PROGRAMME LESSONS:
INTEGRATING AGRICULTURE AND
NUTRITION EDUCATION FOR
IMPROVED YOUNG CHILD
NUTRITION
Presented by Dr Mercy Chikoko
on behalf of the
Nutrition and Food Systems Division,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
Overview
• FAO research project to test Agriculture-Nutrition education impact
• FAO/Justus-Liebig-University (JLU) Technical Meeting, Rome
• Programme Lessons Integrating Nutrition Education and Agriculture for Improved Young Child Nutrition
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Background: Building the Evidence
Base
• FAO Trials of Improved Practices (TIPs) had repeatedly confirmed that families could improve the diets of young children using local foods.
• IMCF project: 2011-2015.
• Objective : To study the effectiveness and impact of agricultural production/diversification and nutrition education on children’s dietary intake and nutritional status.
• Restricted randomized controlled trials, Malawi & Cambodia.
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Malawi Cambodia
FAO Intervention Projects
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Collaborative research
Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Malawi
Mahidol University (supporting research in Cambodia)
FAO Approach1) Diversification of agriculture
– Not only staples, but variety, nutrient dense
– Marketing, storage & food processing, fuel efficient stoves
– Farmer field and business schools
– Junior farmer field schools
2) Community nutrition education & dietary counselling
3) Gender and women’s empowerment
4) Multi-sectoral approach
5) Work within existing structures (MOA, MOH, MOE)
6) Extensive community engagement
7) Advocacy and policy
FAO Approach
1) Diversification of agriculture
– Not only staples, … legumes, F&V, meat, fish
– Marketing, storage & food processing, fuel efficient stoves
– Farmer field and business schools
– Junior farmer field schools
2) Gender and women’s empowerment
3) Community nutrition education & dietary counselling
4) Multi-sectoral approach
5) Work within existing structures (MOA, MOH, MOE)
6) Extensive community engagement
7) Advocacy and policy
Cambodia
Technical Meeting, Rome 6th – 8th July 2015, FAO/JLU
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Meeting to review experiences and lessons from
current agriculture-nutrition interventions that
focus on improving young children’s nutrition.
• Cambodia HARVEST
• Mama SASHA (Kenya)
• Suaahara (Nepal),
• CARE Shouhardo II (Bangladesh)
• Concern RAIN project (Zambia),
• A&T (Bangladesh, Ethiopia and
Viet Nam)
• FAO (MALIS-IMCF Cambodia and
IFSN-IMCF Malawi)
Common approaches
Agricultural Diversification
• Homestead food production
• Kitchen gardens for both HH consumption and income
• Livestock production, backyard poultry, fish ponds
• Improved seasonal food availability
• Improved technologies, e.g.
– Drip irrigation, water management– Composting– Crop rotation, Animal Integration– Post-harvest management– Storage, Processing, Preservation– Market access
• Dietary counselling
• BCC
• Nutrition promotion
• Participatory cooking sessions
• Mass media campaigns
• Social marketing
• Nutritional training
PLUS Nutrition Education
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Project-specific approaches
• Gender and women’s empowerment
• Multi-sectoral approach/coordination and alignment (including agriculture, nutrition, health, water & hygiene)
• Work within existing structures (MOA, MOH, MOE)
• Extensive community engagement
• Advocacy and policy
• Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation
• Business/finance training 9
• Early or late introduction of CF
• Thin, watery cereal-based porridges
• Lack of dietary diversity
• Low meal frequency
• Sugary and salty snacks
• Poor hygiene, sanitation, food safety
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Gaps and Challenges in Complementary Feeding
• Improved Breastfeeding practices:A&T, Suaahara Nepal, Mama SASHA
• Improved CF practices: mainly related to DD ↑, MAD ↑, MMF ↑, Vit A intake ↑
• Mothers’/women’s DD ↑; Vit A intake ↑
• HH hunger ↓; Food security ↑
• Prevalence of stunting ↓ CARE Shouhardo
positive impact on HAZ at mid-term FAO Malawi project
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Results
Technical meeting proceedings
• Meeting participants shared experiences, success stories and lessons learned from Ag-Nut interventions.
• Short plenary presentations by UN partner organisations
• Working groups designed to identify good practices for linking agriculture and nutrition education.
• Main output: Programme Lessons. Subsequently developed in iterative process involving meeting participants. 12
13Available at: http://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/infant-and-young-child-feeding/en/
• The PLs are intended for programme implementers working to ensure that agricultural production will translate into improved health and nutrition for young children.
• They provide practical guidance and examples of good practices based on empirical research and programmatic experiences from the field.
Programme Lessons: overview
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ii. Capacity Developmenti. Programme Planning and
Design
iii. Implementationiv. Monitoring and
Evaluation
v. Supervision vi. Sustainability and Scaling up
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Acknowledgments The Programme Lessons were prepared under the coordination of Ms Ellen Muehlhoff (ex-Senior
Nutrition Officer, FAO, Nutrition and Food Systems Division).
FAO wishes to acknowledge the following experts for their active engagement in the process of
preparing and refining the Programme Lessons:
Lalita Bhattacharjee (FAO Bangladesh), Ruth Butao Ayoade (FAO Mozambique), Esther Evang
(FAO, Nutrition and Food Systems Division), Paige Harrigan (Save the Children, UK), Theresa
Jeremias (Care Deutschland-Luxemburg, formerly FAO, Nutrition and Food Systems Division),
Irmgard Jordan (JLU, Giessen), Gina Kennedy (Bioversity International), Edye Kuyper (University
of Calilfornia, Davis), Judiann McNulty (independent Nutrition Consultant), Ellen Muehlhoff (FAO,
Nutrition and Food Systems Division), Jennifer Nielsen (Helen Keller International), Stacia
Nordin (Never Ending Food, Malawi, formerly FAO Malawi), Jane Sherman (formerly FAO,
Nutrition and Food Systems Division), Elizabeth Westaway (formerly FAO, Nutrition and Food
Systems Division), and Ramani Wijesinha-Bettoni (FAO, Nutrition and Food Systems Division).
Funding for the FAO projects, the July Workshop and the finalization of the Programme Lessons
were from the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).
Thank you
http://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/en/
More information: [email protected] and Food Systems Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN