The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

Cape Town, January 2019

Integrating nutrition into agroecology: Practical lessons and policies to overcome the nutrition crisis

in the Sahel

Sasha Mentz Lagrange, Peter Gubbels

Nutrition Crisis in the SahelAccording to UN:•High prevalence of stunting

= (30-39%)

•Very high (critical) prevalence

= over 40%

•Average in West Africa 33% (« normal »)

% of chronic malnutrition: 2010 to 2012 by region, in Burkina Faso

Examples of children suffering from stunting (chronic malnutrition) in West Africa

Children of the same age

Chronic Malnutrition causes irreversible mental impairment in children

Source: Dr. Fernando Monckeberg, Nutricion Medio Ambiente y desarrollo Cerebral http://www.pediatraldia.cl/01Nueva_carpeta/desarrollo_a.htmAlso in http://www.creces.cl/new/index.asp?tc=1&nc=6&imat=%20%20>%20%20Fotos%20&art=1149

CAT Scan of brains from two children, 3 years old

Normal Severely Undernourished

Evolution of stunting 2006-2012 and analysis by wealth category

Burkina Faso: Equity is an issue!

Which groups are most vulnerable?

Pregnant women need more food,including micronutrients such as iron, calcium and zinc

Breast feeding women need an extra 500 calories of food per day (i.e. 4 meals a day!)

Why should practitioners of Agroecology be concerned about nutrition?

• Good nutrition is not an « automatic » result from increased production from agroecological farming

• Integrating Nutrition in agroecology programmes is an essential component to overcome the nutrition crisis. But few practitioners of AE know how (Or they see nutrition as a « health » issue, disconnected from agriculture).

• Agricultural programs, including agroecology, and nutrition, operate in silos

Pathways for Agroecology to improved nutrition

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

Most villagers grow cereals like maize, sorghum and millet. If yields increase through AE, will this improve nutrition?

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

Not much. Also need to encourage production of nutrient rich foods (for

home consumption)

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

The production pathway cannot by itself ensure better nutrition. Why?

• Households may sell nutrition rich foods to get more income, rather than for domestic consumption

• Most vulnerable groups may not get adequate access to good food (i.e. eggs)

• Poorer households may not be able to apply agroecological techniques

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

The “increase farm income” pathway: Households sell their farm production and cash crops, earn money to buy nutrition rich food

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

Il faut les mesures d’accompagnement: la sensibilisation sur les aliments complémentaires riches en nutriments

•Income is often used for other domestic needs, not better food•Women often do not have control over the farm income•Local markets may not have nutrient rich food, or too expensive, or not available year round

Increased farm income, alone often does not improve nutrition. Why?

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

The pathway of “empowering women in agriculture”.How to improve women’s access to productive assets (land, seed, water, credit, animals) and their participation in making decisions

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

Sont plus probables de produire les aliments consommés par le ménage

Land controlled by womenIs more likely to produce nutritious food consumed by the family

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

But take into account women’s existing heavy work loads!

For the women’s empowerment in agriculture pathway

To design a gender and nutrition sensitive agroecological program, assess:

• Control of productive assets (land, water, seeds, animals, credit); to what extent do women have access?

• How decisions are made about which crops to grow, and how farm income is spent

• How to enable women to reduce their work load in order to do more farming or earn more income

• Whether the application of new agroecological innovations would cause women to reduce taking care of children

Ten principles for designing agroecology programs that integrate

nutrition

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

1. Include specific nutrition indicators

2. Assess the context at the local level, to designactivities to address the types and causesof malnutrition

3. Target the vulnerable and address equity issues

How? Simple tools AE practitioners can use

• Household Hunger Scale (HHS): to identify the households most vulnerable to hunger.

• Self-evaluation and Holistic Assessment of climate Resilience of farmers and Pastoralists (SHARP): diagnostic data that facilitated dialogue within the community to identify the aspects of their agro-ecosystem most in need of improvement for resilience.

• Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) for Measurement of Household Food Access tool: collecting and measuring household dietary diversity as a proxy measure of the quality of nutrition

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

4. Collaborate and coordinate with other sectors

5. Maintain or improve the natural resource base, particularly soil health

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

6. Empower women in agriculture(access to land,water, seed, credit, training, animals) and in decision

making

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

7. Facilitate diversification of crops rich in nutrients + promote self consumption of crops

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

Home gardens

8. Support processing, storage and conservation of nutrition rich foods

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

9. Expand markets and market access for vulnerablegroups, particularly for marketing nutritious food

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

10 Incorporate nutrition promotion and education related to foodthat builds on existing local knowledge, attitudes and practices, and strengthens demand for nutritious food.

Conclusion• To overcome this nutrition crisis and enable the most vulnerable rural households

to escape the poverty hunger trap, it is essential to better harness agriculture not only to be productive and sustainable, but als to improve nutritional outcomes.

• Agroecological farming is more inherently conducive to improved nutritional outcomes, compared to conventional, high external input agriculture, because it favors crop diversity. However, without effective strategies to integrate nutrition into agroecology, little of this inherent potential can be realized.

• Impacts of AE programmes can be significantly augmented when it systematically integrates nutrition and complementary strategies for the empowerment of women in agriculture and strengthened livelihoods particularly for women in the most vulnerable households.

• It is quite easy to incorporate relatively low cost and simple nutrition-related tools into their methods toolbox to make their programs nutrition sensitive, without requiring too much additional time and work, or additional staff.

• implement activities for improved nutrition in close consultation with local government structures, especially at the decentralized level, in order to ensure a multi-actor and multi-sectoral approach.

The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

See our Case study on lessons learned in helping NGOs engaged in agroecologyin 3 countries in the Sahel integrate nutrition in their work.

https://www.groundswellinternational.org/approach/resources-publications-videos/ae6-resources/.

See our Policy brief of recommendations for government and civil society, and donors to enable and promote nutrition sensitive agroecology

Contact us: sasha@nicheunity.compgubbels@groundswellinternational.org