SecureNutrition eUpdate
September 2013
The SecureNutrition eUpdate shares information about the latest developments from SecureNutrition, its partners, and beyond. SecureNutrition provides a communication platform where the community can share experiences, exchange information, and increase collaboration and coordination to link agriculture, food security, and nutrition.
Improving Complementary Feeding in Rural Kenya: Barriers and Opportunities

On 29 August, SecureNutrition hosted a presentation by Bonnie

Improving Complementary Feeding in Rural Kenya: Barriers and Opportunities

McClafferty, Christine Hotz and Gretel Pelto highlighting the key findings of a GAIN/USAID-funded project to drive an evidence-based, catalytic approach to determine appropriate interventions to improve complementary feeding and complementary foods for infants and young children in rural farming communities in Kenya. 

 

The project employed two different tools, the Focused Ethnographic Studies (FES) of infant and young child feeding and OptiFood. Research teams worked in two areas in rural Kenya to determine the sourcing of foods for infants and young children, assess the nutritional adequacy of those foods and assess caregiver's behaviors and knowledge, with the goal of identifying opportunities and barriers to improving nutrition. View the presentation Improving Complimentary Feeding in Rural Kenya: Barriers and Opportunities. 

Getting to How: Improving Nutrition in Senegal through "Nutrition-led Agriculture"
Yaajeende webinar
On 5 September, the SPRING project hosted a presentation on the USAID-funded Yaajeende project in Senegal, which is effectively integrating nutrition into agricultural and livelihoods programming at scale.  Yaajeende, led by NCBA CLUSA in partnership with other local and international organizations, has pioneered a nutrition-led approach to agriculture that has resulted in a 22 percent increase in the number of children receiving a minimum acceptable diet in the most food-insecure regions of Senegal. View the presentation  and download the presentation slides. 
New report on food security and nutrition among the urban poor

NutritionWorks has conducted a review of food security and nutrition among the urban poor on behalf of Save the Children.  The report, Urban malnutrition: a review of food security and nutrition among the urban poor, examines objectives of urban programming, reviews published literature and unpublished documentation from operational organisations, and internet-based discussion forums.   

Asia's growth boom accompanied by sharp dietary changes and uneven food access; report on Food Security in Asia and the Pacific

Asia and the Pacific's drive for food security has focused too narrowly on quantity, with a surge in obesity and still high levels of malnutrition in some countries highlighting the need for a new approach, a new Asian Development Bank study finds.

 

"Many developing countries in the region face the twin burdens of both under and overnutrition," said Cyn-Young Park, ADB Assistant Chief Economist. "Improving nutritional standards rather than just boosting calorie intake is essential if the region wants a secure and healthy food future." The study,Food Security in Asia and the Pacific, says the region's growth boom has been accompanied both by sharp dietary changes and uneven food access.

New Resources from SecureNutrition and our Partners
fruit stand, Kampala

IFPRI blogs about a biofortification program from HarvestPlus and its partners to distribute provitamin-A-rich orange sweet potato (OSP) to more than 24,000 households in Mozambique and Uganda. The goal was to determine if disseminating OSP could be an effective strategy for reducing the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency by increasing vitamin A in local diets. Read the blog and download the report, Sustainability of Impact: Biofortification in Uganda

 

Iron deficiency affects nearly one quarter of the world's population. A new study in the Journal of Nutrition found that pearl millet bred or biofortified to contain more iron was able to fully meet daily iron needs of Indian children. Download the study Biofortification of Pearl Millet with Iron and Zinc in a Randomized Controlled Trial Increases Absorption of These Minerals above Physiologic Requirements in Young Children, and read IFPRI's blog on the topic. 

 

FAO has launched the FAO/INFOODS food composition study guide and e-Learning course on food composition data.  The study guide, intended to be used in conjunction with food composition courses, aims to reach a wide audience in need of knowledge about food composition and food biodiversity. The e-Learning course aims to close the knowledge gap on food composition of nutritionists and all those generating, compiling or using food composition data. Learn more about these FAO/INFOODS distance learning tools.

