding commitments and partnerships have emerged, efforts remain fragmented.

To accelerate progress for women’s health innovation across conditions, the report highlights four immediate action areas: 

• Close epidemiological and accountability data gaps, including data on social and structural determinants and conditions beyond sexual and reproductive health to ensure innovations better address the diverse health needs of all women [Opp. 1.2, 1.3, 5.2]. 
• Create new market pathways and de-risk investment for women’s health innovation [Opp. 3.5, 4.3, 4.5]. 
• Enhance the participation and funding of diverse populations across the R&D continuum to ensure that women’s needs and voices guide national and global research agendas [Opp. 5.1, 5.4, 6.3]. 
• Activate the IEF as an action and accountability engine to translate opportunity areas to action and accelerate harmonized advocacy that unlocks new partnerships for women’s health innovation [Opp. 4.5, 10]. 

By centering equity in innovation, the global women’s health R&D ecosystem can drive meaningful progress toward a healthier, more equitable future for all women. 

The term “women” in the context of “women’s health,” is inclusive of both sex as a biological variable and gender as a social variable across the life course. This definition includes people assigned female at birth, transgender women and men, and non-binary people affected by the topics covered by the Opportunity Map. We recognize that not all people who identify as women have the same reproductive anatomy, and not all people assigned female at birth identify as women. 

The post Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map appeared first on Camber Collective.

The landscape of African agriculture is intricate, situated within a blend of diverse cultures, crops, and environmental challenges against the growing resilience and innovation of African farmers. Over time, three themes have shaped this narrative: a pressing call for climate action, the quest for expanded market access opportunities, and essentially uplifting smallholder farmers from poverty’s grasp. These themes are interwoven into the daily fabric of millions, illustrating a challenging yet optimistic path towards sustainable development and food security throughout Africa.

Central to this topic is the smallholder farmer, the cornerstone of Africa’s agricultural sector and on the frontlines of our changing climate, navigating the complexities of unpredictable weather patterns, market fluctuations, and barriers to global agricultural trade. Efforts to mitigate these challenges by African nations, NGOs, and local communities have largely focused on enhancing climate resilience, broadening market access, and implementing effective poverty alleviation strategies, reflecting the continent’s rich diversity and unwavering spirit.

Amidst this evolving agricultural landscape, cassava is emerging as a beacon of hope, particularly in Nigeria, Africa’s agricultural hub. Rather than just another cash crop, cassava symbolizes a future where climate challenges are met with resilience, market opportunities are diversified, and the fight against poverty amongst shareholder farmers is more effectively waged. With its exceptional adaptability to adverse climate conditions, cassava offers Nigeria a unique opportunity to showcase how agriculture can adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Cassava also holds promise in the industrial sector, potentially becoming a key player in the emerging biofuels & biomaterials industry. From bioethanol to starches and flours, emerging cassava derivatives underscore its versatility and potential to unlock new domestic and international market prospects. This potential in Nigeria not only addresses current climate and economic challenges but also paves the way for steady economic growth, poverty reduction, and sustainable agricultural practices.

The evolving case of cassava in Nigeria represents a new narrative, charting a potential future where agricultural sustainability and the well-being of smallholder farmers take center stage in Africa’s development agenda. As the focus shifts towards leveraging cassava’s potential in Nigeria, it illuminates the crop’s pivotal role in shaping not only the present agricultural landscape but also the future legacy of agriculture on the continent.

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Cassava in Nigeria

Cultural and Economic Significance

Cassava holds an important place in Nigeria, not only as a staple food, but as a cultural emblem and a significant economic driver. Deeply ingrained in the nation’s cultural fabric, cassava embodies resilience, versatility, and community unity, permeating Nigerian traditions, rituals, festivals, and daily life across diverse ethnic groups and celebrating the heritage & ingenuity of smallholder Nigerian farmers. Cassava-based dishes like garri, fufu, and pounded yam are central to Nigerian cuisine and culture, serving as symbols of identity and continuity across generations. The role of cassava extends into ceremonies and local economies, often involving community-led cultivation and processing efforts that strengthen social bonds and collective well-being, while the vibrant exchange of cassava products at local markets underscores its importance not just in economic terms but as a focal point for community interaction, where stories and cultural values are shared.

As the world’s largest producer of cassava, Nigeria’s reliance on this crop is profound, supporting over 30 million farmers and marking a crucial component of the global market[1]. Beyond its role in sustaining rural economies and supporting smallholder livelihoods, cassava’s vast industrial potential—from bioethanol to pharmaceuticals—positions it as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s agricultural and industrial strategies. However, the journey to harnessing cassava’s full potential is met with challenges, including low technical efficiency and suboptimal yields[2], necessitating efforts to enhance production efficiency and improve farmer livelihoods. Cassava’s adaptability makes it a key player in food security and nutrition for millions of Nigerians[3], with its potential to influence future production, industrialization, and food supply trends. The ongoing evolution of cassava as an industrial raw material and a staple in urban households indicates its expanding role in Nigeria’s agricultural and economic landscape[4]. Addressing production challenges, enhancing value chain processes, and leveraging its industrial potential are critical for tapping into cassava’s capacity to drive economic growth, ensure food security, and uplift millions of Nigerian citizens.

