Agriculture for nutrition and health

Delia Grace and John McDermott

International Livestock Research Institute

The new CGIAR research program on the links between agriculture and human nutrition

and health

EcoHealth Conference, Kunming, China 2012

International Livestock Research Institute

700 full time staff-1000 total

100 scientists & researchers

54 from 22 developing

countries

more than 30 scientific

disciplines

2012 budget USD 60 million

ILRI works with a range of

research & development

partners

across 7 CGIAR research

programs

•a member of the CGIAR Consortium, ILRI conducts livestock, food and

environmental research

to help alleviate poverty

and improve food security, health & nutrition,

while protecting the natural resource base.

Mali

Nigeria

Mozambique

Kenya

Ethiopia

India

China

Laos

Vietnam

Thailand

Agriculture for Nutrition & Health CGIAR Research Program 4

IFPRI ILRI

BIOVERSITY

CIAT

CIMMYT

CIP

ICARDA

ICRAF

ICRISAT

IITA

IWMI

WORLDFISH

Social Behavior Change and Communications

All components

1. Enhancing Nutrition along the Value Chain

3. Prevention & Control of Ag-

Associated Diseases

2. Bio-fortification

4. Integrated Programs and Policies

Health

Nutrition

Agriculture

RESULT: Improved nutrition and health, especially among women and young children

Decreased risk of AAD

Increased income and

gender equity

Increased labor

productivity

CRP4 Conceptual Framework

Improved availability, access, intake of nutritious,

safe foods

Increased knowledge

of nutrition, food safety

CRP4’s strategic goal: Accelerate progress in improving the nutrition and health of poor people by leveraging agriculture and enhancing the synergies in joint efforts between agriculture, health and nutrition

5

Human health

Agro- Ecosystems

Animal health

•International organisations •Regional organisations •Private sector health provision •Public health •Veterinary public health •NGOs & CBOs •Conservation •Environment

Plant health

Agriculture associated human disease

International agricultural health research

1. Value chains for nutrition and health

Objective – Lever VC for selected food to increase demand for and access to nutritious food for the poor

2. Biofortification

Objective: Develop, test and make available to poor & under-nourished, new varieties of nutrient dense staple crops

2 subcomponents:

– HarvestPlus (targeting Africa and Asia)

– AgroSalud (targeting Latin America)

3. Agriculture-associated diseases

Goal: Prevent & control AAD for improved food safety, water quality, GAP and better control of zoonoses & emerging diseases

Sub Components:

– Improving food safety

– Controlling zoonotic diseases and diseases emerging from animals

– Other health risks of agro-ecosystems

4. Programs and policies

Goal: Exploit & enhance synergies between ANH through operational and policy research that supports

a) integrated community-level programming,

b) enabling policy environment

Evidence-based assumptions underpin

ASSUMPTIONS / HYPOTHESES

1. Nutrient dense foods can transform diets of the poor

2. Informal markets are most important and require

risk- and incentive based approaches

3. CGIAR research can work effectively at the demand

side: (pull mechanisms)

4. CGIAR research has potential for consumer

education, health

14

Risk Analysis & Economics

• In Vietnam, supermarkets

are not safer

• In India, where people see

how animals are killed,

quality is better

• In Nigeria, women butchers

sell safer meat

• In Kenya, recognising the

informal sector saves $26

million each year

Risk management

Community based tsetse control always works, never sustainable

Improving food safety: cheap & effective

Decision support tools for early warning

Saving $ through One Health approaches

Agriculture for improved nutrition and health