Agriculture and Nutrition Resource Review

This study uses a nationally representative sample of Ugandan households to rigorously examine how adoption of improved dairy cow breeds impacts enterprise, household, and individual child nutrition outcomes. The study finds that adopting improved dairy cows significantly increases milk productivity, milk commercialization, and food expenditure. Consequently, adoption substantially reduced household poverty and stunting for children under the age of five.

Agriculture is often viewed as a predominantly economic activity. But in the 1960’s and 1970’s, concerns about food shortages and growing populations led to an increased focus among policymakers, researchers, and donor agencies on maximizing agriculture’s nutritional potential.

According to the authors of this 1998 article, the ‘food system’ is a widely used concept, but with few systematic frameworks that model its full scope and structure. Even at sixteen years old, this article reflects a continued desire to define and adopt a conceptual model of both food and nutrition systems, as well as to articulate linkages among the many disciplines included there-in.

The February 2014 edition of the WASH/Nutrition Literature Update included a wide range of articles, including a study that examines the relationship between WASH, environmental enteropathy, and early childhood development.

Following a previous Learning in Action article on USAID/Guatemala's perspective on learning within WHIP, Elena Hurtado, Chief of Party for Nutri-Salud, provides insights from the implementing partner perspective. She discusses how the team has embedded collaboration and learning within its implementation, in order to expand integrated primary health care services and to engage both communities and local government in improved health and nutrition.

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) concluded its consultative process to develop and ensure broad ownership of principles for responsible agricultural investments (CFS-RAI). The need to focus on losses and waste, food used for other purposes (e.g. biofuel), and on both quantity and quality of foods for nutrition, were identified through this consultation.

The FSN invites you to provide your comments on the zero draft of the political outcome document available in the six UN languages through a public online consultation. In providing your inputs, please focus on the set of questions included on the site.

Since 2009, Opportunity International has disbursed more than 164,000 agricultural loans and opened more than 618,000 rural savings accounts across Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, and Mozambique. Last year, a rigorous impact study across three countries demonstrated that the rural finance initiative equipped client farmers to increase their crop yields, improve their cash flow, and access vital necessities including food, education, and health care. Follow the link below to view from this February 28th event.

The World Vegetable Center’s 33rd International Vegetable Training Course aims to enhance technical, scientific, and managerial skills of the participants to contribute to sustainable development of their countries. The training emphasizes advanced and sustainable vegetable production and postharvest technologies, farmer education, marketing, and human health and nutrition.

The annual LCIRAH conference brings together researchers from around the world, this year to examine the impact of agri-food policies, institutions, and governance on human health and nutrition. You are invited to submit research studies in one of the following broad themes:

1. The impact of agri-food policy on nutrition and health; or
2. Optimizing the impact of institutions and governance in the agri-food system on human health and nutrition.

Donor Platform is hosting a virtual briefing with Paulus Verschuren, Special Envoy Food and Nutrition Security for Development from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Paulus will brief participants on insights from the recent Economist conference ‘Feeding the World 2014’ and the Netherlands’ approach to food security and nutrition. Space is limited - if you plan to participate in the briefing, please confirm your participation to romy.sato@donorplatform.org.

A Feed the Future program in Kenya has teamed up with the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health to improve the nutrition of rural Kenyan farming families at a large scale.

This overview from the Maternal and Young Child Nutrition Security Initiative in Asia outlines linkages between nutrition and a variety of development sectors. The brief re-examines the UNICEF framework on malnutrition and lays out criteria for both nutrition-specific and -sensitive interventions.

Building on the Nutrition-Specific and Nutrition-Sensitive Interventions to Accelerate Progress (see above), this brief delves deeper into agriculture-nutrition linkages, including a look at how optimal nutrition strengthens agricultural production and agro-based communities.

The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition is launching a study on critical and emerging issues in the area of food security and nutrition to inform the work of the UN Committee on World Food Security. Follow the link to provide inputs on those areas relevant to your work.

This report examines African agricultural development paths over the last 30 years, including the complex link of agriculture and food security in a constantly evolving context. In addition to discussing the interactions between policies, institutions, and stakeholders, the report recommends long-term goals and suggests action from public sector actors.

Eldis launched a Nutrition Resource Guide in November 2014 to look specifically at the causes and consequences of malnutrition, nutrition-specific interventions, nutrition-sensitive interventions, and the political economy of undernutrition. Eldis is now looking for input on content for a Global Nutrition Report, whose ultimate aim is to build momentum for action and empower nutrition actors at all levels - from citizen activists to national governments and international organizations.