Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health
International Conference | 10-12 February 2011 | New Delhi, India
Launched in October of this year, the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP) is an example of recent country-led initiative to strengthen national nutrition. Built upon the importance of multi-sectoralism, the Plan was prepared in cooperation with several ministries.
The opening ceremony featured 2020 Conference speaker Robert Mwadime! Check out the official press release for more information!
Two weeks ago, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in collaboration with several other partners organized the West Africa CAADP (Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme) Nutrition Program Development Workshop in Dakar, Senegal in recognition of the dire need to integrate nutrition in national agricultural development plans. The workshop was unique in that it brought together, for the first time, representatives of the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Finance and Economic Planning, and Civil Society from the 17 countries in the region. Workshop participants worked in country teams to develop agricultural action plans that integrated nutrition interventions aimed at addressing the country-specific nutrition problems.
"The event clearly showed that integrating nutrition objectives in agricultural development plans is urgently needed, but that it is challenging to do so. People from different departments have different objectives and agendas and speak different languages. I did notice, however, that the workshop participants were very dedicated to the task," says Jef Leroy, an IFPRI research fellow who presented at the workshop as well as attended the 2020 Conference in New Delhi.
View the complete workshop program!
The IFPRI 2020 Conference in New Delhi continues to build energy and raise awareness about the important linkages between agriculture, nutrition, and health! Here is a quick summary (PDF version) of some of the exciting activities that happened since the conference:
Malawi Conference Participants
The December 2011 issue of Public Health Nutrition featured a review of the recent policy seminar on agriculture and non-communicable diseases. Written by two IFPRI colleagues Zhenya Karelina and Heidi Fritschel, the article concluded that "agriculture can be a powerful tool in the fight against non-communicable diseases, but using this tool effectively will require significant changes in the organization of the entire food system, from the farm to the table."
