Presentation to the AIFSC-ILRI Nutrition Workshop

1. Nutrition and Marketing
Diversity Programme
Bruce Cogill P.h.D
Bioversity International
Nutrition and Marketing Diversity Programme Leader
AIFSC Workshop
“Food and nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa”
Nairobi, Kenya
10-11 September
CGIAR Research Program on
1
Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

2. 2

3. Underlying model of determinants of nutritional status
Better Education in Health
Program
Cash to Health visits Education
safer & Nutrition to
women (Condition) (Condition)
foods Women
HH Income
Women’s School
+ Women Women’s Use of H&N
Knowledge & Enrollment +
Income time Services
Awareness Attendance
Control
Underlying Causes
Health Education
Supply Supply
HH Food Security Informed and
Feeding &
– Diet Diversity/ Educated
Care WASH
Quality/ population
Practices
Quantity esp. girls
Immediate Causes Outcomes
Long term
Food Intake Health
Nutrition
Adapted from Ruel

4. Bioversity and A4NH Conceptual Framework
Strategic goal of A4NH:
Accelerate progress in improvingHealththe nutrition and health of
poor people by leveraging agriculture and enhancing the
1. Enhancing 3. Prevention &
synergies inalong efforts between agriculture, health and
Nutrition
joint 4. Integrated Control of Ag-
nutrition Chain
the Value Programs and Policies Associated
Diseases
2. Bio-
Nutrition
fortification
Agriculture
Social Behavior Change
and Communications
All components
Improved availability, Increased
Increased Decreased Increased
access, intake knowledge
labor risk of AAD income and
of nutritious, of nutrition,
productivity gender equity
safe foods food safety
RESULT: Improved nutrition and health, especially among women and young children

5. Focus areas Bioversity for the Initial Research Priorities in A4NH
NUTRITIONAL VALUE CHAINS
• Revise current value chain frameworks and assessments to
better include nutritional quality (and food safety)
• Co-develop specific opportunities for enhancing nutritional
quality for women, infants and young children in value
chains for nutrient rich foods
INTEGRATED PROGRAMS AND POLICIES
• Strengthen program evaluation, working with
partners, including new cross-sectoral metrics and
approaches
• Cross-sectoral priorities and policies with key partners in
SSA and South Asia

6. Major objectives of Bioversity’s Nutrition work
1. Strengthen the evidence base for the role of biodiversity in
nutrition and health and incorporating agricultural biodiversity
into food and nutrition systems approaches
2. Conduct operations research on agricultural biodiversity practices
and delivery systems in development and emergency programmes
to improve food and nutrition security
3. Promote the production and value chains of more nutritious foods
that reflect agricultural biodiverse practices and cultural
preferences through commercial pathways
4. Inform policy and practice of evidence and provide solutions at
the policy level by mainstreaming the importance of agricultural
biodiversity into nutrition and public health sectors
GLOBAL PUBLIC GOODS 6

7. Nutrition Strategy Objectives and Components
1) Strengthen the evidence base for the role of biodiversity 2) Conduct operations research on agricultural biodiversity
in nutrition and health and incorporating agricultural practices and delivery systems in development and
biodiversity into food and nutrition systems approaches emergency programmes to improve food & nutrition security
A) Agricultural biodiversity in diets, health and livelihoods A) Consumer demand, knowledge and access as drivers for
B) Value of agricultural biodiversity in food and nutrition smallholder farmers to produce and consume more
Systems nutritious, diversified food
C) Nutritional anthropology and sociology of agricultural B) Agricultural biodiversity as a mechanism for boosting
biodiversity disposable income for smallholder farmers allowing them to
access more nutritious foods
3) Promote the production of more nutritious foods that 4) Inform policy and practice of evidence and provide
reflect agricultural biodiverse practices and cultural solutions at the policy level by mainstreaming the
preferences through commercial pathways (value chains) importance of agricultural biodiversity into nutrition and
public health sectors
A) Integration of agricultural biodiversity in emergency and A) Contribute to international efforts that address global
development programmes concerns, such as the response to soaring food prices, food
B) Value of agricultural biodiversity in food and nutrition sovereignty and the effects of globalization of diets on health
systems, fully integrated with the other components of the through its assessment of the nutritional and livelihood
food system approach benefits of local foods and food products derived from the rich
biodiversity in the developing world
7

8. Primary Beneficiaries
1. Rural small holder farmers in the developing world
2. Populations living in peri-urban and urban settings without
access to diversity
3. Communities at risk of food system loss
8

9. Our Projects
Cost of Diets:
• Quantifying the role of local, wild and underutilized foods in contributing to a nutritionally acceptable diet
while optimizing cost
• With Museum of Kenya and Save the Children
FoodAfrica:
• Strengthening the local knowledge and expertise of agricultural &related sciences
• Identify current infant and child feeding practices in Rural Benin
Market Integration:
• Assess the relative nutritional benefits of a diversity of locally-produced traditional foods produced at
different access points to markets
Kenya Inula Nutrition Study:
• To examine the influence of agrobiodiversity on dietary diversity and quality, and on nutritional health of
women and infants/children under two years
Capacity Strengthening:
• Train agriculturalists and nutritionists in research approaches to nutrition sensitive agriculture
Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project
• Strengthen the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity with high nutritional potential, by
mainstreaming into nutrition, food and livelihood security strategies and programmes; develop markets
and value chains for nutritionally-relevant biodiversity.
Cross cutting is Capacity Strengthening and Gender Focus 9

10. NEW DIRECTIONS
Sustainable Diets Project
• Gaps in our understanding of what constitutes a sustainable diet
• Examples from studies of the Mediterranean Diet
• Need to value biodiversity and nutrition plus other dimensions
• New research on describing, measuring and promoting sustainable diets
• Determine indicators and guidelines aimed at measuring sustainability of
diets worldwide
• Bioversity with the support of Daniel et Nina Carasso Foundation and a
network of universities and research groups
10

11. Sustainable Diets Nutritional adequacy
6
5
4
3
Cultural acceptability
2
Environmental
sustainability
1
Urban poor
Rural poor
Target
Low cost – accessibility 11
Bioversity International ©

12. • Acute protein-energy
malnutrition
Undernutrition ↓ • Moderate Iron deficiency
Overnutrition ↑ anaemia and VAD
•31% overweight Native root and tuber
•12% obese crops, traditional rice
Undernutrition ↓ Project aim: Strengthen the conservation
Overnutrition ↑ varieties, leafy vegetables and
50% of adult population and sustainable use of biodiversity with high
28 spp. local
native fruits
overweight (80 million)
nutritional potential, by mainstreaming into
edible plant
species
nutrition, food and livelihood security
Plants for the Future
Project (70 spp.) strategies and programmes; develop
Non conventional leafy markets and value chains for nutritionally- •1/3 of the population is food
insecure
vegetables
relevant biodiversity. •1.8 million children chronically
undernourished
ALVs, sorghum, millets, nuts and oil
crops, indigenous fruits and livestock
5 year project : 2012 - 2017
PROVIDE EVIDENCE – Demonstrate the nutritional value of local BFN and the role it plays in
promoting healthy diets and strengthening livelihoods
INFLUENCE POLICIES - Use the evidence to influence policies and markets that support the
conservation and sustainable use of BFN for improved human nutrition and wellbeing
RAISE AWARENESS – Develop tools and best practices for scaling up the use BFN in development
programmes, value chains and local community initiatives.