Consumption patterns and nutrition
Nutrition security
Image: via Flickr (by: Ruth_W)
Nutrition security goes beyond food security by considering the nutritional value of food and the systemic factors that determine an individual’s nutritional status. It is about a community’s access to essential nutrients, not just calories. Undernutrition, malnutrition and increasingly overnutrition are still pressing issue in many developing countries. Promoting nutrition security offers several opportunities to stimulate economic and pro-poor development in cost-efficient ways. Furthermore, by addressing food systems, production systems, the collecting, storage, transport, transformation and distribution of foods, diets and health can be improved while the impact on natural resources declined. This Portal topic refers to publications that highlight efforts promoting nutrition security in developing countries and emerging economies.
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September 30th, 2020
Published by FAO, September 1st, 2020
This publication outlines methods and actions for countries to monitor nutrition-related spending in agriculture and food systems. To collect finance data in agriculture and food systems, the steps to follow include: Step 1 - Identification; Step 2 - Categorization; Step 3 - Vetting and Inclusion. »
August 17th, 2020
Published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 19th, 2020
This article highlights key areas of concern for maternal and child nutrition during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 while providing strategic guidance for countries in their efforts to reduce maternal and child undernutrition. The article provides a set of recommendations that span investments in sectors that have sustained direct and indirect impact on nutrition. »
June 23rd, 2020
Published by Food Security journal, June 23rd, 2020
This study examined the use of the household dietary diversity score (HDDS) to assess household nutrient adequacy in Ethiopia. he study found suggestive evidence within the food systems that improving household-incomes, access to health and transport services are beneficial to improve HDDS and nutrient consumption in Ethiopia. »
May 13th, 2020
Published by Development Initiatives, May 12th, 2020
This year's report uses the concept of nutrition equity to elucidate inequities and show how opportunities and barriers to attaining healthy diets and lives lead to unequal nutrition outcomes. To drive the transformative change needed to achieve nutrition equity, and end malnutrition in all its forms, we must focus on three key areas: food systems, health systems, and financing. »
May 1st, 2020
Published by IFPRI (L. Haddad), April 28th, 2020
This expert opinion states that if the world does not start acting now, the COVID-19 pandemic will results in increases of all forms of malnutrition. What to do: 1) Act now; 2) Maintain and increase essential nutrition programs; 3) Keep the supply of nutritious food moving; 4) Shore up incomes and food demand. »
April 15th, 2020
Published by PARI, August 12th, 2019
This study compares the energy requirements of farm households in rural Zambia that are characterized by three different levels of mechanization: hand tools, animal draught power and tractors. Results of this study show that during land preparation, individuals in non-mechanized households are, on the average, not able to meet their dietary energy requirements. »
February 21st, 2020
Published by BMI Medicine, November 25th, 2019
This collection pulls together publications highlighting research into the mediating factors for, and potential solutions to, childhood undernutrition and obesity. Good news is that many forms of undernutrition resolve as nations pass through the demographic and wealth transition. The bad news is that in almost all such circumstances the pendulum swings too far and the population races towards an obesity epidemic. »
December 19th, 2019
Published by HarvestPlus, FAO, December 16th, 2019
This brief presents the latest evidence from rigorous research and implementation lessons learned on how biofortification can contribute to improving food systems and public health for all. . Over 16 years of peer-reviewed research has provided strong evidence that biofortified crops are well accepted by farmers and consumers, improve nutritional status and health of vulnerable populations, and are a cost-effective solution to help end hidden hunger. »
December 17th, 2019
Published by The Lancet, December 16th, 2019
This four paper series explores how the coexistence of over nutrition (overweight and obesity) and undernutrition (stunting and wasting) is affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Malnutrition in its many forms has previously been understood and approached as a separate public health issue, but the new emergent reality is that undernutrition and overnutrition are interconnected. In addition to policy recommendations, the series includes a focus on both historical and biological contexts, and new economic analysis. »
November 14th, 2019
Published by Insitute of Development Studies, August 7th, 2019
This article examines the role of animal sourced foods (ASF) in stunting prevention and the effectiveness of programmes aiming to increase ASF consumption. A study across 46 countries find different patterns of consumption between regions and countries. Costs showed to be the biggest barrier of ASF consumption. »
October 28th, 2019
Published by UNICEF, October 1st, 2019
The State of the World's Children 2019 examines children's malnutrition today and sets an agenda to put children's nutrition first. Improving children’s nutrition requires food systems to deliver nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable diets for all children. Thereby, food environments are crucial. »
