Entry points into a nutrition-sensitive agriculture

Abstract

Nutrition-sensitive agriculture is a concept that aims to narrow the gap between available and accessible food and the food needed for a healthy and balanced diet for all people. It explicitly incorporates nutrition objectives into agriculture and addresses the utilization dimension of food and nutrition security, including health, education, economic, environmental and social aspects. Based on this concept, the present paper presents a synthesis of a recent desk study which took stock of innovative approaches to improve the positive nutrition-related impacts of agriculture and related food systems and provides recommendations for future programmes. By providing an overview on specific cross-cutting themes relevant to nutrition-sensitive agriculture and presenting examples from various countries on how nutrition objectives can be incorporated into the agro-food systems, the paper identifies commonalities and parameters that are entry points into a system within which local nutrition-sensitive agriculture approaches will have a realistic chance of success. The variables in the system are interlinked and contribute to a balanced nutrition of the population. By changing or fine-tuning one or more of the entry points, the whole system can be improved. The paper also highlights the current fragmentation in approaches towards more nutrition-sensitivity in agriculture and concludes that, where collaborative approaches are undertaken, there is a greater likelihood that shared projects will be implemented and/or be successful.