INNOVATION COMMUNITY ON NUTRITION SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE
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INNOVATION
COMMUNITY ON Report of the workshop that introduced the
innovation community on nutrition sensitive
agriculture
Meskerem Niesette Ritmeester
NUTRITION SENSITIVE Jelleke de Nooy van Tol
Ursula Truebswasser
AGRICULTURE 16 MARCH 2016
AgriProFocus/EU Workshop
Report
Workshop Agenda
AgriProFocus/EU workshop
Innovation community on nutrition sensitive agriculture
8 March 2016
9-9.30 – Introduction
Introduction of participants
Presentation on AgriProFocus and the concept of Innovation
Communities
Presentation on of EU+ Joint Programming process
9.30-11.00 - Nutrition sensitive agriculture
The basics of nutrition sensitive agriculture
Presentation from a nutrition sensitive agricultural project
Present the proposed topics from participants
11.00-11.15 Coffee break
11.15-12.00 - Modalities of the NSA Innovation community
1|PageList of attendants
# Name Organization E-mail address
1. Adane Bulo Ethiopian Development Research adane.bulo@gmail.com
Institue (EDRI)
2. Alem Agazi CARE alem.agazi@care.org
3. Alem Greiling Nutri-dense PLC alem.greiling@gmail.com
4. Amleset Haile CASCAPE haileamli@yahoo.com
5. Berissa Abdella Mercy Corps/PRIME babdella@mercycorps.org
6. Christele Humblot IRD christele.humblot@ird.fr
7. Frehiwot Bitew Senselet Food Processing frehiwotbitew@senseletfoodprocessing.com
8. Genene Gezu Italian Development Cooperation genenegezu@yahoo.com
9. Jelleke de Nooy AgriProFocus ydenooy@agriprofocus.com
10. Kebede Tafesse Save the Children/ ENGINE kebede.tafesse@savethechildren.org
11. Medhanit Wube FHI 360 mwube@fhi360.org
12. Melese Temesgen Addis Ababa University (AAU) melese2b@gmail.com
13. Meseret Demissie CARE meseret.demissie@care.org
14. Meskerem Niesette AgriProFocus mritmeester@agriprofocus.com
Ritmeester
15. Mestawet Gebru AKLDP mestawet.gebru@tufts.edu
16. Muluberhan Aksum University (Shire Campus) muluberhan84@gmail.com
Biedemariam
17. Rodrigo Saez Caritas Spain rsaez.ssgg@caritas.es
18. Sarah Assefa Hope College of Business, Science sarah.assefa@gmail.com
and Technology
19. Seblewongel Agricultural Transformation Agency seblewongel.deneke@ata.gov.et
Deneke (ATA)
20. Senait Zewdie FAO senait.zewdie@fao.org
21. Takele Teshome Sustainable Development Alternatives takele_11@yahoo.com
22. Timoteos Hayesso SNV Ethiopia / ASPIRE project thayesso@snvworld.org
23. Yewelsew Abebe Alive and Thrive yabebe@fhi360.org
Presentations
The following PowerPoint presentations of the day and other interesting documents on nutrition
sensitive agriculture can be found on the AgriProFocus Ethiopia website:
http://agriprofocus.com/innovation-community-nutrition
Presentation by Yelleka de Nooy (AgriProfocus): Questionnaire results and workshop topics
Presentation by Ursula Truebswasser: The basics of nutrition sensitive agriculture
Presentation by Kebede Tafesse: Engine Project on nutrition sensitive agriculture
2|PageContents
Workshop Agenda......................................................................................................................................... 1
List of attendants .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Presentations ................................................................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1. Introduction of participants and their expectations ................................................................... 4
1.2. Introduction of AgriProFocus and the concept of innovation communities .............................. 5
1.3. Introduction of EU and Joint programming process ................................................................... 5
2. Nutrition sensitive agriculture .............................................................................................................. 6
2.1. Presentation by Ursula Truebswasser (EU) about the basics of NSA ......................................... 6
2.2. Presentation by Kebede Tafesse about the ENGINE project ...................................................... 7
Challenges of the project ..................................................................................................................... 8
Questions from participants ................................................................................................................ 8
3. Workshop topics presented and discussed ............................................................................................ 10
Figure 1. Presentation by Kebede Tafesse about the ENGINE project
3|Page1. Introduction
The aim of this workshop was to create an innovation community on nutrition sensitive agriculture (NSA),
because there is a demand from professionals, donors (e.g. EU) and the government to not only focus on
the increase in agricultural production but also on the nutritional value of what is being produced. The
goal of this innovation community is to bring all stakeholders together to exchange knowledge and
experience in order to create synergy on NSA among the different stakeholder groups
(government/donors, NGOs, private sector and knowledge institutions).
