What will it take to accelerate improvements in nutrition outcomes in Odisha? Learning from the past

The Indian state of Odisha has made significant strides to address health and nutrition in the last 25 years. We used public data, policy and program documents, published literature, and interviews (n=75) with program and policy decision-makers, representatives from development partners, and civil society and community members to analyze these changes. Factors that contributed to scale up of health and nutrition interventions and the food security program included overarching policy support, financing at the national and state level, leadership across sectors from government to civil society and development partners, capacity and stability of tenure of bureaucrats, and state innovations in service delivery interventions. Barriers that may impede further progress include lack of sanitation, low levels of women's education, early marriage in girls, livelihood distress, and uneven progress across social groups.