September 2nd, 2019
Published by IFAD, August 27th, 2019
This book presents a new operational framework that sets out how using a diversified range of crop species and varieties can put nutrition back into our food production system. Neglected and underutilized species (NUS) and the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples associated with the use of NUS and wild edibles are important for fighting food and nutrition insecurity, especially in the context of climate change. »
July 24th, 2019
Published by Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), World Bank Group , July 3rd, 2019
This book lays the groundwork for more effective multisectoral action by analysing and generating emperical evidence to inform the joint targeting of nutrition-sensitive intervention. One fundamental ingredient of a successful strategy is the scale-up of interventions by agriculture (food security), health care, and WASH that are jointly targeted to geographic areas with high prevalence of stunting. »
July 16th, 2019
Published by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, July 15th, 2019
This report reveals that since 2015, hunger has been slowly on a rise, with the global level of the prevalence of undernourishment slightly below 11 percent. One of the key drivers of the increase in hunger are economic slowdowns. Hunger has been on the rise in many of the countries where the economy slowed down or contracted. »
May 20th, 2019
Published by GAIN, May 16th, 2019
This study identified innovation opportunities that have the potential to increase access to safe and nutritious foods in emerging markets in the next five years. The 12 innovations are distinguished by 4 priorities: 1) Start with sustainable, nutritious foods; 2) Invest in proximale processing; 3) Tackle traceability for safety and transparency and; 4) Keep it cool (cold storage options). Together, they would promote increased access to safe, nutritious foods that are available to consumers for longer periods of time. »
April 17th, 2019
Published by SNV, Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, Royal Tropical Institute , April 1st, 2019
This policy paper summarises a set of key policy programme recommendations based on evidence and learning of the Sustainable Nutrition for All (SN4A) programme. For governments it is recomended to ensure that the multi-sectoral platforms of the programme are replicated and aligned from national to subnational level to ensure community research. Practitioners are recommended to support scalability of community driven social behaviour change communication nutrition strategies in different contexts as part of nutrition porgramming. »
April 3rd, 2019
Published by PLOS ONE, February 28th, 2019
This paper investigates the association of mother's nutrition-related knowledge with nutrition outcomes of young children living in rural Nigeria and whether mother's education has a complementary effect on such knowledge in producing positive child nutrition outcomes in such settings. The study found that mother's knowledge is independently and positively associated with HAZ (height-for-age) and WHZ (weight-for-height) z-scores in young children. »
March 11th, 2019
Published by Food Policy Journal, January 31st, 2019
This journal aims to improve understanding about how agriculture and related food policies and programs in South Asia (specifically in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan) can be better conceptualised and implemented in order to enhance impacts on nutrition outcomes, especially those of young children and adolescent girls. While agriculture has the potential to improve nutrition through several pathways, this potential is currently not being realised in the region. »
March 4th, 2019
Published by IFPRI, CABI, January 1st, 2019
This book strengthens the evidence base for, and expands our vision of, how agriculture can contribute to nutrition. In order to achieve truly nutrition-driven agricultural policies, programs, investments, and strategies, nutrition needs to explicitly be integrated into the design. The most salient theme of this volume is the need for more evidence. More research is needed on the sustainability of agriculture–nutrition interventions. »
February 14th, 2019
Published by World Bank Group, January 29th, 2019
This working paper aims to assess the affordability of nutritious foods in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Results suggest that there may be strong economic reasons why consumers consume little of the most nutrient-dense foods: They simply cannot afford it. More policies must be implemented to improve affordability of vegetables, legumes, fruits, and animal-source foods. »
February 1st, 2019
Published by Sight and Life, December 10th, 2019
This magazine focuses on the double burden of malnutrition, and the challenges and opportunities the global community now faces in addressing all forms of malnutrition. Although the double burden remains a largely untapped area for integrated action, there are opportunities to act. »
January 7th, 2019
Published by SNV, December 3rd, 2018
This brief aims to present lessons learned to date in the implementation of nutrition-sensitive agriculture activities and their impact on dietary diversity in the target communities. The lessons of the programme complement and reiterate the evidence to date in NSA. Agriculture diversity alone will have limited impact on women and infant’s dietary diversity and consideration must be given to income generating activities, market access, intra-household dynamics and social and behaviour change communication strategies... »
