2015 Integrated Nutrition Conference

USAID/AGP-AMDe Project

NUTRITION-SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE: A Foundation for Optimal Nutrition and Productivity

Integrating Nutrition for Strengthened Market Systems

⦿ Targets smallholder farmers

⦿ Integrates nutrition training and behaviour change communications into agriculture value chains

⦿ Gender sensitive

Ensuring Nutritional

Quality of Food

Post-harvest

handling /

Processing

Women’s

Nutritional

Status

On-Farm

Food

Production

Women’s

Childcare

Management

Women’s Socio-

Economic Status

Food Prices

Empowering

Women

Allocation of

Income

Improving

Food Production

Income

Generation

Increasing Incomes

Targeted Nutrition Messaging to Men Evokes Household Nutrition Behavior

⦿ Cascade training through cooperatives to reach smallholder farmers

⦿ Messaging focuses on hygiene and farm and food diversification

⦿ Posters, videos and flyers printed in local languages

92

Home economic agents

1,212 Lead farmers Development agents

The program created

cookbooks with simple

recipes that target farmers to

improve diet diversification

50,703 Farmers

Results

The survey indicated the training significantly (p>0.01) innuenced the nutrition knowledge and practice of farmers:

⦿ New crop cultivation: those who received training are 23% more likely to cultivate a new crop

⦿ Intercropping practices: those who received training are 25% more likely to intercrop

⦿ Handwashing practices: those who participated in training are 23% more likely to wash their hands after using the toilet

⦿ Nutrition knowledge: those who attended trainings demonstrated more knowledge on different types of food, with those receiving training being 24% more likely to know about types of food that provide energy, 33% more likely to know about on types of food that are important for growth maintenance, and 34% more likely to know about foods that can assist with protection from disease than those who did not attend training.

Conclusion and Implication for East Africa

⦿ Improved nutritional knowledge and practices of trained farmers

⦿ Increased awareness of food groups

⦿ Increased production and consumption of a variety of vegetables

⦿ Increased hygiene/sanitation practices

AGP-AMDe is a ve-year USAID and Feed the Future program working across six value chains, from production to export to sustainably reduce poverty and hunger for rural households.

Program activities integrate nutrition activities and learning to improve dietary diversity of farmers and overall nutritional status of their families.

REFERENCES 1. CSA. Ethiopian DHS, 2011. Central Statistical Agency , Addis Ababa,

www.ethioagp.com Ethiopia , ICF International Calverton, Mary- land, USA

2. IFPRI: AGP-AMDe baseline study, 2011.

3. AGP-AMDe nutrition knowledge and practice survey, 2015.