Zero Hunger Research Articles

A review of child stunting determinants in Indonesia.

Child stunting reduction is the first of 6 goals in the Global Nutrition Targets for 2025 and a key indicator in the second Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger. The prevalence of child stunting in Indonesia has remained high over the past decade, and at the national level is approximately 37%. It is unclear whether current approaches to reduce child stunting align with the scientific evidence in Indonesia. We use the World Health Organization conceptual framework on child stunting to review the available literature and identify what has been studied and can be concluded about the determinants of child stunting in Indonesia and where data gaps remain. Consistent evidence suggests nonexclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, low household socio‐economic status, premature birth, short birth length, and low maternal height and education are particularly important child stunting determinants in Indonesia. Children from households with both unimproved latrines and untreated drinking water are also at increased risk. Community and societal factors—particularly, poor access to health care and living in rural areas—have been repeatedly associated with child stunting. Published studies are lacking on how education; society and culture; agriculture and food systems; and water, sanitation, and the environment contribute to child stunting. This comprehensive synthesis of the available evidence on child stunting determinants in Indonesia outlines who are the most vulnerable to stunting, which interventions have been most successful, and what new research is needed to fill knowledge gaps.

Malnutrition and school feeding programmes

Assessing national nutrition status is important due to the concern caused by malnutrition. The present article explores the questions and limitations associated with assessment of nutritional status in a community and the role of national school feeding programme to improve health. Nutritionists have been using for decades biological indicators (anthropometric, biochemical and clinical) and social determinants as essential parameters, in comparison with predetermined standards, but rarely consider that manifestations of nutrition deficiencies may only occur in severe cases and in the future. There is as yet no single effective approach to malnutrition management and it is unlikely that a single delivery system would suit all situations worldwide. Data on the most effective time and type of intervention are still lacking. Throughout decades United Nations initiated many Plans towards fighting hunger and recently for the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030. We set low expectations for the outcome of these international plans since most of the financial investments never fully reach the people in need. The malnutrition situation is worsened by the well-known conflict, socio-economic and climatic shocks, which affect production and access to key resources. Malnutrition and hunger must be tackled from infancy, preferably in programmes gathering the whole community of farmers around each school. We briefly review this complex approach and some positive outcomes.

Growing Human Population and Sustainable Development

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. No Poverty, Zero hunger, Health & Wellness, Gender Equality, Clean Water, and many others have been kept on priority for development across world. But what plays a critical role in planning, execution, and success of these goals is “Resource Estimation & Planning” and that in turn is dominated by the ‘Human Population Trends’ of different regions on globe. Growing Human Population has been a challenge for all future-plans for sustainable development across globe and their success. The current paper highlights the close correlation between trends of growing human population and sustainable development

Child and Maternal Nutrition in the Granary of India: A Study on Vulnerable in Punjab

Elimination of stunting was set as a goal to meet the challenge of ‘Zero Hunger ’by the UN Secretary General and an important goal for sustainable development. The group of eight (G8) industrialized nations have also considered that investment in nutrition is the most effective way to achieve the objective of global welfare. Though Punjab is considered as the Granary of India and has been most dynamic in making the nation a food self-sufficient one but ironically, the nutritional status of its own people especially the vulnerable is not satisfactory. Children and women are susceptible to malnutrition due to low dietary intakes, infectious diseases, lack of appropriate care, and inequitable distribution of food within the household. An attempt had been made to gauge the nutritional status of the underprivileged section in Punjab. The study relied upon the data given in various issues of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1, 2, 3, and 4 rounds), Census data, District Level Household& Facility Survey (DLHS-1, 2, 3, and 4) conducted by International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS) and various state level reports. The study found that though there was decline in percentages of stunted and underweight children, but there was increase in percentage of those suffering from wasting during the reference period. The state fares badly as for intake of micronutrients was concerned which was lower than the Recommended Dietary Intake amongst children and women. More than 50 percent of its children and more than 80 percent of its women folk were anemic. In addition, there existed gender, regional and caste based gaps in the nutritional status, thwarting the very goal of sustainable development. The causes of persistent undernutrition were deep-rooted, related to discrimination, inequality.

