Agricuture to Nutrition (ATONU): Improving Nutrition Outcomes Through Optimised Agriculture Investments

1. Agriculture to Nutrition (ATONU):
Improving Nutrition Outcomes
Through Optimized Agriculture
Investments
Simbarashe Sibanda
http://fanrpan.org/projects/atonu/

2. • Six-year project focusing on how agriculture can deliver
positive nutrition outcomes to smallholder farm families
through the generation of robust evidence
• Focus countries: Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania and
Ghana/Uganda
• Target groups: women of child-bearing age and children in
first 1,000 days of life, high burden of malnutrition
• Design agricultural projects that deliver positive nutrition
outcomes
• Technical assistance to ensure effectiveness of nutrition-
sensitive interventions in agriculture programmes
ATONU
1,000
Days
Life cycle
Pre-conception
Conception
to birth
0-6 months
6-24 months

3. Malnutrition: The Context
• Africa is ranked as having the highest malnutrition rates in
the world with 17 countries having stunting rates above 40%
and 36 countries above 30%
• Sub-Saharan Africa carries a high burden of under-nutrition,
with 33% of childhood deaths linked to under-nutrition
• Traditionally, agricultural programmes have not intentionally
focused on nutrition
• Climate change increases the need to integrate nutrition into
agriculture
Malnutrition: the context

4. ATONU Problem Statement
Under-nourished smallholder farm families:
• There is a disconnect between agriculture and
nutrition
• There are leakages along the agriculture value
chain
• ATONU investments into nutrition sensitive
agriculture will ensure maximum possible nutrients
for a healthy active life
• Multi-sectoral approach to addressing malnutrition
ATONU Problem Statement

5. 1.a) Promising agricultural projects identified for
possible interventions
1.b) Methods for designing, implementing and
evaluating interventions identified, adapted and
assembled
4a) Lessons and successes from
ATONU out scaled to other
agriculture projects
2) Tailored nutrition sensitive interventions are designed, implemented and evaluated
3) Successful models communicated, disseminated and promoted for adoption
4c) Policy makers and investors
incorporate a nutrition lens in the
design of agriculture projects
4b) Practitioners knowledgeable and
equipped with evidence on how to design
nutrition sensitive agriculture projects
5) Agriculture projects generate nutritional outcomes that benefit smallholder farm families particularly
women of child bearing age and children in the first 1000 days
ATONU Theory of Change

6. Food production for
household
consumption
Income-oriented
production for food,
health and other non-
food items
Empowerment of
women as agents
Reduction in real food
prices associated with
increased agricultural
production
Nutrition Sensitive
Agricultural Growth
AG-Nutritional Pathways

7. ATONU Interventions
Crop / animal
husbandry
Aflatoxin
control
Storage and
handling
Food
processing
Nutrition
knowledge
Fortification
Biofortification
Women
Empowerment
Soil fertility
Market
Enhancement
Policy
environment
Cooking
Labor saving
technologies
GenderEnvironment
Germplasm
Where are the opportunities for Nutrition-Sensitive
Agriculture Interventions?

8. Two pilot
projects
each in
Tanzania
and Ethiopia
Process of
designing
nutrition-
sensitive
intervention
s and
impact
evaluation
protocols
Baseline
surveys of
nutrition
status,
implementat
ion and
evaluation
Evidence
and lessons
to be used
for
upscaling
and policy
advocacy
and
engagement
Progress and Next Steps

9. Healthy rural
smallholder farm
families
Policy makers and investors
incorporate nutrition in the
design of agricultural policies
and programmes
Validated evidence
of nutrition
interventions
Ag-Nutrition
community of practice
equipped to design
nutrition sensitive
agriculture projects
Agricultural experts working
with nutrition and health
experts to deliver positive
nutrition impact
WhatWhat would success look like?

10. Thank you