By embracing cassava’s cultural significance and addressing the challenges it faces, Nigeria can underscore the crop’s role not just in agriculture but as an essential part of the nation’s cultural identity and heritage. This holistic approach aims not only at economic growth and food security but also at preserving the cultural essence that renders cassava truly indispensable to Nigeria and its people, ensuring it continues to nourish, empower, and sustain future generations.

Climate Resilience

Cassava, known for its resilience to climate changes and extreme weather patterns, can play a vital role in Nigeria’s agricultural landscape in the face of increasingly acute climate change challenges. The crop’s adaptability to conditions such as drought, heat, and poor soil quality, is attributed to its robust genetic makeup and deep-rooting system[5] . This resilience is crucial in Nigeria, where erratic rainfall patterns and rising temperatures are increasingly prevalent. As traditional crops are increasingly vulnerability to these changes, cassava emerges as a sustainable alternative, ensuring more consistent yield rates and requiring lower inputs of fertilizers and pesticides as compared to other Nigerian staples, thereby promoting more stable income and more sustainable farming practices.

Expanding Horizons through Market Access

Current Market Conditions

In the Nigerian market, cassava plays a vital role in food security and economic activity across the country, however, markets for cassava and cassava-based products face significant fluctuations across seasons and changing consumer preferences. Seasonal variations, the effects of climate change on productivity rates, and limited preservation techniques for fresh cassava create significant price, and therefore profit, volatility within internal markets[6], contributing to supply inconsistencies, waste, and unpredictable income for Nigerian farmers. In the international market, Nigerian cassava encounters strong competition from other national producers who often have advantages in production efficiency, quality standards, international trade agreements, and infrastructure capacity due to stronger economies of scale and better access to capital. Despite Nigeria’s rank as a leading cassava producer by tonnes grown, challenges in production, scaling, and post-harvest handling hinder its ability to fully tap into these international markets and establish a consistent and reliable export demand for cassava and its derivatives. Current efforts to enhance cassava production and market penetration in Nigeria have been hindered by various constraints due to agronomic, technical, and financial factors, labor shortages, inadequate extension services, and high production costs[7].

Barriers to Market Access

Smallholder cassava farmers in Nigeria face complex challenges to accessing both domestic & international markets and ultimately, achieving sustainable profitability.

On Farm Challenges

The increasingly acute impacts of climate change, including droughts, excess heat, and unpredictable weather patterns pose a new challenge for smallholder farmers with limited resources to respond and pivot to changing conditions. This causes disruptions in agricultural output, unpredictable yields, and challenges farmers’ ability to plan and make accurate predictions. Additionally, over time, these climate-related impacts, alongside limited access to resources and poor soil quality can cause conflicts over land rights, displacement, and migration to urban centers.

Consumer & Labor Limitations

Changes in consumer preferences and a shrinking labor force put increasing pressure on the cassava value chain. As consumers increasingly seek diverse and higher-quality cassava products, smallholder farmers struggle to meet these demands due to limited resources and support. Concurrently, the agricultural labor market faces reductions from rural-urban migration and an aging workforce, leading to a gap that hampers cassava production and processing. Efforts to attract younger workers and align cassava outputs with consumer expectations are essential for the sector’s growth and sustainability.

Inadequate Infrastructure

The impact of underdeveloped transportation & storage infrastructure on capital costs and post-harvest losses for smallholder farmers is well-documented. Poor transportation infrastructure, particularly in the rural areas where cassava is grown, leads to elevated transport costs, increased travel times, and a higher risk of post-harvest loss. These issues are exacerbated during the rainy season when some regions become inaccessible, isolating farmers from their primary markets. Lack of adequate storage facilities force farmers to sell their harvests prematurely and closer to home, often at reduced prices, contributing to economic losses and diminishing the quality & quantity of cassava reaching the market.

Inequitable Access to Finance & Information

For smallholder farmers, limited access to essential capital resources such as credit, market information, and physical inputs, is compounded by high transaction costs and the absence of substantial government and institutional support. Information asymmetry is also a critical institutional barrier for these growers who often lack access to vital financial & market information as well as innovations that could better inform decisions related to crop choice, harvest timing, and market selection, leading to suboptimal farming practices, market engagement outcomes, and ultimately financial stability. While a few initiatives, such as Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) are now working to enhance credit support for smallholder farmers, more attention is needed.

Strategies to Strengthen Market Participation of Smallholder Cassava Farmers

Addressing the obstacles faced by smallholder farmers in Nigeria will require a holistic approach that includes improving infrastructure, enhancing access to resources like credit and information, implementing climate change adaptation strategies, and providing tailored support in conflict-affected areas. By integrating interventions into a cross-sectoral strategy, policymakers and stakeholders can create a sustainable enabling environment for the success of smallholder cassava farmers across the country.

