Wed, 09/25/2013 - 15:52 — Kirstin Ohlendorf
The presentation Agricultural pathways to improved nutrition: getting the policies right by Prabhu Pingali focused on the creation of a policy environment which supports the Agriculture - Nutrition Nexus – instead of the current Agriculture versus Nutrition Silos!
In his opinion the policy-making need to move beyond the green revolution and not only focus on the production of staple grains, but on a larger variety of food. There is a lack of emphasis on coarse grains, legumes and lentils and it is necessary for government policies to set incentives for the production of these commodities. Additionally, the private sector should be involved in improving market infrastructure e.g. cool storage, improvement of local markets. In his view the investments of the private sector are crucial – otherwise the ability of the poor to diversify their diets is extremely limited!
Further emphasis is set on crop- neutral intensification. In terms of food based interventions, he considers opportunities for bio-fortification as one additional tool and its availability on the market can have an impact in improving the access to micronutrients for poor people. Another way to provide access to food for the poor are food based safety net programmes.
Reporting back from his field research in rural India, he stressed that it is important to take gender differences into account. In order to improve the development of rural areas, Women’s Organisations should be considered as agents of change! Also with regards to child mortality, all women of child bearing age of a community should be the target group for nutrition programmes. The health and nutrition level of the mothers are essential for the children as well. Thereby supply is not the only crucial factor, but many more issues such as the type of labour, the time spend fetching water, cooking etc.
In order to set clear and measurable goals, there is a need to cascade programmes down to the community level. The presentation concluded with two important messages on getting the policies right:
1. Convergence of disparate government programmes!
2. Look for strong women’s organisation at the community level!
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