Politics of drought under Bolsa Família program in Northeast Brazil

For many years, Northeast Brazil has experienced severe droughts in different period, and for the past fourteen years, Brazil has implemented an encompassing social reform under the general umbrella of the Zero Hunger Program, which the primary and more encompassing component of this policy is a program called Bolsa Família, whose main thrust is a conditional cash transfer for families below a certain income level. The program has yielded impressive results in rapidly increasing human development. In this article, we explore the evolution and politics of drought response intervention in Northeast Brazil and, in particular, in the state of Ceará. Using qualitative data from a series of in-depth key informant interviews across state and municipal levels. We focus both on anti-poverty intervention that, in principle, would increase the capacity of poor households to respond to drought and on specific risk management resources geared towards mitigating drought impact. We find that, on the one hand, the impetus to reform drought response at the state level has decreased rent-seeking and clientelism related to some resources when compared to the authoritarian period, but on the other hand, the persistence of certain forms of paternalism, patronage and clientelism has created a socially undesirable resilient state that has resisted attempts for change.

Towards Health for All:Cost-Effective and Innovative Treatment of Diabetes Shows the Pathway

While the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) has been developing and refining ecofriendly and socially inclusive strategies to achieve a 'zero hunger' India, the 'Voluntary Health Service' (VHS) in the neighbourhood of MSSRF has been focusing on providing quality health care to patients who are too poor to get medical treatment as those with adequate means. On the food front, it is remarkable that India has implemented the 'Right to Food Act 2012' with homegrown food through scientific endeavours and accomplishments. The situation with health care and medical treatment is quite different with the drugs developed by multinational companies, their undesirable side-effects as well as their cost beyond the means of millions of Indians. Under these circumstances, particularly with regard to the treatment and management of both type-1 and type-2 diabetes, the TAG-VHS Chennai, has already made remarkable progress. Towards the goal of successful treatment and sustainable management of diabetes, the TAG-VHS has introduced cost-effective integrative system of medicines (ayurveda, dynamic acupuncture mediated metaphysical energy-healing therapies and limited use of relatively safer allopathic drugs). The validation of the effectiveness of various combinations and modalities of the systems of medicine is based on the 'treatment outcome' without adverse side effects. The limitations of randomized clinical trials are discussed with examples and scientific references. Even though TAG-VHS employs cost-effective treatment schedules, there is still the need for necessary financial base. In order to create this financial support base, it has also innovated a scheme called the 'Grand Health Ensurance' (GHE) that is a revolutionary, completely transparent and inclusive health ensuring model where the affordable persons pay 1% of their total income per annum which automatically covers Health Ensurance of 1-2 persons for 1 year. This paper discusses how the cost-effective, harmful sideeffects-free integrative systems of medicine coupled with GHE would provide a sustainable path to achieve the goal of 'health for all'.

Determinant of Food Security on Upland Agriculture Households in Paletwa Township, Chin State of Myanmar

This study aims to determine food security on upland agriculture households in rural area. Food security is concerned with the first two main goals of Sustainable Development Goals, No Poverty and Zero Hunger. Myanmar is Food Insecure State that showing 14.2% that is 7.7 million of 51 million population. Chin state is least developing and Paletwa is poorest out of 324 townships. Research is applied by both qualitative and quantitative approaches. 3 Villages and 1 Quarter are chosen for qualitative method and 141upland agriculture households are selected for field survey using random sampling method. The data are analyzed by logistic regression in SPSS 17 to determine food security. Age, education, schooling years of household head, size, second occupation and no. of working people in households are socio-economic determinant and own food production and fruit access are food security determinant.