Challenges with Post-Harvest Loss

In Nigeria specifically, infrastructure limitations along the domestic value chain cause significant post-harvest challenges that trickle down into food security, economic development, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. These losses, estimated at 20-30% of the cassava yield, stem from inadequate storage facilities, inefficient processing techniques, and transportation delays[8]; the highly perishable nature of cassava, with a shelf life of less than 48 hours if not properly processed, exacerbates these issues. Consequently, not only is farmers’ income potential reduced but there are also higher rates of food waste from cassava harvests, with far-reaching environmental implications due to the wasted resources like water and land.

However, minimizing post-harvest loss is not simply an issue of physical infrastructure with impacts spanning beyond physical losses. Post-harvest losses represent a significant inefficiency in agricultural resource use across Nigeria as well as a lost opportunity for income generation and livelihood improvement. Nutritionally, cassava serves as a staple food for millions of Nigerians and reduced availability in domestic markets can exacerbate nutritional deficiencies and food insecurity amongst vulnerable populations. And, traditional practices of cultivation, processing, and consumption, while culturally significant, don’t always align with modern standards of efficiency and food safety. A transition to improved practices requires not just the introduction of new technologies but also respect for cultural norms, alongside education and training to facilitate this change. By combining strategic investments in cassava processing industrialization with efforts to overcome logistical, market, and cultural barriers, Nigeria could transform this critical sector.

Industrialization as a Solution

While culturally significant, the traditional processing methods for cassava are often inefficient and lead to substantial losses. The industrialization of the cassava processing value chain stands out as a key solution, promoting the adoption of modern techniques and investment in industrial-scale facilities to extend the shelf life of cassava products, reduce waste, and enhance the crop’s overall value. Introduction of these modern processing techniques—such as mechanical peeling, drying, and grating—have the potential to drastically reduce post-harvest losses and improve product quality; for example the use of solar or hybrid drying technologies can enhance the drying process, making it faster and less dependent on weather conditions, while better preserving the nutritional value and extending the shelf life. Derivatives such as starch, flour, bioethanol, and high fructose syrup could also open new opportunities for the cassava value chain in both domestic and international markets. Systemically, scaling up cassava processing will require significant investment in industrial-scale facilities that can handle large volumes of cassava with increased efficiency. These facilities, equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, can process cassava into various derivatives with higher precision and lower costs. The establishment of such facilities would not only reduce waste but also enable the production of cassava derivatives at a quality and scale that meets global market standards. Strategic investments in infrastructure, technology, and human capital, supported by conducive government policies, will be crucial to realizing the potential of industrialization.

However, achieving industrialization will require a concerted effort from both the public and private sectors. Strategic investments in research and development can foster innovation in cassava processing technologies and product development but require robust government policies and incentives to attract effective private investment and ensure systemic implementation. These policies might include tax breaks, subsidies for cassava processing technologies, and grants for research into new cassava derivatives.

Thoughtful development of physical infrastructure is also necessary to build out the sector without exacerbating other local issues. Establishing processing facilities in proximity to cassava farming communities will be vital to reduce logistical challenges and ensure that the benefits of industrialization reach the rural areas where cassava farmers live while spurring further local jobs and economic benefits. Embracing sustainable infrastructure, such as waste recycling and energy-efficient technologies, can ensure that industrialization does not come with negative environmental costs. By prioritizing the industrialization of cassava processing, Nigeria can transform a key agricultural sector, turning post-harvest challenges into opportunities for growth, innovation, and sustainability.

Considering Sustainability

With the development of Nigeria’s cassava industry, there is also an opportunity to better integrate sustainable farming practices that can increase production, reduce environmental impact, and promote long-term agricultural sustainability. Practices such as agroforestry, conservation tillage, integrated pest management, crop rotation, intercropping, and efficient water management are crucial for improving soil quality, biodiversity, soil health, and water retention, ultimately supporting robust cassava production long-term[9]. Moreover, the industrial demand for cassava can drive the development and adoption of climate-resilient varieties, supporting adaptation efforts, and ensuring a stable cassava supply under changing climatic conditions. Cassava industrialization can also aid in carbon reduction through sustainable bioenergy production like cassava-based bioethanol, offering a renewable alternative to fossil fuels with a lower carbon footprint. By focusing on climate-resilient ag development, sustainable practices, and industrialization, countries like Nigeria can become leaders in climate resilience, environmental sustainability, and economic development, setting an example for climate-smart agriculture and industrialization in tropical regions.

Improved Cassava Value Chain

Coordinated, intentional, and efficient investment in Nigeria’s agricultural infrastructure and policy landscape has the potential to drastically improve ecological and market outcomes for smallholder cassava growers across the country.

