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Co-Creating Inclusive Nutrition Services Across Pakistan’s Food Distribution Networks
- Ayesha Hassan
- Pakistan
- GAIN
- October 22, 2025
- Project start date: 01/12/2024 Project end date: 31/05/2025
Situation
In Pakistan, Food Distribution Networks (FDNs) serve vulnerable communities with free meals, yet systemic barriers restrict women’s access and compromise nutritional standards. Entrenched gender norms, logistical hurdles, and inconsistent meal quality limit the dignity and impact of these vital services.
Assignment
GAIN commissioned Proportion Global to lead a participatory design process across six FDNs in Lahore and Faisalabad. The mandate: improve women’s inclusion and elevate the nutritional value of meals through community-led innovation.
Approach
Using Proportion’s decentralized, human-centered design process, local FDN teams co-created solutions through immersive phases—Listen, Ideate, and Test. Community members and FDN staff jointly mapped service journeys, prioritized challenges, and prototyped concepts. Iterative workshops and remote testing ensured each idea was grounded in real needs and operational feasibility.
Result
Five impactful service prototypes emerged, including cooking clinics, etiquette sermons, and gender-sensitive signage. The approach deepened local ownership, built institutional capacity, and surfaced scalable innovations. These solutions now guide GAIN’s funding strategy and inspire wider systemic shifts in inclusive food security