Reducing Poverty and Food Insecurity in Rural Brazil: the Impact of the Zero Hunger Program

SummaryNearly one in six people in Brazil live in rural areas, representing a diverse population facing a variety of challenges that often differ from their urban counterparts. Access to basic food and the alleviation of poverty are key issues in many rural communities and this article provides an overview of the scope of public policies designed to improve food security and support poverty reduction in rural areas of Brazil. In particular we discuss actions implemented since 2003 under Brazil's Zero Hunger Program. The context for this important programme is described by reporting various indicators of poverty and food insecurity used for both rural and urban areas in Brazil. We argue that Brazil has been successful in reducing rural poverty and in improving the nutritional status of many people living in rural areas and that the Zero Hunger Program has played a significant role in achieving these positive outcomes. However, although poverty and hunger have been considerably reduced in the last decade, and there have been important improvements in rural areas, there is still a long way to go before Brazil can claim to have eliminated poverty and hunger.

Administración del Bono Productivo Alimentario por Protagonistas del Municipio de Condega en el año 2015

El objeto de estudio es el programa productivo alimentario “Hambre Cero” impulsado por el gobierno de Nicaragua a familias protagonistas que habitan en el municipio de Condega y que fueron beneficiadas con el Bono Productivo Alimentario en el año 2015. La investigación es cuantitativa. El objetivo es evaluar qué estrategias implementan las protagonistas durante la administración de los bienes del bono, además conocer los principales factores que inciden en la sostenibilidad de estos recursos, de tal manera proponer una estrategia que permita mejorar el manejo de los recursos: incrementar la producción de alimentos para el autoconsumo, comercializar excedentes de lo producido y fortalecer sus capacidades organizativas lo que permitirá una mayor sostenibilidad y reducir la pobreza en la economía familiar. Se aporta a los programas sociales y a las familias pobres del campo. Los ejes teóricos: pobreza, programa políticas públicas para las mujeres, programas sociales en la reducción de la pobreza y estrategias de administración. Es importante para Nicaragua, aunque ya existen algunos estudios sobre programas sociales y sus aportes en la reducción de la pobreza, sin embargo son pocos los estudios que enfatizan cómo familias administran los recursos de estos programas, principalmente las mujeres.

Implementing Food Security and e-Governance Initiatives: A Comparative Study of Chhattisgarh and Telangana

Food Security is crucial in achieving the Zero Hunger, one of the crucial goals of Sustainable Development Ggoals (SDG). In the post-independent India, Public Distribution System (PDS) is an important policy intervention for providing the food security to the hunger and poor. There are certain challenges in the implementation of the PDS like corruption, leakages, ghost cards, market diversion of ration and other supply chain management issues. The paper attempts to understand the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in reducing the corruption and ‘leakages’ in food security policy of India, concerning PDS programme for reducing the hunger. In the federal system of India, states play a crucial role in the implementation of the PDS programme and the states are advised to leverage the ICT tools in the National Food Security Act (NFSA). There are differences in the food policy implementation of various states by improving their information technology governance structure. Hence, a comparative study of two states-Chhattisgarh & Telangana Electronic Public Distribution System projects-will give valuable inputs for improving the policy and hence in reducing the hunger. The paper is based on the field level experiences of beneficiaries and interviews with the technocrats in both the states along with analysing the various policy documents of two states.

Políticas de seguridad alimentaria y agricultura familiar en Brasil: actores, ideas e instituciones

Este artículo analiza la formulación de dos políticas de seguridad alimentaria en Brasil – el Programa de Adquisición de Alimentos (PAA) y el Programa Nacional de Alimentación Escolar (PNAE) - haciendo hincapié el papel de las ideas, los intereses y las instituciones. El establecimiento del PAA remonta 2003, un período caracterizado por la formulacion de la política de Fome Zero (Hambre Cero), una acción pública que fue el abanderado de la política contra la pobreza del primer gobierno de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Este programa tiene como objetivo promover la seguridad alimentaria por medio de la oferta de alimentos de la agricultura familiar. Las ideas, actores y instituciones que les han dado forma a el PAA fueron también la base para la reformulación de la NEAP. En este sentido, este artículo proporciona no sólo un análisis de dos políticas que son el objeto de la transferencia a otros países (América Latina y África), sino también un "retrato" - limitado, pero informativo – de un período de historia política de Brasil