  

The FSN Forum invites everyone interested to share evidence and exchange views on how the private sector and civil society can contribute to improving diets and raising levels of nutrition. The discussions are part of the preparations leading up to the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), the FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition and is open until the 26 September.  Join the  Contribution of the private sector and civil society to improve nutrition discussion.

 
The Indian Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) along with partners Indian Department of Biotechnology, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced the "Achieving Healthy Growth through Agriculture and Nutrition" initiative. The initiative is part of the Grand Challenges India, launched earlier this year, and will fund Indian investigators who are piloting projects that could reduce prevalence of low birth weight, stunting, and wasting in children less than two years of age, and improve the efficiency of quality of agricultural practices and products. For more information download the  GCI Achieving Healthy Growth through Agriculture and Nutrition guidelines or visit the BIRAC website . The deadline for submitting Letter of Intent is 31 October, 2013. 
New Resources and Tools
A new paper from the Feinstein International Center compares seven common food-security indicators to analyze whether the different measures detect the same or different dimensions of the complex phenomenon of food insecurity.  Renewed emphasis on addressing constraints to food security has intensified the search for accurate, rapid, and consistent indicators of food security, which is comprised of availability, access, utilization, and risk. The ability to compare food security status in dissimilar contexts is critical for targeting resources. Download  How Do Different Indicators of Household Food Security Compare? Empirical Evidence from Tigray.
 
A new study, Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare, considers how the world's crops are allocated to different uses and whether it is possible to feed more people with current levels of crop production. The study is published in the Journal Environmental Research Letters. 
 
A baseline study from The International Potato Center (CIP) for the project Rooting out hunger in Malawi with nutritious orange-fl eshed sweet potato was published.  The project aims to improve vitamin A and energy intake for at least 70,000 rural households with women and young children using OFSP-based approaches, and to ensure that at least 20% of households growing OFSP earn at least US$100 per year from OFSP sales, and increase their average sweetpotato yields by 50%.
Women's contribution to Food Security: 
nominate now! 

 
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced the 9th Edition of the IDB Prize for Women's Contribution to Development. This year's prize is on the theme "Women's Contribution to Food Security". The Prize consists of a cash award of US$ 50,000 for an individual woman and US$ 100,000 for an NGO.  The deadline for nominations is 30 September 2013.  For more information, visit the IDB website.

CGIAR's Independent Science and Partnership Council's Standing Panel on Impact Assessment - Call for Proposals

CGIAR's Independent Science and Partnership Council's Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA) announces a call for concept notes for activities aimed at building capacity within the CGIAR for conducting ex-post impact assessment of agricultural research.  Concept notes are due 15 October 2013.  For more information, visit the CGIAR website.

Workshop on Mycotoxin, Detection, and Control Strategy for Food Safety. 

ChromAfrica is hosting a 'Mycotoxin, Detection, and Control Strategy for Food Safety' Training Workshop, 23 -27 September, 2013.  More information and application can be found at the ChromAfrica website
Distance learning:  
Agricultura Urbana y Periurbana como herramienta para la seguridad alimentaria y el desarrollo municipal

 The FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean is hosting a distance learning course on urban agriculture as a tool for food security and local development, 'Agricultura Urbana y Periurbana como herramienta para la seguridad alimentaria y el desarrollo municipal'.  For more information, visit the FAO website.

 

Harvesting Nutrition contest deadline extended until 1 December. 

 

SecureNutrition along with GAIN and Save the Children have partnered on the Harvesting Nutrition contest, which aims to showcase projects from around the globe that have bridged gaps between agriculture, food security, and nutrition. Visit Harvesting Nutrition to learn more, download the application form, and read about our latest submissions. The deadline for submitting projects has been extended until 1 December, 2013. 


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