January 3rd, 2019
Published by Nature Sustainability, December 14th, 2018
This article explores future macronutrient and micronutrient adequacy with combined biophysical and socio-economic scenarios that are country-specific, projecting to the year 2050. In all projected scenarios for 2050, the average benefits of widely shared economic growth, if achieved, are much greater than the modelled negative effects of climate change. »
December 17th, 2018
Published by Nature Climate Change Journal, August 27th, 2018
This article analysed the impact of elevated CO2 concentrations on the sufficiency of dietary intake of iron, zinc and protein for the populations of 151 countries. Atmospheric CO2 is on pace to surpass 550 ppm in the next 30–80 years. Many food crops grown under 550 ppm have protein, iron and zinc contents that are reduced by 3–17% compared with current conditions. »
November 29th, 2018
Published by Development Initiatives, November 29th, 2018
The yearly Global Nutrition Report casts a light on where there has been progress on nutrition and identifies where major problems still lie, and thus where actions are needed to consolidate progress and fill major gaps. Most countries are off-track and none are making progress on the full suite of nutrition targets for 2025. There is still a financial gap which and it is an outstanding challenge to cost, fund and implement the nutrition targets. »
November 26th, 2018
Published by Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Sytems for Nutrition, November 7th, 2018
This policy brief has the key aim to provide advice to policy makers on how to reduce food loss and waste, especially of nutrient-rich foods, for better nutrition security. Loss and waste both fundamentally affect the availability and affordability of foods which make up healthy diet. However, addressing loss and waste in nutrient-rich foods presents a particular challenge. »
November 12th, 2018
Published by IFAD, October 1st, 2018
This publication aims to fill a key knowledge gap in the merging field of value chains for nutrition by providing guidance on how to design nutrition-sensitive value chain (NSVC) projects, with a particular focus on smallholder producers. NSVC project aims to alleviate the constraints identified in the supply and demand of specific foods in order to address the nutrition problem of the target beneficiaries. »
September 6th, 2018
Published by Economics and Human Biology Journal, September 3rd, 2018
This article examines the associations between dairy consumption and child growth in rural Bangladesh. Results show that household dairy production increases height-for-age Z scores by 0.52 standard deviation in the critical 6-23 months of growth window. »
August 21st, 2018
Published by The Access to Nutrition Foundation, May 1st, 2018
This report published the Access To Nutrition Index to track the contribution food and beverage manufacturers make to delivering better diets worldwide. Many companies have stepped up their efforts to contribute to better diets over the last two years. »
August 14th, 2018
Published by GAIN, June 19th, 2018
This report is the outcome of a dialogue between 40 representatives from governments, food industry, UN agencies and NGO's to lay a stronger foundation for public-private engagement (PPE) in nutrition. The revolution of data technology has the potential to close vast gaps in our knowledge about nutrition. »
July 31st, 2018
Published by Center for Development Research (ZEF), April 2nd, 2018
This paper aims to assess alternative pathways toward overcoming hunger, with an emphasis on innovations. Key elements of inclusive policies and partnerships are agricultural development in the hunger-affected rural areas and communities to improve productivity will remain a major part of solutions. »
July 11th, 2018
Published by Global Food Security journal, June 1st, 2018
This paper summarizes existing knowledge regarding impacts, pathways, mechanisms, and contextual factors that affect where and how agriculture may improve nutrition outcomes. The most consistent finding was the impact of nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs (NSAP) on household and child dietary diversity. »
July 2nd, 2018
Published by Springer, May 15th, 2018
This article describes the role of edible insects in diets and nutrition in East Africa. Farmed edible insects are gaining popularity within the region. However the utilization of the edible insects is hampered by lack of storage and preservation facilities in the rural areas leading to high postharvest losses. »
June 26th, 2018
Published by Global Food Security Journal, March 1st, 2018
This article reviews indicators which capture an element of nutritional quality applicable to different stages of the food and nutrition system, applying them to aquaculture systems. Reorienting food systems towards improving nutrition outcomes is vital to achieve the global goal of ending all forms of malnutrition. »
June 13th, 2018
Published by Agriculture & Food Security Journal, March 21st, 2018
This paper investigates the influence of crop diversification and other household socioeconomic characteristics on improving household food security in central Malawi. Results show that higher crop diversification intensities are more likely to have a diverse diet. »
May 3rd, 2018
Published by ICCO Cooperation, April 18th, 2018
This blog is about the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), a standardized, robust and cost-efficient tool to measure the occurrence and severity of food insecurity. The HFIAS tool strikes a good balance between practical field-level applicability and reliability of the ensuing data. »
April 25th, 2018
Published by IFPRI, March 1st, 2018