Cassava’s Systemic Spillover Effects

Aside from agricultural development, a richer cassava industry in Nigeria also holds a secondary potential to serve as a catalyst for broader economic development and community empowerment. At the heart of this transformation is the potential to create a multitude of jobs across the value chain—from the fields where cassava is cultivated to the processing facilities where harvests are transformed into valuable derivatives such as starch, flour, bioethanol, and high fructose syrup. This expansion would significantly bolster incomes for smallholders and entrepreneurs alike, offering them avenues to break free from the cycles of poverty that are prevalent in rural communities. Beyond the tangible economic and infrastructural benefits, the cultivation and industrial processing of cassava weave a thread of social cohesion and equity through communities. As women and youth often play significant roles in cassava cultivation and processing, their empowerment through these activities promotes gender equality and youth opportunities for employment, which are critical aspects of Nigeria’s equitable development.

The ripple effects of such economic empowerment extend deep into the fabric of communities, seeding resilience and fostering a robust foundation for sustainable development. It is proven that improved incomes lead to enhanced food security, as families can afford a more nutritious and varied diet, while spending locally and saving excess profits, better equipping agricultural communities to withstand the fluctuations of markets and the unpredictability of climate impacts. Furthermore, the industrialization of cassava processing paves the way for infrastructural development, including roads, storage facilities, and energy access, which are vital components for cross-sector rural development. These improvements not only facilitate the cassava value chain but also enhance the quality of life for the community at large, providing better access to markets, schools, and healthcare.

The integration of sustainable practices in cassava production—such as agroforestry, conservation tillage, and integrated pest management—underscore the commitment to environmental stewardship, ensuring that economic development does not come at the cost of the environment. These practices not only enhance the sustainability of cassava cultivation but also contribute to broader environmental goals by maintaining ecosystem health and biodiversity, which are essential for long-term agricultural productivity and community well-being. By continuing to invest in the cassava value chain, from enhancing production techniques to expanding industrial processing capabilities, and by fostering an enabling environment through supportive policies and investments, Nigeria can harness the full potential of cassava as a vehicle for transformative change, paving the way for a future where economic empowerment and sustainable development are inextricably linked, ensuring that no member of the community is left behind in the journey towards prosperity and resilience.

Cassava as a Tool for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

In the complex story of Nigeria’s farming world, cassava emerges not merely as a crop but as a beacon of hope and transformation. Its story, intertwined with the threads of climate resilience, market expansion, and poverty alleviation, shines a light on a path toward a more sustainable and prosperous future. Cassava stands at the forefront of Nigeria’s battle against climate change, offering a resilient crop alternative that can thrive under the duress of shifting weather patterns and environmental challenges. Its cultivation and processing, underscored by sustainable practices, not only mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change but also bolster the agricultural sector’s adaptation capabilities through increasingly harsh and unpredictable conditions. Simultaneously, cassava has the potential to significantly broaden market access, both domestically and internationally, by transforming into a plethora of value-added products. From starch and flour to bioethanol and high fructose syrup, these derivatives can unlock new economic opportunities, creating a ripple effect that enhances livelihoods, fosters industrial growth, and propels Nigeria onto the global stage as a key player in the cassava market. Most critically, the expansion of the cassava sector embodies a powerful vehicle for poverty alleviation. By generating employment, improving incomes, and fostering community development, cassava production and industrialization can uplift millions of Nigerians, weaving a stronger social fabric marked by resilience, equity, and prosperity. This transformative potential extends beyond economic metrics, touching the very essence of community well-being and environmental stewardship.

Yet, realizing this vision requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders. Policymakers must craft and implement supportive policies that nurture the growth of the cassava sector, encompassing research and development, infrastructure investment, and market facilitation. Investors are encouraged to see and seize the huge opportunities cassava offers, directing capital towards ventures that not only promise returns but also contribute to the broader societal good. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society must continue to play their pivotal role in advocating for sustainable practices, facilitating knowledge transfer, and supporting smallholder farmers and communities in navigating the evolving agricultural landscape. The call to action is clear: by embracing the cassava sector’s potential and addressing the intertwined challenges of climate change, market access, and poverty, Nigeria can set a course toward sustainable development that honors its agricultural heritage while forging a future of innovation, inclusivity, and resilience. Cassava, as a catalyst for change, offers more than just a solution to immediate challenges—it presents a blueprint for a sustainable agricultural future that can nourish, empower, and sustain generations to come.

[1] Ikuemonisan et al., 2020

[2] Obayelu et al., 2021

[3] Ikuemonisan et al., 2020

[4] Ikuemonisan & Akinbola, 2021.

[5] Akinwumiju et al., 2020.

[6] Ikuemonisan et al., 2020.

[7] Inegbedion et al., 2020.

[8] Uchechukwu-Agua et al., 2015.

[9] Shackelford et al., 2018.

References

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Chikezie, P. and Ojiako, O. (2013). Cyanide and aflatoxin loads of processed cassava (manihot esculenta) tubers (garri) in njaba, imo state, nigeria. Toxicology International, 20(3), 261. https://doi.org/10.4103/0971-6580.121679

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Ojiako, I., Tarawali, G., Okechukwu, R., & Chianu, J. (2017). Household characteristics and market participation competence of smallholder farmers supplying cassava to starch processors in nigeria. International Journal of Agricultural Research Innovation and Technology, 6(2), 42-56. https://doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v6i2.31704

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Shackelford, G., Haddaway, N., Usieta, H., Pypers, P., Petrovan, S., & Sutherland, W. (2018). Cassava farming practices and their agricultural and environmental impacts: a systematic map protocol. Environmental Evidence, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13750-018-0142-2

Uchechukwu-Agua, A. D., Caleb, O. J., Manley, M., & Opara, U. L. (2015). Effects of storage conditions and duration on physicochemical and microbial quality of the flour of two cassava cultivars (tme 419 and umucass 36). CyTA – Journal of Food, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/19476337.2015.1029524

The post Cassava as a Catalyst: Climate Resilience, Market Expansion, and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria appeared first on Camber Collective.

Even as women live more years with poorer quality of life than men,[2] research and development (R&D) to address women’s health issues is chronically underfunded, with the majority of investment concentrated among just a few funders. Collectively, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health account for the vast majority of women’s health funding, making up over 60% of funding for sexual and reproductive health alone.

In early 2023, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health engaged Camber Collective* to develop a partnership of women’s health experts, innovators, and advocates—the Innovation Equity Forum (IEF)—to identify the top opportunities to advance innovation for women’s health worldwide. Over nine months, the Forum produced the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map report, which highlights 50 opportunities that can advance women’s health innovation and strengthen the R&D ecosystem within the next 15 years.

Camber played two key roles throughout this project. First, we engaged over 250 stakeholders as members of the IEF over the course of nine months to identify, prioritize, and expound the top opportunities for women’s health across nine topics, such as data and modeling and non-communicable diseases. This co-creation approach to the development of the Opportunity Map was intentionally designed to ensure diverse perspectives shaped the report.

IEF members represented over 50 countries, with IEF leadership positions held equally by members from low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries. Members were representative of a variety of sectors, age groups, and races and ethnicities and the majority of members were women.

A key feature of the stakeholder engagement was equitable participation that put decision making largely in the hands of IEF members. Members were able to participate across a range of modalities, including virtual meetings and white boarding sessions, asynchronous drafting and feedback, and a hybrid in-person and virtual convening.

At the convening, members developed solution strategies to identify the necessary actions to realize the opportunities. The convening balanced plenary sessions for information sharing, breakout sessions for brainstorming and co-creation, and unstructured social gatherings to ensure the convening objectives were met while simultaneously building a stronger partnership among IEF members.

In our second role, Camber led the development of the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map, which serves as a guide for key actors to prioritize their investments in and advocacy for women’s health R&D. The stakeholder engagement process and convening provided the key inputs to the Opportunity Map and Camber provided the analysis and synthesis necessary to ensure a cohesive and actionable final product.

Camber also developed a toolkit to empower IEF members to disseminate the opportunities and galvanize additional stakeholders to invest in women’s health.

The Opportunity Map will have impact for years to come, as stakeholders begin tapping into the opportunities and implementing the solution strategies. We anticipate three key outcomes:

1. Improved equitable inclusion, participation, and funding of women across the R&D continuum.
2. Increased investment in women’s health innovation that addresses critical needs for diverse groups of women and leads to a high return on investment, including financial returns and health and social benefits.
3. Strengthened partnership and alignment of key stakeholders to create a more robust, well-funded, and equitable women’s health R&D ecosystem.

The Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map was launched at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting in October 2023, along with a request for proposals from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund near-term investments in these opportunities. The full Opportunity Map can be found here.

*The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contracted Camber Collective for this work.

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A leading National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center had developed a unique and best-in-class supportive care program with proven results in navigating the complex journey beyond the mere clinical treatment aspect of cancer care.  Based on internal analysis, they found that patients receiving supportive care experienced less time in the ICU, shorter overall hospital lengths of stay, and higher self-reported quality of life than those who did not receive the services[ii].

Camber was engaged by this cancer center as they sought to expand access to comprehensive supportive care services across their extended network of clinics and affiliates, including at rural and urban satellite clinics serving diverse and often underserved populations of patients. While serving more patients and caregivers was the goal, equally critical was scaling up the program in a way that preserved the quality of services, patient satisfaction, and equitable access available within the current program offered on their main academic medical center campus. Camber supported leadership in defining the vision, strategy, and plan for scaling up the supportive care program in a way that preserved the integrated and personalized patient experience delivered in-person. 

