In rural economies encumbered by significant market imperfections, farming decisions may partly be motivated by nutritional considerations, in addition to income and risk factors. These imperfections create the potential for farm assets to have direct dietary impacts on nutrition in addition to any indirect effects via income. This working paper from IFPRI tests this hypothesis for the dairy sector in rural Ethiopia, a context in which markets are very thin, own-consumption shares are very high, and milk is an important source of animal-based proteins and micronutrients for young children. Continue reading →

On 23 and 24 September, the CGIAR Science Forum 2013 on ‘Nutrition and health outcomes: targets for agricultural research’ featured a parallel session on the the economic implications of shifting investments in the primary production to better meet healthy dietary needs. The session was led by Linda Fulponi (OECD) and Yuri Tanimichi (World Bank), and … Continue reading »

Even in a program like Africa RISING, where Sustainable Intensification is at the heart of the approach, such key concepts should not be taken for granted. A recent conference about ‘sustainable intensification’ in Accra showed that there are widely different understandings about such complex approaches. The 2013 review and planning meeting of the East and … Continue reading »

In Morogoro, one of the major rice producing areas in Tanzania, the farmers use residue water from rice irrigation to grow vegetables for additional income and to improve their nutrition. They however face many challenges, which the early win research project on “Enhancing vegetable value chains in rice-based and sole crop production systems to improve household income and consumption in Morogoro” aimed at identifying, in order to suggest options to tackle them and to increase the farmers' income and to improve their nutrition by diversifying their diets with safe vegetables.

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The project, which was led by the World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC...

The story of Rhoda Mang'Anya, a farmer in Malawi, is one of the best examples of possible pathways to sustainable intensification. Although it is not a story from Africa RISING, it illustrates very well the kind of pathways that Africa RISING would like to enable.

Rhoad Mang'Anya acquired her half-hectare plot in the early 1990's. The plot was divided between a 'winter season' plot and a garden, where she had planted maize.

At the time, Rhoda was struggling with the poor fertility of her soil. She planted ground nuts and pigeon peas to improve soil nitrogen. In 1994, she benefited from an NGO support program to plant five different tree species (among which faidherbia albida, tephrosia, Gliricidia) which improved the soil fertility and provided good fuel and fodder without requiring inte...

During the early win phase of the Africa RISING project; nutrition-related activities were conducted in Koutiala in the Sikasso region of Mali from July to October, 2012. A total of 36 villages were selected and grouped into 6 clusters mainly by ‘commune’ with each cluster having 6 villages. The 6 communes were: Medinacoura, Konseguela, Miena, Molobala, MPessoba, and N’Togonasso. These communes were selected based on on-going activities of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on nutrition rehabilitation of severely malnourished children emphasizing the need for malnutrition prevention-related activities.

The partners involved in the nutrition capacity building activities were: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC), MSF, an...

From 23-25 January 2013, the West Africa project component of the Africa RISING program hosted a number of consultations in Accra, Ghana - a stakeholder meeting on 23 January then a West Africa steering committee meeting on 24 January. Alongside these, the first Program Coordination Committee meeting was held on 25 January.

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Le Mali s’est engagée dans un programme de sécurité alimentaire nationale (PNSA) qui couvre la période 2008 – 2017. Ce programme se justifie par les dernières années qui ont vu les campagnes agricoles devenir très capricieuses et imprévisibles, alternant années excédentaires et années de crises. La sécurité alimentaire est rendue d'autant plus préoccupante à la suite des manifestations des changements et de variabilité climatiques. C’est dans ce contexte que l’Association Malienne...