This report aims to answer the question: "How can Malawi better leverage its smallholder agriculture sector to improve nutrition?" A critical message is the need to focus more strongly on diet quality as key goal for leveraging agriculture for improved nutrition and health. »
April 24th, 2018
Published by IDS Bulletin, February 28th, 2018
This issue of the IDS Bulletin aims to analyse existing (or potential) agri-food value chain pathways for delivering nutritious foods from agriculture to vulnerable populations in South Asia. »
April 5th, 2018
Published by Global Food Security Journal, March 31st, 2018
This paper takes a consumer focus on value chains to consider the types of interventions that could lead to improved intakes of micronutrient-rich foods, and reviews the present literature on the types of value chain assessments, interventions, and initiatives that are attempting to improve nutrition. »
March 21st, 2018
Published by IFAD, February 28th, 2018
This report summarizes a number of studies to determine how to design nutrition-sensitive value chains for smallholders in Indonesia. The researchers suggest that strengthened value chains for foods could make business sense for smallholders and lay the foundations for a strong local food system that sustainably delivers nutritious foods for healthy diets. »
March 5th, 2018
Published by Global Food Security Journal, February 1st, 2018
This paper reviews recent empirical evidence (since 2014), including findings from impact evaluations of a variety of nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs that document linkages between agriculture, women's empowerment, and nutrition linkages. »
February 7th, 2018
Published by journal Public Health Nutrition, January 17th, 2018
This article examined the impacts of training on nutrition, hygiene and food safety designed by the Nutrition Working Group, Child Survival Collaborations and Resources Group (CORE). Undernutrition in children has been detrimental to economic and social development in low-income countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. »
January 16th, 2018
Published by IFPRI, November 16th, 2018
This book considers the role that pulses can play in improving food security and nutrition in India as well as the changes necessary in production practices to accomplish these goals. India, a country with high concentrations of poor and malnourished people, long promoted a cereal-centric diet composed of subsidized staple commodities to feed its population. »
January 11th, 2018
Published by Action Against Hunger, SHARE, WaterAid, German WASH Network, August 24th, 2017
During the World Water Week two reports were launched on how the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and the nutrition sectors can benefit from each other; "2+6=17: Linking WASH and nutrition - a blueprint for living SDG17" and "The recipe for success: how policy-makers can integrate water, sanitation and hygiene into actions to end malnutrition". »
December 14th, 2017
Published by FANTA, USAID, September 18th, 2017
This report discusses the broad scope and range of FANTA’s multisectoral nutrition programming activities in developing countries. Multisectoral nutrition programming enables to address the multifactorial causes of national nutrition challenges by linking and integrating program design, delivery, and evaluation across disciplines and sectors. »
December 7th, 2017
Published by IFPRI, October 27th, 2017
This discussion paper reviews recent evidence that document linkages between agriculture, women’s empowerment, and nutrition. A growing number of governments, donor agencies, and development organizations are committed to supporting nutrition-sensitive agriculture to achieve their development goals. »
November 13th, 2017
Published by Development Initiatives, November 4th, 2017
This report shows that ending malnutrition in all its forms will catalyze improved outcomes across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The analysis shows there are five core areas that run through the SDGs to which nutrition can contribute, and in turn, benefit from. »
October 16th, 2017
Published by SNV, CDI, KIT, SDC, August 1st, 2017
This technical brief provides an overview of community Social and Behavior Change Communication and triggering on positive nutrition and hygiene behaviors. The brief presents results from the Sustainable Nutrition for All (SN4A) model in Uganda and Zambia. »
October 3rd, 2017
Published by Journal Development and Change, September 5th, 2017
This assessment critically looks at the Global Nutrition Reports. It suggests that the underlying purpose of these Reports is not so much to tackle the problem of nutrition as to generate and mainstream a certain discourse to facilitate global governance in nutrition with a view towards capital accumulation. »
September 13th, 2017
Published by ECDPM, September 13th, 2017
This edition of the Greats Insights magazine has a thematic focus on sustainable food systems. The articles seek to address the ‘People, Profit and Planet’ sustainability challenge in food systems, focusing on how greater sustainability and inclusiveness are achievable. »
September 7th, 2017
Published by FFI, GAIN, IGN and Micronutrient Forum, September 6th, 2017
This analysis and visualization tool provides data on food fortification. The Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx) includes indicators on food fortification legislation from 1942 to the present as well as available standards, food availability, and intake for over 230 countries. »
August 8th, 2017
Published by Global Food Security Journal, July 28th, 2017