To achieve this vision, Camber helped develop the concept for a novel technology-enabled model of care that blends high-touch with high-tech in order to sustainably serve a diverse range of patient and caregiver needs. In delivering this project, Camber focused on five key client objectives to ensure successful outcomes:

• A bold and ambitious vision: Development of a model and strategy intended to be impactful at scale, expanding access to supportive care across the client’s network in the near-term, but with potential to help transform cancer care nationally and internationally longer-term. This meant pushing leaders’ thinking and preconceived notions on the “art of the possible” to consider pathways and end points they had not originally considered.
• Deeply anchored in patient needs: Ensuring that the big vision did not lose sight of the small details that make the current patient-centered model unique and so effective.  This meant understanding patient and caregiver needs as well as provider workflows to identify where there were opportunities for efficiencies and economies of scale as well as where customization and human touch is most critical.
• Designed to be sustainable: While the vision is expansive and the unmet needs are great, we also had to design within a current reimbursement environment, technology architecture, and business model that often move at an evolutionary pace.  This meant “riding the rails” of existing infrastructure where possible, and focusing on “building new rails” in terms of workforce, process, and infrastructure only where most critical.
• Designed to evolve: Transformation in healthcare is a process and not an event, and getting a model as complex as supportive care right requires multiple cycles of iteration.  This meant defining KPIs and monitoring tools to provide feedback loops to support ongoing refinement and account for lessons learned and changing conditions.
• Designed to last: The vision of “supportive care everywhere” championed by the client was to not only develop something that differentiated themselves, but also to do so in a way that could become a blueprint for others’ transformation.  This meant building in pathways for the “productization” of core elements of the model over time.

The final strategy was approved, and the client received outside philanthropic funding to accelerate development and implementation of the new model. Implementation is ongoing.

[i] American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2022.

[ii] Internal client study, not peer reviewed or validated.

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Social norms on reproductive health and sexuality, and access to family planning services, are deeply influenced by a society’s history, culture and access to resources. But family planning is also intimate and deeply personal. Women and men make decisions about when to have children as they navigate  their social, emotional and relational lives, and pursue opportunities related to career, education, and community service. So, in order to support the government of Benin in developing country-level policy around reproductive health, Camber first wanted to take the time to deeply engage with youth, and better understand their hopes, plans for the futures, and challenges and joys in everyday life.

Working in partnership with the Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local, Camber conducted a multi-faceted qualitative research with young men and women in rural and urban areas. The research combined a number of methodologies, and including focus groups, in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation. Through “photovoice” we asked participants to document their day-to-day lives with photography, generating rich visual data on their role models, ambitions, perspectives, and what matters to them.

This data generated a number of rich insights on youth’s experiences and needs around reproductive health. We learned, for instance, about young women’s aspirations and desire for family, interest in defying gender norms which limit women to the household, and frustration with a lack of work opportunities.  We heard about how women seek information on reproductive health, receiving a myriad of diverse messages (from friends, family, peers, media, health workers) while trying to discern the truth of what will work best for them in their lives. We heard about how young women’s outlooks differ from their mothers, and how they are navigating a landscape of rapidly shifting social norms.

These qualitative insights gave us perspective on how young women are experiencing numerous pressures, working towards multiple ambitions, and how their interest in and access to family planning sits at the intersection of social, cultural and economic factors in their lives. Based on these insights, we crafted a quantitative survey which allowed us to understand how these dynamics play out and impact family planning at a population level. We worked collaboratively with the government of Benin, and with local youth organizers, to develop a strategy for improving youth access to family planning, and a  communications plan to promote family planning in terms that resonate with young women and meet their needs. 

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This is how Michael Pollan, American author and academic best known for his explorations of the socio-cultural impacts of food, concludes an article underscoring how Covid-19 has exacerbated the inherent vulnerabilities and inequities of our modern food system. Adding to the discussion, a recent paper published in the Journal of Peasant Studies provides a detailed history of how we came to inherit this food system, by outlining 70 years of policy choices focused on improving efficiency in response to previous food system crises. In the 1960-70s, efficiency was pursued through industrial production methods, then in the 1980-90s it was pursued through specialization and trade, and the last two decades have pursued efficiency through corporate dominated supply chains.[2] Consistent and compounding policy responses have led to a vulnerable food system that lacks resilience and has traded economic equity, human dignity, human health, and environmental preservation in pursuit of efficiency and concentrated profit. Recognizing this, the time has come for us to force the choices that will put us back on a path to a just, nutritious, and sustainable food system.

First, let’s talk about the current realities of the food system. Then, let’s explore theories for food system transformation. Finally, let’s think about what we can do to help keep our people and our planet alive and well.

Lest we forget one of the hot topics during the early months of this pandemic, Covid-19 exposed to mainstream media the ineffective, inhumane, and highly inequitable nature of our food system.[3] Taking each of those in turn:

If we focus on ineffectiveness, we remember how dumbfounding it was to watch as our food system forced farmers to dump hundreds of gallons of unsold milk and euthanize their livestock on one end, but was unable to accommodate food banks’ ever-growing lines of hungry families suddenly unemployed by the economic shutdown on the other end.[4] A food system built for efficiency has rendered it ineffective except under perfect conditions.

