Creating an Enabling Environment to Improve Nutrition through Agriculture and Food Systems - MTF/RAF/487/STF

Creating an Enabling Environment to Improve Nutrition through Agriculture and Food Systems - MTF/RAF/487/STF

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) Little is known about the chemical contamination of food in sub-Saharan Africa. In countries in this region, except for a few exported products, foods are not regularly monitored for toxic chemicals, and no country has an operational monitoring programme for chemicals in food. In the absence of risk assessment, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are vulnerable in terms of food commodities market access on the regional and global scale, as well as in terms of health for their populations, which are increasingly involved in sub-regional transactions. The project aimed to contribute to strengthening the capacity of risk managers to implement international standards in four countries (Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria), based on good knowledge of hazards, risks and exposure levels to harmful substances in commonly produced and consumed food

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Project

Creating an Enabling Environment and Capacity for School Food and Nutrition in Eastern Africa - TCP/SFE/3604 2020

Also available in:

No results found.

Malnutrition causes devastating effects on the health of children, particularly in terms of their physical and cognitive development. Moreover, childhood undernutrition can lower learning capacity, limit educational outcomes and thus compromise both future employment opportunities and overall health. Ultimately, this can perpetuate a generational cycle of poverty and malnutrition, which has negative consequences both for individuals and for countries. For example, stunting is estimated to cause 1–18 percent of school repetitions and decrease earnings by more than 20 percent in adulthood. It is further estimated that the African economy suffers an 11 percent loss to its gross domestic product due to the effects of stunting. Interestingly, preventing malnutrition in Africa has a 16 dollar return for every dollar spent, highlighting the importance of intervention measures. This is related to the fact that providing healthy, diverse and nutritionally-adequate diets in African schools is essential for increasing school attendance and performance levels, in addition to supporting optimal nutrition for growth and development and providing opportunities for other interventions, such as water sanitation and hygiene (WASH), deworming and reproductive health programmes.
Project

Creating Enabling Environments for Nutrition-Sensitive Food and Agriculture to Address Malnutrition - TCP/RAS/3602 2020

Also available in:

No results found.

A contributing factor to malnutrition in the Asia and the Pacific region is a lack of crop diversity, which leads to a lack of diversity in diets as well. A major reason for this is that many countries in the region only focus on cultivating a small number of staple foods. Diversifying local crops is a cost-effective and sustainable way to strengthen local agriculture and food systems and combat malnutrition. The first step in supporting local agriculture and food systems by promoting crop and dietary diversification as a means of reducing malnutrition is creating an enabling environment to do so. This TCP project aimed to facilitate the development of this environment through the forming of links, the closing of gaps, and the development of policy recommendations in four countries in the Asia and the Pacific Region: Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Nepal. Its design included national policy reviews, evidence-based studies, and field studies to assess the existing issues related to crop diversity, dietary diversity and malnutrition, and their interdependence, as well as the preparation of national reports and policy documents to be synthesized and disseminated in the region. Drawing on FAO’s previous experience in the region, this project was based on a multisectoral, holistic food system approach that takes into account every step of the food value chain. It involved international development and research institutes, local and national ministries, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and all actors along the food value chain. A major focus of the project was the identification of Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) that could be cultivated in the targeted countries and integrated into national policies on food and agriculture. In addition to supporting bio- and production diversity, NUS also address malnutrition, owing to the fact that they can provide essential vitamins, micronutrients and protein. Many are also climate resilient, sustainable, locally available, adaptable to marginal conditions and have commercial potential. These NUS are classified as Future Smart Foods (FSFs), and the project promoted their cultivation, as well as their integration and mainstreaming into national policies and plans.
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems - Analysis
E-learning fact sheet
2021

Also available in:

No results found.

This fact sheet presents the course, which is part of series of three, that provides guidance to conduct an analysis and gap identification for the creation of an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems. Specifically, it describes how to analyse current institutional, policy, legal and regulatory frameworks and compare them with the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI) through a context-specific and inclusive multi-stakeholder process.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.