Shenggen Fan National Strategic Review on Zero Hunger, Armenia January 15, 2018

1. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
Food security and nutrition in
Central Asia and Caucasus
National Strategic Review on Zero Hunger
Yerevan, Armenia | January 15, 2018
Shenggen Fan | Director General
International Food Policy Research Institute

2. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Central Asia and Caucasus Armenia
Despite some progress, hunger remains…
Number of people undernourished (millions),
Central Asia and Caucasus & Armenia
Source: FAO 2017
Prevalence of undernourishment (%),
Central Asia and Caucasus & Armenia
Source: FAO 2017
Central Asia and Caucasus Armenia
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
4.4
7.1
9
8
7
7
6 6
2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

3. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
Undernutrition has reduced, but still persists…
Prevalence of under-5 stunting (%)
Source: UNICEF/WHO/WB 2017
Women of reproductive age with anemia Vitamin A deficient children under 5
Source: GNR 2017
Armenia’s progress in stunting
reduction can be a leading
example for the region
Central Asia
36%
Armenia
29%
Central Asia
16%
Armenia
11%
27
22
17
13
18 18
21
9
2000 2005 2010 2016
Central Asia & Caucasus Armenia

4. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
…AND overnutrition is a growing concern (1)
Source: WHO 2017Source: GNR 2017
Metabolic risk factors for diet-related NCDs (%) Prevalence of adult overweight, male adults
Central Asia
Armenia

5. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
…AND overnutrition is a growing concern (2)
Source: Akramov and Park 2017
Adult overweight trends in Kyrgyzstan, by age group
E.g. Kyrgyzstan’s upward trends in overweight and obesity
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Overweight-total Overweight-age 50+
Overweight-age 30-49 Overweight-age 20-29
• Despite variation across age groups, overall
increasing trends in overweight and obesity
• Positive association with calorie intake,
income, and education
• Food consumption patterns may have
contributed
‒ Cereals, oils, and sweets account for significant
share of total calorie intake
‒ Share of fruits, vegetables, pulses remain low
‒ Diets with greater sugar and fat content seem
associated with higher BMI and overweight

6. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
• Strong human capital development
‒ Most countries in region have nearly
universal basic education enrollment
‒ Some challenges in workforce
development and quality of education
system
• Linking income to nutrition will be
important
Yet the region has strong potential
Gap in human capital development, by region, 2017
Source: WEF 2017

7. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
A comprehensive
approach
addressing social
protection,
agriculture, and
trade is critical

8. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
Support nutrition-sensitive social protection programs
• Social protection programs can serve as delivery platforms for nutrition-
specific interventions – but more needs to be done to improve outcomes
• Combining transfer programs with behavior change communication
contributed to significant improvements in child nutrition
• School meal programs can adopt wider objectives,
such as addressing obesity and stimulating community
smallholder development
‒ Kyrgyz Republic: Optimizing Primary School Meals program
o Constructed and renovated school canteens, water and
sanitation facilities
o Introduce more nutritious meals at 250 schools in food-insecure
areas
Picture source: UN-Kyrgyz Republic

9. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
Diversification
• Support R&D and technologies that promote
diversification of food production (e.g. vegetables,
pulses, fruits)
‒ Diets including nutrient-rich legumes, vitamin-rich fruits and
vegetables, and animal-source foods are associated with
micronutrient adequacy and reductions in chronic
undernutrition (Mazunda et al 2015)
‒ Tajikistan and Uzbekistan: World Bank, ADB, USAID, and
EU are promoting diversification to horticulture
Picture source: Bioversity International, ADB
Invest in agriculture to produce more nutrition with less (1)

10. Shenggen Fan, January 2018 Picture source: HarvestPlus
Invest in agriculture to produce more nutrition with less (2)
Biofortification
• Vitamin- and mineral-rich crops grown,
consumed in >30 countries
‒ 2 million smallholder farmers reached in
2015, 3 million in 2016
• Expected to reach 1 billion consumers
by 2030
In Central Asia and Caucasus, fortification of wheat flour with Zinc and
other minerals in processing stage could be more cost-effective
Biofortification Priority Index, Zinc Wheat

11. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
• Eliminate distortionary trade policies
– Harmful trade policies e.g. import tariffs and export bans, hurt the
poor and hinder efficiency of agricultural markets
• Fill domestic gaps with appropriate imports
– Asian and African countries can help fill domestic gaps
– Increase technology transfer, technical assistance, investments
via South-South cooperation channels
• E.g. Joint ventures, cooperation contracts, public-private
partnerships
• Create global and regional grain reserves
– Located in poor, food importing countries
Photo sources: ADB, FAO
Promote open, transparent, and fair trade

12. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
• Quality data, systematic data collection, and establishing
monitoring and evaluation frameworks is key to measure
progress on nutrition goals
Source: Akramov, Park, and Ilyasov 2017
% Missing nutrition indicators in Global Nutrition Report
Good data is needed for food security and nutrition

13. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
Capacity strengthening at the national and regional levels
is critical
• Promote capacity building to set and fine-tune policies,
priorities, and strategies
• Invest in data collection and capacity for research
• Strengthen regional integration by improving institutions
and infrastructure for food security and growth
• Mitigate risks from external economic shocks

14. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
• Promote mutual learning at all levels
– Share key experiences on what has worked and what has not worked
– Promote technology transfer
– Contribute to capacity building
– Improve infrastructure in developing countries
• Work together to accelerate progress – Compact2025
– Develop national and subnational networks of researchers and
policymakers who identify evidence tool gaps
– Enhance implementation and capacity at national and subnational levels
Sharing knowledge will be key

15. Shenggen Fan, January 2018
To improve food security and nutrition
in Central Asia and Caucasus AND the world,
we must share knowledge and work together