Food price seasonality in Africa: Measurement and extent

Everyone knows about seasonality. But what exactly do we know? This study systematically measures seasonal price gaps at 193 markets for 13 food commodities in seven African countries. It shows that the commonly used dummy variable or moving average deviation methods to estimate the seasonal gap can yield substantial upward bias. This can be partially circumvented using trigonometric and sawtooth models, which are more parsimonious. Among staple crops, seasonality is highest for maize (33 percent on average) and lowest for rice (16½ percent). This is two and a half to three times larger than in the international reference markets. Seasonality varies substantially across market places but maize is the only crop in which there are important systematic country effects. Malawi, where maize is the main staple, emerges as exhibiting the most acute seasonal differences. Reaching the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger requires renewed policy attention to seasonality in food prices and consumption.

Zero Hunger: Political Culture and Antipoverty Policy in Northeast Brazil by Aaron Ansell. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. 256 pp.

American AnthropologistVolume 118, Issue 2 p. 413-414 BOOK REVIEWS Zero Hunger: Political Culture and Antipoverty Policy in Northeast Brazil by Aaron Ansell. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. 256 pp. Kees Koonings, Kees Koonings Utrecht University and CEDLA/University of AmsterdamSearch for more papers by this author Kees Koonings, Kees Koonings Utrecht University and CEDLA/University of AmsterdamSearch for more papers by this author First published: 14 June 2016 https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.12565Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume118, Issue2June 2016Pages 413-414 RelatedInformation

'The Program With Many Components Rarely Succeeds': Lessons From the First Year of Brazil’s Zero Hunger Program

In 2003 Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) announced a nationwide Zero Hunger Program (Programa Fome Zero). Though often heralded as a model for anti-hunger policy, Zero Hunger was far from successful in its first year. President Lula’s initially created the Special Ministry for Food Security (MESA), headed by Jose Graziano, to integrate a wide range of initiatives to eliminate the “vicious cycle” of hunger. MESA’s primary policy was The Food Card, modeled after the U.S. Food Stamp, with recipients selected by newly formed Management Committees made up of volunteers at the municipal level. The Food Card saw a slow rollout, controversy over program qualifications, and opposition from mayors objecting to the role of the Management Committees in selecting beneficiaries. Within a year President Lula merged MESA’s Food Card program with three other cash transfers to form a conditional cash transfer (CCT) called Family Allowance (Bolsa Familia). He also merged MESA into the new Ministry of Social Development (MDS). This paper argues one reason program implementation initially failed in 2003 is because the design was too complex. In contrast, the combination of MESA, the Ministry of Social Assistance and Family Allowance into one ministry greatly simplified the institutional structure of anti-hunger policy. Compared to the Food Card, Family Allowance was a much simpler program, and this simplified approach deserves part of the credit for the program’s success. The paper supports this assessment with evidence from media reports, government documents, and interviews from fieldwork in Brazil (October 2010-July 2011).

