On April 5-6, the USAID-funded SPRING project conducted a workshop together with the Kyrgyz National Agrarian University on understanding the linkages between agriculture and nutrition in the Kyrgyz Republic. Faculty from the Kyrgyz State Agrarian University and other nutrition and agriculture stakeholders – including representatives from World Food Programme, Food & Agriculture Organization, the Agriculture Productivity and Nutrition Improvement Project, and USAID’s Agro Horizon Project – attended the workshop.
Nora Madrigal, USAID/Kyrgyz Republic Health and Education Office Director, opened the workshop. Heather Danton, Food Security and Nutrition Director at USAID SPRING’s global headquarters, led the workshop. The workshop focused on “nutrition-sensitive agriculture,” an approach wherein agriculture initiatives and projects both target and yield nutritional outcomes in addition to traditional agriculture results. Participants learned about essential nutrition concepts, discussed agricultural livelihoods in relation to nutrition challenges and opportunities in the Kyrgyz Republic, and spent time applying SPRING’s practical tool: Agriculture-Nutrition Pathways. These pathways can be used by agriculture programs and policymakers to have a greater impact on improving nutrition. They also help illustrate how various agriculture investments or activities could improve access to food and healthcare, how they impact and are affected by the enabling environment, and how they affect the nutrition of individual women and children.
Since 2014, SPRING has been training healthcare providers, improving delivery of nutrition services, linking agriculture and nutrition, and educating communities to promote better nutrition, optimal breastfeeding, hand-washing, and safe food preservation and storage in close partnership with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Visit this page to explore all of SPRING's Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Training resources.