This article takes a consumer focus on the value chains to consider the types of interventions that could lead to improved intakes of micronutrient-rich foods. Additionally, it reviews the present literature on the types of value chain assessments, interventions, and initiatives that are attempting to improve nutrition as well as potential future directions. »
August 7th, 2017
Published by Thomson Reuters Foundation News, July 3rd, 2017
This blog discusses the importance of food systems and collaborative solutions for improving nutrition. There has been recognition by the Mozambican government that nutrition matters, but the challenge is primarily one of implementation. »
July 11th, 2017
Published by SUN, June 20th, 2017
This toolkit tries to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to nutrition are well-integrated in national development plans, policies and strategies. For the next 15 years, each country will have to make sure that national development plans, as well as all new policies, are aligned with the SDGs. »
July 4th, 2017
Published by Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, May 10th, 2017
This policy brief calls for a transformation of the food environment that promotes greater diversity, availability and safety of nutritious foods. The brief considers current evidence on what works, and provides recommendations for action that affect supply dynamics of the food system. »
June 13th, 2017
Published by Journal of Nutrition, April 12th, 2017
This article highlight some of the strengths and areas for improvement of current population-based (i.e., staple foods and condiments) and targeted (e.g., foods for infants and young children) fortification programs. The results identify a few striking successful fortification programs whereby the majority of the food vehicle used is fortifiable and fortified, and coverage is equitable. »
June 7th, 2017
Published by Global Food Security, June 1st, 2017
This special issue analyzes drivers of change in six high-burden countries (Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia, Nepal, Senegal, and Zambia) which had some success in accelerating improvements in nutrition. »
May 23rd, 2017
Published by FAO, March 16th, 2017
This publication provides a list of food system-based intervention options to improve nutrition and a set concrete entry points for maximizing the impact of each intervention. For each intervention, information is provided on: what the intervention includes; why it has the potential to improve nutrition and how it could be made more nutrition-sensitive. »
May 2nd, 2017
Published by Global Challenges Journal, March 3rd, 2017
This article reviews the role agriculture plays in improving nutrition, how food systems are changing rapidly due to globalization, trade liberalization, and urbanization, and the implications this has for nutrition globally. Malnutrition is a multisectoral, multi-level problem. »
April 13th, 2017
Published by Global Food Security, March 1st, 2017
This review article summarizes key evidence from the HarvestPlus program on how biofortification has helped improve nutrition worldwide between 2003 and 2016. Delivery experiences in various target countries (Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia) are discusses, as well as farmer and consumer adoption. According to the authors, attention should now shift to an action-oriented agenda for scaling biofortification to improve nutrition globally. »
April 4th, 2017
Published by FAO, March 9th, 2017
This article shows and reiterates the importance of school meals and highlights the Home-Grown School Feeding Resources Framework publication. This framework supports governments through the process of policy formulation, implementation and evaluation of school meals programs. It also brings together the technical expertise of different stakeholders in a programmatic and coherent way to be easily accessed by countries requesting technical assistance. »
March 21st, 2017
Published by Transform Nutrition, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse , February 27th, 2017
This publication explores the potential of pastoral-community platforms to channel maternal, infant and young-child nutrition messages to community members. A seven-month Behavioral Change for Improved Nutrition intervention assessed the ability of pastoral-community platforms to increase awareness on optimal practices to promote positive behavioural changes in the study communities. »
March 13th, 2017
Published by PLoS ONE, February 28th, 2017
This article discusses value chain approaches as innovative strategies to enhance the nutritional impact of agriculture. These approaches use supply chains to add value (usually economic) to products as they move from producers to consumers. However, they can also be used to increase access to nutritious foods and improve nutritional status. »
March 9th, 2017
Published by FAO & Bioversity International, March 2nd, 2017
This report provides new scientific guidelines for collecting information on food biodiversity through dietary surveys. The authors argue that information on food consumption goes hand in hand with information on food composition and both are essential building blocks for nutrition science. Rather than debate which element should come first in research, the authors argue that joint efforts are needed to gain a better understanding of consumption and composition of food biodiversity. »
February 24th, 2017
Published by Food Security journal, February 10th, 2017
This article in the Food Security journal explores the link between resilience and child malnutrition in Africa. Using detailed survey data from Mali, this paper examines whether the resilience capacity of households is a determinant of child malnutrition. The empirical evidence presented here demonstrates that higher resilience capacity is associated with both lower probability of having malnourished children. »