However, while our food system is ineffective at getting food to those who need it, it is effective at accelerating the spread of disease – a distressing reality to confront while we sit amidst a global pandemic. Old and new research has surfaced on how the food system quickly spreads infectious disease – since 1940, agricultural drivers were associated with more than 25% of all diseases, and greater than 50% of infectious diseases caused by germs that spread between animals and people.[5],[6] That said, food system transformation will greatly improve our chances of avoiding the economic and personal pains of rampant disease in the future.  

If we continue examining the food system from the angles of inhumanity and inequity, we remember how food system workers – often workers of color – such as food processing workers and migrant farm labor, continued to face increased illness and death as government mandates kept meatpacking facilities open and restricted labor protections.[7],[8] For many of these same workers and their families, symptoms of Covid-19 were exacerbated by chronic diet-related health illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension that continue to disproportionately afflict low-income communities and communities of color.[9] The food systems’ laser focus on lucrative outputs such as grains, meat, and dairy have long left low-income communities – again, many of color – able only to afford foods that do not fully nourish human bodies. These socio-economic realities (indisputably linked to racial realities) continue to play out in a food system that places more emphasis on profit and efficiency than on nourishment and equity.

Although the news has shifted to the latest-breaking stories, the blatant vulnerabilities and gross inequities exposed in our modern food system remain rampant. This alone provides increasing evidence for and recognition of the longstanding consensus that a concerted transition to smaller, local food systems with increased resilience, distribution of power, equitable access, and diversification of output is a necessary and pressing matter of public policy.[10],[11]

While the consolidation of global supply chains in the industrialized food system made things cheaper and more efficient, the streamlined processes collapse like a long chain of dominos in the event of the smallest of disruption. Smaller systems, on the other hand, can pivot and adapt to changing environments.[12] Their localized nature also means disease does not spread as quickly or as ubiquitously as a germ hitching a ride on the Global Industrialized Food System Express. And finally, although current political choices have created an environment that incentivizes and ensures concentrated power to produce problematic outputs, if power were shifted to local communities, they could make choices that sustain, strengthen and protect their communities with adequate worker rights and appropriate health foods.

Despite consensus on the solution, there is little agreement as to what choices we should make to feasibly arrive there, and who should make those choices. Given what we know about where power lies and given that lobbyists, lawyers, large profit margins, and consumer access might not be on the side of localized food systems for a long time, what can realistically be done?

While several theories of change exist, for each theory of change advocate, there are just as many critics.

First, to those who believe writing concrete scientific reports and telling compelling stories will shift beliefs and behaviors enough to shift policy incentives and consumer preferences, there are those who are not as convinced. While science and storytelling are important, looking to the climate movement as an example, we see evidence it doesn’t matter what is said and known generally, but rather what people in positions of political and financial power proclaim. Much like the climate movement, policy for a new food economy would be expensive, and has few short or medium returns. If communities and politicians fear immediate economic loss or political unpopularity more than they fear future scientific certainty, starting such a politically and emotionally charged conversation with scientific facts is useless.

Second, to those who advocate for solving this issue from a different angle, in which powerful food industry actors themselves transition business models towards sustainability, critics similarly say that as long as policies provide them incentives to operate as they always have, and insurance allows them to write off their losses from operating in such a way, it’s too risky – foolish even – to transition away from the status quo.

Third: What if people vote with their fork until consumer demand out-competes business as usual? Enter critiques: only those who both care about long-term health and sustainability and also have the purchasing power to make choices in line with their beliefs can vote with their fork. That specific consumer segment is not large enough to create system-wide change alone, and even if it were, the process would leave behind the very people we were demanding change for in the first place, given the high prices of food. Chronic lack of purchasing power and access is the reason why America’s dollar stores are able to sell more food nationally than Whole Foods.[13] Besides, for the industries that have decided to cater to this relatively small consumer base by flooding the market with “better for you” brands and fast-casual restaurants, the pandemic seeks to prove you can’t beat capitalism at its own game: in this new normal, the first foods to go are the ones with the most preservatives and longest shelf lives, and the fast food chains have been surviving much better than local restaurants.[14],[15]

It has been made clear that systemic issues rarely have perfect solutions and come with many more questions than answers. Urgency is imperative, but negligence can be deadly. In a world where health is a function of privilege rather than a human right, where excess supply is unable to meet excess demand, and where the land that provides us with our food is treated as poorly as the person working the land, it is time to demand policy change.

