Agriculture and Nutrition Resource Review

Household surveys are not always effective in collecting reliable data on the amount of milk small-scale producers retain for household consumption. This study reviewed alternative survey instruments to measure milk off-take in Niger. Results from the validation exercise revealed that recall methods can yield reasonably accurate estimates. The paper then ranks questionnaire design options to inform future survey operations.

This paper proposes a new food security assessment methodology based on the concept of sustainable nutrition security (SNS). The model defines seven metrics: (1) food nutrient adequacy; (2) ecosystem stability; (3) food affordability and availability; (4) sociocultural wellbeing; (5) food safety; (6) resilience; and (7) waste and loss reduction. Each of the metrics comprises multiple indicators that are combined to derive an overall score (0-100) for use in characterizing sustainable nutrition outcomes of food systems.

Despite rapid economic growth in recent years, South Asia still has among the highest child malnutrition rates in the world with half the child population undernourished. Besides children, undernutrition among women and adolescent girls is also a major concern. The lack of progress in solving undernutrition, in all its guises, reflects in part the complexity of factors involved. This paper lays out a conceptual framework for analyzing value chain-based interventions aimed at increasing the intake of micronutrient-dense foods in South Asia under the LANSA research program.

Child malnutrition is a complex issue requiring integrated approaches across sectors such as agriculture, nutrition, and health. While national-level efforts are underway in many countries, there is little information on how to integrate at the community level. This paper offers a community-based approach using cadres of agricultural and community health workers. Agriculture is an important driver of nutritional and health outcomes, and improving child health will require practical solutions for integration that can add to the evidence base.

This special edition is rich with field experiences and relevant peer-reviewed research that provide insights into the current state of knowledge and action for nutrition-sensitive programming. Key issues that emerge include: 1) remaining questions around whether, when, and how to work multi-sectorally for nutrition; 2) the need for more rigorous research on nutrition-sensitive interventions, including appropriate research design and indicators; and 3) the work to be done on defining nutrition-sensitive actions to ensure they are usefully operationalized for government and development practitioners.

The final report of the Technical Meeting on “Integrating Agriculture and Nutrition Education for Improved Young Child Feeding” consists of 2 parts. The first covers the proceedings of the meeting held jointly by FAO and the Justus Liebig University (JLU) on 6–8 July 2015 in Rome, Italy. The second part encompasses program lessons and good practices in a range of agriculture-nutrition education interventions in Africa and Asia that were identified by practitioners and researchers.

The FAO has published detailed process reviews of two agriculture-nutrition education projects that aimed to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices using local foods, delivered IYCF nutrition education through community-based caregiver groups, and provided food-based messages through farmer field schools. The reviews provide insight for program designers and managers considering similar projects.

This event discussed how open data on agriculture and nutrition can foster innovation and drive organizational and sector change through increased transparency. Public and private open data experts presented perspectives on topics ranging from how open data can improve the targeting of nutrition interventions to how Information Communication Technology = can transform food systems.

World Bank’s SecureNutrition Platform convened a panel of five World Bank social protection projects in a seminar to discuss how they are incorporating social behavior change communication for nutrition into their activities. Representatives from Mexico, Mali, Niger, Tanzania, and Djibouti presented and participated in an open Q&A period.

This workshop launched the second phase of the IFPRI-led Gender, Agriculture and Assets Projects (GAAP2), in Nairobi, Kenya. GAAP2 aims to develop measurements for women’s empowerment in agricultural development programs, which includes a large number of projects seeking to improve nutritional outcomes. This project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) will improve the design and evaluation of nutrition-sensitive agriculture projects.