February 20th, 2017
Published by Ecology of Food and Nutrition, January 31st, 2017
This artice examined the influence of food consumption diversity on adequate intakes of food calories, proteins and micronutrients among households in rural Nigeria within the framework of panel data econometrics using a nationally representative data. The authors found that substantial proportion of households suffered deficiency of calories, proteins and certain micronutrients. »
February 13th, 2017
Published by WWF, January 12th, 2017
This report by WWF Germany argues that sustainable managing of fishing is needed to answer to the increasing global demand for protein in the coming decades. If the situation doesn’t improve, millions of people may no longer be able to afford fish by 2050, particularly those in developing coastal countries. According to the projections made by this study, it will on the one hand be possible to fish approximately 112 million tons of fish around the world in 2050 if the current moderate level of fishery management effectiveness remains the same. »
February 3rd, 2017
Published by ECDPM, FAO, December 1st, 2016
This note by ECDPM in collaboration with FAO discusses the opportunities and challenges to develop regional pulses value chain in the region, drawing from literature review and interviews with key stakeholders. Pulses are crucial in nutritious diets. Despite opportunities, pulses production and yields in Africa and the Horn remain lagging behind potential. The challenges in designing a coherent package of policies and investments to boost intra-regional trade discussed in this note will also be useful for other value chains. »
January 30th, 2017
Published by Global Food Security journal, December 15th, 2016
This article in the Global Food Security journal discusses the effectiveness of agronomic biofortification - the application of mineral micronutrient fertilizers to soils or plant leaves to increase micronutrient contents in edible parts of crops – and it's potential to fight hidden hunger. There is evidence that agronomic biofortification can increase yields and the nutritional quality of staple crops, but there is a lack of direct evidence that this leads to improved human health. »
January 25th, 2017
Published by FAO; PAHO, January 19th, 2017
This report provides an overview of food and nutrition security status in Latin America and the Caribbean. Obesity and overweight are on the rise throughout both regions, and are particularly prevalent among women and children. Around 58% of the inhabitants of the region are overweight and obesity affects 23% of the population. The main factors contributing to this rise are linked to changing dietary patterns. »
December 12th, 2016
Published by Nature, November 30th, 2016
This opinion article argues that it is time for a new research agenda on food that shifts the focus from feeding people towards nourishing them. They argue that malnutrition is not a problem that can be overcome through growth or development since even as economies expand, the quality of diets does not improve. Therefore the authors set out a new global research agenda for nutrition focused on ten research priorities. »
December 8th, 2016
Published by AIM, December 1st, 2016
On this webpage the Amsterdam Initiative against Malnutrition shares podcasts with its lessons learnt. AIM uses market-based solutions and develops new social business models to ensure projects are financially sustainable in the long-term. The goal of AIM is to create systemic change and address barriers to market entry for nutritious products. The four podcasts, AIM-tales, are part of the AIM Learning Agenda in which the organisations involved share experiences. »
November 29th, 2016
Published by IDS, November 22nd, 2016
This report by IDS identifies opportunities and constraints as well as key factors either fostering Multi-level Advocacy (MLA) or explaining its absence, in situations of high levels of malnutrition. This report contributes to debates about how to build both momentum and action for nutrition through advocacy and other means and, more generally, to the literature on policy advocacy in developing countries. »
November 15th, 2016
Published by IDS, November 8th, 2016
This working paper provides insight in how mobile technology can support nutrition and agricultural interventions. While the interest is growing in the use of mobile phones for nutrition behavior change interventions in LMICs, hard evidence is very limited, methodologically weak and often based anecdotal findings. Therefore this study reviews a number of cases where mobile technology interventions were used and summarizes the lessons learned from this. »
November 15th, 2016
Published by FAO, November 3rd, 2016
This compendium is designed to assist officers responsible for designing nutrition-sensitive food and agriculture investments in selecting appropriate indicators to monitor if these investments are having an impact on nutrition and through which pathways. The guide is for those responsible for the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of investment projects in food and agriculture (including and in addition to value chains, social development, and rural development) that need to demonstrate that they lead to intermediary results toward improved nutrition. »
October 28th, 2016
Published by IFPRI, October 17th, 2016
