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Agriculture

SPRING/Senegal Cereal Transformation Unit Training

From May 4-8, 2017, SPRING/Senegal trained all six partner networks in Senegal on the technical and business elements of operating and maintaining machinery to process cereals like maize and millet. SPRING/Senegal purchased 12 multi-function cereal processors and distributed two to each agricultural partner network. The 3-in-1 machines shell, grind, and crush cereals, tasks traditionally done by women using a mortar and pestle.

Listening to Farmers and Mothers

Nutrition and agriculture practitioners rely on formative research to inform program design. Agriculture programming often conducts value chain analyses to identify constraints and opportunities to improve performance or competitiveness, while health programs use social and behavior change (SBC) tools to identify barriers and enablers to the adoption of improved household-level nutrition practices.

SPRING/Guinea Develops Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Training Package for Local "Agro-Preneurs"

In April 2017, SPRING/Guinea tested and refined a nutrition-sensitive agriculture training package that will be integrated into a broader agro-preneur program curriculum for use by the Feed the Future-funded Strengthening Market-Led Agricultural Research, Technology, and Education (SMARTE) activity in Guinea. Through its Apprentisage en Vulgarisation, Entrepreneuriat et l’Innovation Rurale (AVENIR) program, SMARTE is training local agro-preneurs to work with private-sector value chain actors throughout Guinea.

How Can Different Groups and Organizations Work Together to Improve Nutrition?

Recent evidence underscores the need for commitment from multiple sectors to end malnutrition. While the concept of increased coordination and collaboration across sectors is widely accepted, working across diverse disciplines with different missions has proven to be a challenge in many countries. SPRING developed a brief to document lessons learned from our work with Feed the Future USAID Missions and their implementing partners in Guatemala, Bangladesh, and Rwanda to strengthen their vision, plans, and approaches for coordination and collaboration around nutrition.