Supply Chain Optimization: Enhancing End-to-End Visibility

This paper describes the United Nations World Food Programme's (WFP) Supply Chain Management Dashboard (SCM-D), a tool that increases operational efficiencies and effectiveness by enhancing Supply Chain (SC) visibility. Each year WFP assists an average of 80 million people across more than 80 countries. It is therefore critical for WFP to understand what processes are taking place at each stage of its global Supply Chain to allow for timely mitigation of risks, forward and contingency planning and optimization, as well as identification and propagation of best practices. The SCM-D provides this end-to-end visibility into the WFP Supply Chain, serving as a “one stop” holistic overview that condenses the SC situation for an operation. The SCM-D promotes integrated Supply Chain Management by facilitating collaboration amongst different business units and supporting better informed Executive Management decision making. An online platform applies the efficiency and effectiveness gains of the tool to all WFP operations, and makes the SCM-D accessible to staff anywhere and at any time. Simplicity is key to the design, with the information reflected on the SCM-D being detailed enough to allow for comprehensive understanding of an operation and identification of risks, challenges and opportunities; yet broad enough to provide a clear and integrated end-to-end SC picture. The tool increases operational transparency and efficiency, value for money of funds, and ultimately supports the delivery of critical food assistance to millions of vulnerable families. All of these gains bring WFP one step closer to achieving its goal of a world with Zero Hunger.

Food Sovereignty and Fome Zero: Connecting Public Food Procurement Programmes to Sustainable Rural Development in Brazil

The global discourse on food sovereignty suggests several mechanisms for improving food security and agricultural livelihoods, including redistributive land reform and restructuring of markets to improve food distribution and access. In Brazil, the Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) social welfare programme has created innovative links between public nutrition and food security programmes and rural development initiatives through mediated market support for the family farm sector. We report on a participatory assessment of the experience of land reform beneficiaries in seven municipalities in Mato Grosso, Brazil, who were contracted to produce food for the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (Food Procurement Programme, PAA) and the Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (National School Feeding Programme, PNAE) under the umbrella of Fome Zero. This analysis offers insight into the opportunities and challenges related to participation in mediated ‘farm‐to‐institution’ food procurement programmes, and assesses their influence on key food sovereignty principles, including agro‐ecological transition, increased market stability and farmer autonomy.

Innovative Stride to Zero Hunger Beyond 2015 in Nigeria

Overcoming food and nutritional insecurity among the elderly, pregnant women and children under five years, remains a big challenge to human and sustainable development in many resourse- poor communities in developing countries, where over 57% of the people go to bed hungry. Diversification of dietary habit to include derelict plant genetic resources which are cheap, readily available and affordable, could contribute to the daily dietary requirements of these resource poor people. This work was initiated to explore the nutritional values of some Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) from Nigeria, as an innovative approach of reducing food and nutrition insecurity in this country. Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) for decision making tool was used to pool the desirable nutrients in each of these species and rank them. These were then compared with Lactuca sativa var. longifolia L (exotic). Results from these analyses showed that these NUS are endowed with appreciable levels of nutrients. MDA showed that S. occidentalis ranked 1st with a WF of (4.16), followed by T. occidentals 2(nd) with WF of (3.75) when all desirable nutrient values of high moisture, carbohydrate, protein content, low fat and better energy calorie (kcal) nutrients were pooled together amongst these species. It implies that these NUS could contribute to the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) for micronutrient as recommended US8053007B2 and could help in reducing malnutrition as entrenched in the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs). There is a need for expanded policy programmes for sustainable enlightenment on their nutritional benefits in order to promote their selection as part of cooked food, cultivation and green job creation.

Aaron Ansell , Zero Hunger: Political Culture and Antipoverty Policy in Northeast Brazil (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2014), pp. xiii + 239, $32.95, pb.

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Zero Hunger: Political Culture and Antipoverty Policy in Northeast Brazil

Zero Hunger: Political Culture and Antipoverty Policy in Northeast Brazil

Lula's assault on rural patronage: Zero Hunger, ethnic mobilization and the deployment of pilgrimage

This paper explores the Workers’ Party government's attempt to use anti-poverty policy to disrupt rural patronage, and the implications of this effort for theories of patronage. I argue that state officials and race-based activists implementing President Lula's flagship ‘Zero Hunger Program’ (2003–2005) turned mundane program exercises into pilgrimage rites in an effort to build lateral solidarities among Afro-Brazilians and undermine their vertical patronage alliances. The partial success of such efforts suggests that there are circumstances in which vertical and horizontal alliances are compatible, and that investigating this compatibility entails consideration of local categories of exchange.