Thankfully, policy is much more than the work of politicians. While responsibilities and distribution of power are uneven, the responsibility to change policy is not on politicians alone, nor does the power lie exclusively with them. We as individuals have varying levels of power and privilege we are responsible for using to influence, inform, and initiate change. To change policy, we can do at least two things:

We can gain and share knowledge. Paramount to affecting policy is the interminable work of gaining and sharing knowledge from and with different times, peoples, and places. A well-rounded understanding of the challenges and opportunities can start with having a conversation with a friend, or watching a documentary on Netflix, or even typing a relevant question into the Google search bar. In parallel, it is important to critically analyze any knowledge in order to understand the relationships it has with yourself, the source sharing the knowledge, and the system the knowledge belongs to. For example, does the knowledge reveal anything about your own role in perpetuating the status quo and preventing change, or perhaps opportunities to affect change, based on lived experience, history, or privileges? Who is sharing the knowledge and why them?

We can exercise our right to engage in policy advocacy and voting processes. In a moment in history when political activism is so high, we all know how important it can be to add one’s voice to national elections. However, our voice can be used in local elections, or in any democratic process any organization or community you are involved with might have, too. Register to vote. Find out what decisions are on the table by searching candidates on the internet or emailing the head of the organization you are involved with. Vote for or defend the position that will likely not be perfect, but will bring us away from the status quo of repeated attempts to place efficiency above all.

Morality has been pitted against politics and profit, but such battles have been won before (take the tobacco industry, for example).[16] There is hope in the fact that we got to where we are based on policy, and so we can get ourselves out the same way.

[1] Michael Pollan (2020) “The Sickness in Our Food Supply,” The New York Review of Books

[2] Jennifer Clapp & William G. Moseley (2020) “This food crisis is different: COVID-19 and the fragility of the neoliberal food security order,” The Journal of Peasant Studies, DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2020.1823838

[3] Caleb Pershan (2020) “It’s still the Jungle Out There,” Eater

[4] Tyler Whitley (2020) “Op-ed: Don’t Blame Farmers Who Have to Euthanize Their Animals. Blame the Companies They Work For,” Civil Eats

[5] Albie Miles, Kathleen Merrigan (2020) “If We Get Food Right, We Get Everything Right.” Honolulu Civil Beat

[6] Laura Spinney (2020) “We Need to Rethink Our Food System to Prevent the Next Pandemic,” Time Magazine

[7] Andrew Restuccia & Jacob Bunge (2020) “Trump Takes Executive Action to Keep Meat-Processing Plants Open,” The Wall Street Journal

[8] N.a. (2020) “Impact of COVID-19 on people’s livelihoods, their health and our food systems,” Joint statement by ILO, FAO, IFAD and WHO

[9] Pollan (2020) “The Sickness in Our Food Supply”  

[10] Chloe Sorvino (2020) “Going Local: The Case For Bringing America’s Meat Supply Closer To Home,” Forbes

[11] Clapp & Moseley (2020) “This food crisis is different”

[12] Sarah Sax, (2020) “A Vietnamese Farmers’ Cooperative in New Orleans Offers a Lesson in Resilience,” Civil Eats

[13] Elly Truesdell (2020) “Grocery Wars: A Natural Foods Reckoning,” Food + Tech Connect              

[14] Ibid.

[15] Cathy Erway (2020) “What Happens When the Only Restaurants Left Are Chains?” Grub Street

[16] Paul Verkuil (1998) “A Leadership Case Study of Tobacco and its Regulation,” Public Talk: The Online Journal of Discourse Leadership

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On May 25th Minneapolis police officers murdered George Floyd while he pleaded for air and his life. His death is one of many in a 400+ year history of white supremacy, structural and institutional racism, exploitation, and indiscriminate violence toward Black people. This incident comes during a pandemic that has laid bare the deep social, economic, and health disparities experienced by Black communities.

We’ve been inspired by the thousands of protesters across all 50 states and in other countries. Individuals and organizations are using their voice and taking action toward the transformational change that is urgently needed in our society and in our institutions.

We want to be clear: Black Lives Matter.

Camber Collective enjoys a position of privilege. We have begun a journey to better understand this privilege, learn how to use our power to amplify the voices and perspectives of marginalized communities, and achieve greater racial equity both within our organization and through our work. And yet we have not done enough. Now is the time for action. In the near-term we are committing to the following steps:

Camber Day for Racial Justice | On Friday 6/5, Camber Collective closed for all client and internal work. Our team dedicated the day to racial justice and racial equity work. This work has and will continue to take different forms for our people, including protest, learning and dialogue, self-care, processing, and healing. We encourage you to join us or to carve out time for your own action.

Funding for Racial Equity | We established a matching fund for staff donations to 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 organizations focused on Racial Justice and Equity. We aim to deploy funds quickly to those organizations and programs that are fighting racism, supporting protesters, and advancing systemic racial equity.

Learning and Action | We re-committed to our journey of listening and learning, achieving our racial equity focused diversity, equity and inclusion goals, and most importantly taking action to lift up Black, Indigenous and People of Color and their communities, and fighting institutional and structural racism at Camber, in the US and abroad.  

We recognize the need to be anti-racist allies, and we look forward to working together to dismantle white supremacy to address the injustices and systemic oppression so deeply ingrained in our society, and make racial equality a reality.

–The Camber Collective Team

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