Action Contre la Faim (ACF) – a Nutrition Security Approach to tackle under-nutrition (malnutrition?) Lessons from the field, way forward and research needs

Through the AFSI sub-group on Managing for Development Results (MfDR), a sub-set of AFSI participants is investigating the impact of funds spent in four partner countries: Bangladesh, Ghana, Rwanda, and Senegal.

Methodologies for mutual accountability and Mutual Reviews of Development Effectiveness in Africa (MRDE) developed by the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the OECD, in consultation with African partners, international research and civil society institutions, have been tested and developed over recent years. The MRDE process is an example of a regular joint monitoring process of development commitments, delivery, results and identification of priorities regarding Africa.

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) through The European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development (AGRINATURA), joined forces in the implementation of the Platform for African-European Partnership on Agricultural Development (PAEPARD), established with funding from the European Union. Among the problems addressed by PAEPARD are:

The MAIZE Research Program (CRP) is a CGIAR global alliance bringing together CIMMYT, IITA and more than 300 institutions (NARES, advanced research institutions, NGOs, CBOs etc.). It aims at ensuring that public-funded international agricultural research helps to sustainably intensify maize-based farming systems, making them more resilient to climate change; while significantly enhancing farmers’ income and livelihood opportunities without using more land and as fertilizer, water, and labour costs rise.

The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish and the role of development partners: The overall rationale, assumptions and approach adopted by the program will be described, and the specific role that we expect development partners to play in achieving its objectives.

The Water, Land and Ecosystems Program addresses the dangers facing development in a world of finite resources. Its goals are: sustainable intensification; to improve the sharing of benefits and risks on which our future depends; to support the political discourse that underpins a long-term, collective and balanced investment in water, land and ecosystems.

While the research agenda is growing, there remains limited concrete evidence on how agriculture–nutrition linkages work. A mapping exercise has been completed by DFID/LCIRAH outlining the research gaps. However more nutrition-relevant data from agricultural interventions needs to be generated, collected and shared, and nutritional indicators need to be included in evaluations. LCIRAH identify the need for greater understanding of the pathways from agricultural inputs and practices through value chains to effects on food environment, consumption and nutrition.

We need to establish common interlinked platforms at global, regional and national levels for coherent dialogue and policy action, supported by research, related to climate change, agriculture, forestry, crisis response and food security. This session explores the nexus between climate change, agriculture and new needs in partnership. It draws on two CGIAR programs: “Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security” and “Forests, Trees and Agroforestry”

Looking for quality improvement of No Till system at the farmer level as a goal, FEBRAPDP and ITAIPU BINACIONAL developed a participatory methodology for assessing the quality of the Conservation Agriculture in the Paraná 3 basin.