Lucy Kanya

Dr. Lucy Kanya has a Health Economics and Health Policy background and has dedicated 17 years contributing to the generation of or translation of evidence for health systems strengthening in Sub Saharan Africa. This has been through academia and research. She is passionate about health care financing and, maternal and child health in Sub Saharan Africa countries. Lucy uses implementation science approaches to support governments in the introduction and scale up of evidence-informed nutrition sensitive and nutrition specific interventions aimed at addressing the triple burden of malnutrition in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

Lucy joined the Global School of Sustainability (GSoS) in May 2025 from LSE’s Department of Health Policy where she supported establishment of the African Health Observatory Platform on Health Systems and Policies (AHOP). The AHOP is a collaborative partnership fostering cross-country learning to promote knowledge exchange and evidence-informed policy-making. Dr. Kanya is working with Prof Elizabeth Robinson and Dr Shouro Dasgupta to set up the Food(in)security Lab at GSoS.

Lucy’s current implementation research projects and focus countries: 

1. Exploring the introduction of antenatal multiple micronutrient supplements to address maternal anemia in Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Zambia. While the majority of this work focusses on nutrition specific interventions, in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia,  we work with partners who support nutrition-sensitive interventions that address the underlying causes of malnutrition, such as food security, care practices, and access to health services. They provide a delivery platform for nutrition-specific interventions (e.g., supplements) by improving the enabling environment, thereby increasing the scale and effectiveness of nutrition goals, ultimately reducing stunting, wasting, and other forms of malnutrition.    

2. A research study examining the barriers and enablers to delivering integrated Adolescent Nutrition, WASH, and Menstrual Hygiene Interventions in Climate-Affected, Underserved Communities of Northern Nigeria and Northern Kenya. These settings are characterized by high teenage and adolescent pregnancies, all within food insecure and conflict-ridden environs. This study will document context and age specific barriers to early and sustained ANC initiation and co-create suitable implementation strategies to help drive the demand for and utilization of healthcare services, and MMS.  

3. Landscape analysis on the routinization of Vitamin A supplements and deworming for children under 5 years of age in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Anemia due to worm infestation is a significant concern in this setting. Similarly, due to ongoing conflicts and the resultant migration, communities have moved away from the farming and consumption of their indigenous nutrient dense foods exposing them to limited dietary diversity and nutrient deficiencies. Vitamin A and deworming supplements are provided to children below five years of age while suitable safety nets will be explored to cushion the parents and larger communities from the effects of the conflict and climate related disasters.  

4. Impact measurement: The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) is used to estimate impact of the above interventions.  Recognizing the challenges with obtaining quality data, the use of the LiST tool also serves as a capacity building opportunity for study partners in the different countries.