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Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetPolicy Brief. Combatting micronutrient deficiencies through home gardens in Sri Lanka 2019
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No results found.Vegetables and fruits are rich in micronutrients, which are essential to maintain optimal health and for growth and development. Despite their significance, in Sri Lanka, the average consumption of fruits and vegetables is lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) minimum recommendations. Inadequate availability of micronutrient-rich food at affordable prices is cited as the key reason for low micronutrient intake levels in Sri Lanka. An avenue to enhance consumption of fruits and vegetables is through home gardens. Several studies have highlighted the key role of home gardens in enhancing food security by providing direct access to a variety of nutritionally rich foods, as well as employment and income generation opportunities to households. In Sri Lanka, many crops in existing home gardens are under-utilized, meaning that these species are not widely grown, rarely found in the market and not cultivated commercially, yet are low maintenance, climate resistant and contain high amounts of micronutrients. In this respect, this policy brief suggests that promoting cultivation, harvesting and consumption of these under-utilized food crops in home gardens is a feasible strategy to sustainably reduce micronutrient deficiencies persistent in the Sri Lankan population. -
ProjectSupport to Malnutrition Reduciton in Women and Vulnerable Populations through Food-Based Approaches - TCP/GHA/3703 2023
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No results found.In 2019 it was estimated that 5 5 million people in Ghana were malnourished Levels of malnutrition are particularly concerning among children, and are an underlying cause of a third of all child deaths With a national prevalence of stunting at 19 percent (as per the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2014 the situation is worrying, especially in the Eastern and Central regions, where anaemia is also prevalent Malnutrition in Ghana is mostly caused by inadequate food intake and a lack of both variety and nutrient rich food in the diet of the population Poor residents in rural areas are particularly vulnerable Although Ghana possesses a diverse range of nutrient rich crops, consumption and utilization of these items are low, due in part to supply chain challenges, socio economic factors and a lack of knowledge and awareness on how to preserve and use nutrient rich food This FAO project seeks to address the challenge of nutritious food consumption in Central, Eastern and Greater Accra regions by promoting the production and consumption of nutrient rich food such as the orange fleshed sweet potato ( and other locally identified crops The OFSP was identified as a key crop for this project, as it contains a high concentration of carotene, which has the potential to improve the nutrition of women, children and other vulnerable groups Its high iron content also makes it effective in the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia. -
DocumentVitamin A: Moving the food-based approach forward 2013
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No results found.Food-based approaches to combating vitamin A deficiency continue to be largely ignored by governments and donors. This may be partly because the way of viewing them has largely been informed by the community which supports supplementation. Food-based approaches may be perceived as competitive or distracting and are thus slandered, for example claiming they are unproven or even ineffective. To the contrary, it is the supplementation approach that fails to improve vitamin A status and is even lack ing in proof of impact on young child mortality in real life settings. A wide variety of common and indigenous foods are proven effective in improving vitamin A status even in short-term trials. Food based approaches are complex to implement and to evaluate and take time to mature and exert impact. But unlike supplementation, they reach all members of the community, are safe for pregnant women, have no side effects, are sustainable, and confer a wide range of benefits in addition to improving vi tamin A status. Food-based approaches are also often portrayed as being expensive, but this is only true from a “donor-centric” way of viewing costs. From the point of view of host countries, communities and families who grow vitamin A rich foods, the economic benefits are likely to outweigh the costs. The 1992 ICN called for the elimination of vitamin A deficiency. The urgency of this call may have provided an excuse for the rapid implementation of supplementation programs in over 100 countries while very few have implemented national foodbased approaches. It is thus important that ICN 2 instead call for the replacement of supplementation programs with sustainable food-based approaches. It should call on countries to assign responsibility and funding to specific individuals or organizations who are then given benchmarks and are held accountable to meet them. Donors could greatly assist by funding simple dietary assessment and other components of national plans for making this shift.
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