This report by IFPRI dealt with opportunities for making Africa’s food system deliver healthier and more nutritious, making these foods more available and affordable to all people, and promoting better food consumption patterns as African economies develop. This is an important moment for shaping the region’s future and ensuring that the much-needed agriculture-led growth and development agenda can simultaneously deliver on improving nutrition, saving lives, improving productivity and health, and curbing nutrition-related diseases and the associated public health expenditures. »
October 23rd, 2016
Published by The Jounral of Nutrition, October 19th, 2016
This article elaborates on the effects of pro-vitamin A maize on the visual functions in children in Zambia. With a randomized research trial the researchers found that children who ate "orange maize" showed improved night vision within six months. Their eyes adapted better in the dark, improving their ability to engage in optical day-to-day activities under dim light. Impairment of the eyes’ ability to adapt to low-light conditions is one of the few measurable signs of vitamin A deficiency at its initial stages. »
October 10th, 2016
Published by Global Food Security, September 1st, 2016
This article investigates explores suitable indicators for measuring nutrition-agriculture linkages. The evidence base for impact of agriculture on nutrition is bounded by what is measured. The authors argue that the understanding of true impact of agriculture on nutrition has been limited by the scope of available indicators. The paper reviews which nutrition impact indicators are currently used in agriculture-nutrition projects, and highlights priorities and gaps in measurement. »
September 30th, 2016
Published by LANSA, September 1st, 2016
Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) published a papersdesk review and analysis on India and Pakistan that serve as a guide to an understanding of the agri-food value chain landscape in these countries. The working papers will serve as a guide to understand how agriculture can play a more effective role in improving nutrition in countries with a high burden of hidden hunger and where an increasing proportion of the poor sources its food from the market. »
September 28th, 2016
Published by Journal of Rural Studies, September 1st, 2016
This article analyzes the nexus between different types of non-farm work (own business, wage employment, and their combination) and household food nutrient availability in northern Ghana. Despite the significant economic development in Ghana, northern Ghana has made little progress. Nationally, households engaged in the non-farm work are less likely to be categorized as poor, relative to those engaged in farming only. »
August 18th, 2016
Published by IDS, May 1st, 2016
This report shows findings from Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania on how and where value chains and markets might be made more nutrition sensitive and improve access to nutritious foods for the poorest and most vulnerable communities show that markets face many challenges in bringing nutritious foods to the poorest and most vulnerable. To effectively reach poor people, nutritious food must be affordable, available in the market, safe, and must contain the nutrients which it claims to have. Ensuring that nutritious food can reach the most vulnerable cannot be addressed by an individual business or value chain, but rather must be addressed through influencing the market system more broadly. »
July 28th, 2016
Published by Generation Nutrition , June 7th, 2016
This briefing paper highlights the fact that while governments in recent years have begun to take seriously the issue of undernutrition and have made a series of commitments at the global as well as the national level in this area, levels of aid and domestic financing of nutrition interventions still lag behind this political ambition. In this briefing paper, Generation Nutrition shows how global progress towards the World Health Assembly targets on stunting and acute malnutrition in under-fives needs to be accelerated. It also examines the current funding gaps for nutrition and proposes remedies – both at the international and country level. »
July 6th, 2016
Published by Partnership for Child Development, the World Food Programme, the World Bank and the African Union, June 1st, 2016
This book documents government-led school feeding programmes in low and middle income countries. It includes chapters about national programmes in 14 countries from sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. The sourcebook highlights the trade-offs associated with alternative school feeding models and analyses the overarching themes, trends and challenges which run across these programmes. »
July 4th, 2016
Published by IFPRI, June 29th, 2016
This book gives a proper overview of the development of nutritional thinking and the factors that have contributed to success in the last fifty years. The stories gathered in the book examine interventions that address nutrition directly—such as community nutrition programming and feeding programs for infants and young children—as well as nutrition-sensitive policies related to agriculture, social protection, and clean water and sanitation. »
July 4th, 2016
Published by CABI, June 1st, 2016
This book explores how the millet value chain can improve nutritional security. It demonstrates a successful and sustainable model for value addition to millets from production to consumption. The authors outline practical interventions to revive the demand for millets as a convenient and nutritive option for consumers, whilst presenting a reliable model that can be adapted for the development of other commodities. »
June 20th, 2016
Published by IFPRI, June 13th, 2016
This report is the only independent and comprehensive annual review of the state of the world's nutrition. This year's edition has a strong focus on political commitment to nutrition and provides guidelines for what is necessary to end malnutrition by 2030. Findings reveal a global lack of progress against malnutrition – which now afflicts one in three people worldwide. Beyond health burdens, the report offers new data on the cost of malnutrition to societies and individuals. »
June 13th, 2016
Published by Food Security, May 21st, 2015
This article investigates the link between agriculture and nutrition in South Asia and East Africa and how better enabling environments can be created. South Asia and East Africa have the highest concentration of undernutrition and the majority of the nutritionally vulnerable populations here is dependent upon agriculture as a primary source of livelihood. The agriculture sector and agri-food system are considered to be central to sustained progress in reducing undernutrition. »
May 26th, 2016
Published by Rural21, March 22nd, 2016
This issue of Rural21 shows how closely agriculture, nutrition and health are linked and takes a look at the various entry-points for improving nutrition through agriculture: from the choice of adequate seed systems and breeding programmes through agricultural policy interventions to promoting market access, production diversification and better functioning value chains to capacity building, nutrition education and gender equality. The issue also contains an article on the SUN movement and the importance of pulses. »
May 18th, 2016
Published by WorldFish, February 22nd, 2016
This report reviews current fish production and consumption from capture fisheries and aquaculture, highlights opportunities for enhancing healthy diets and outlines key multi-sectoral policy solutions. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda makes achieving food security and ending malnutrition a global priority. Within this framework, the importance of fisheries in local and global food systems and its contribution to nutrition and health, particularly for the poor are overlooked and undervalued , according to the authors. »
November 6th, 2015
Published by RESULTS UK, Concern Worldwide, University of Westminster, October 21st, 2015
This report discusses the drivers of progress in tackling multiple forms of malnutrition in three countries: Vietnam, Uganda, and Kenya. The report identifies some of the challenges and success factors to sustaining progress. It highlights the importance of well defined national policies and strategies for nutrition; the importance of strengthening capacity within governance structures; and to commit to global platforms (like the SUN movement or the Zero Hunger Challenge). »
October 30th, 2015
Published by Right to Food Watch, October 9th, 2015
This report poses the question: Is nutrition becoming a part of business rather than a human right? The publication presents different reviews from communities around the world and focuses on the socio-economic and cultural context in which human beings nutritional status is determined. It critically assesses the corporate influence on nutrition status and the right to food. »
September 30th, 2015
Published by FAO, September 1st, 2015
This document analyses linkages and complementarities between social protection and nutrition, laying out the common ground between the two. It identifies general principles which should guide the design and implementation of social protection interventions in order to maximize their positive impact on nutrition. Common social protection instruments are analysed for their specific linkages with nutrition and concrete suggestions are made on how to best use them in order to achieve improved nutrition. »
September 14th, 2015
Published by IFPRI, March 2nd, 2015
This paper analyzes agriculture and nutrition linkages in Bangladesh, a country that achieved rapid growth in rice productivity at a relatively late stage in Asia’s Green Revolution, as well as unheralded progress against undernutrition. The authors further show that rice yields have large and positive effects on the timely introduction of complementary foods for young children but not on dietary diversity indicators and that this complementary feeding indicator is positively associated with child weight gain but not with linear growth. »
July 14th, 2015
Published by United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition, June 1st, 2015
This annual publication brings together several papers and opinion articles on nutrition and shows the way in which the SDGs could elevate and focus attention on the urgency of eliminating malnutrition. Many of the contributors in this issue make the case that nutrition is a foundational investment that will underpin progress towards many of the other SDGs. »
March 14th, 2015
Published by IFPRI, January 1st, 2015
This paper elaborates on how value chains can contribute to improved nutrition outcomes. Value chain approaches can provide useful frameworks to examine the food system and have the potential to achieve improved nutritional outcomes by leveraging market-based systems. However, understanding the links between value chains, the overall business environment in which they operate, and nutrition among targeted populations is complex. »
March 1st, 2015
Published by IFPRI, World Hunger Hilfe, Concern Worldwide, October 1st, 2014
This report offers a multifaceted overview of global hunger that brings new insights to the global debate on where to focus efforts in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. The report highlights the challenges related to hidden hunger, which is often ignored or overshadowed by hunger related to energy deficits. Hidden hunger, or micronutrient deficiency, affects some 2 billion people around the world. »