This workshop has been launched by AgriProFocus in cooperation with the EU to introduce NSA and the
concept of innovation communities. In addition, this workshop served as a tool to find out what the
participants expect from the innovation community on NSA and on which specific topics they want to
exchange knowledge and learn more about.
1.1. Introduction of participants and their expectations
Before the workshop started, the workshop participants (and potential members of this NSA
community) introduced themselves and shared their expectations. Below are some of these
expectations summed up:
- To develop a platform for NSA together
- Exchange knowledge and share information among a variety of actors working on NSA
- To understand how to mainstream nutrition in food security
- To gain more understanding on the meaning of NSA
- To promote nutrition through health centers/health extension workers and development
agents (DAs) but also with farmers and cooperatives and to link those two
- How nutrition affects dietary diversity in children
- Want to link agriculture with nutrition and gain different experiences
- Learn what other partners are doing in nutrition and ways forward
- We want to create a group to work on nutrition and agriculture, conserving nutrients of
horticulture crops
- How to make pastoralists areas more nutrition sensitive
- Nutrition is a new area for us, but we are exploring what is going on in this field
- How NSA contributes to reducing malnutrition
- What approach could we follow to mainstream nutrition in agriculture and other sectors
- How to close the gap between our nutrition programme and what is available on the
market since many agricultural products are not used in the Ethiopian diet
- How to effectively use Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) to increase dietary
diversity
- How to harmonize the tools and approaches to make the community to involve
themselves in NSA and diversify their dietary intake
4|Page1.2. Introduction of AgriProFocus and the concept of innovation communities
The AgriProFocus Ethiopia country network is part of the global AgriProFocus network. As a network, we
believe that farmers are key to local economic growth, sustainable agri-food systems, and food security
for all. AgriProFocus assembles all actors that are actively involved in promoting and supporting farmer
entrepreneurship. One way of assembling all the different actors is through innovation communities. An
innovation community is a working group of professionals working for the government, development
agencies, knowledge institutions and major donors. Within an innovation community, knowledge,
information and practical experiences are shared. In this way, one can learn from each other. The role of
AgriProFocus is to start and facilitate the innovation communities based on the demand of different
organizations. AgriProFocus currently facilitates four innovation communities:
- Gender in Value chains (funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands – EKN)
- Soil Health Management, including Fertile Grounds Initiative (FGI)
- Nutrition sensitive agriculture (started with this workshop)
- Agro-ecology (which will start soon, in collaboration with Tufts University)
Why would we want to start an innovation community on NSA?
As has been written in the introduction, there was a demand from professionals to start an innovation
community on NSA, since nutrition becomes more and more an essential component of food security and
the overall health and well-being of households. There is a need to exchange knowledge and information
on NSA and to harmonize already existing tools and approaches with regard to the implementation of
NSA. Also, this innovation community can serve as a platform to co-create new ideas/plans and share
already existing materials (e.g. manuals) on NSA.
1.3. Introduction of EU and Joint programming process
The EU is a huge donor for many projects in Ethiopia. Inspired by the global focus on reducing malnutrition
as one of the global development goals, the EU recently started to prioritize nutrition and to support
development agencies to include nutrition in their agricultural development programs/activities and to
develop nutrition indicators. There is an agreement between 14 member states to joint-programming on
using nutrition as a cross-cutting issue in development programs. For example, the EU supports the
activities of GIZ which works together with Concern to harmonize (training) material about nutrition-
sensitive agriculture. The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture took this over and created a Task Force on this
issue.
Important to state is that this innovation community, and the EU for that matter, does not want to
duplicate or replicate any existing platforms and activities (e.g. home gardening network). The EU want
to serve as service providers and make use of the facilitator skills of AgriProFocus.
5|Page2. Nutrition sensitive agriculture
2.1. Presentation by Ursula Truebswasser (EU) about the basics of NSA
Ursula explained the concept of nutrition sensitive agriculture. She gave the example of poultry farming
for household consumption. If the eggs and the chicken meat is used for household consumption, it
contributes to the nutritious dietary intake of the household. However, if the chickens and eggs are only
used as extra income generation, it does not significantly improve the household nutritious food intake.
Another point made is that you need to assess NSA within your project area. If you want to introduce corn
because you think that is good but the people in that area already eat a lot of corn, you should introduce
another food type. Moreover, it is highly important to focus on improving the nutritional diets of the most
nutrition vulnerable people which are usually children under 2 and pregnant and lactating women.
Furthermore, negative impacts should be avoided as much as possible, because it can make the health
and well-being of the target population worse. For example, if you have chickens walking around free
around the house where kids are playing as well, they can get ill after getting in contact with the faeces
of the chickens.
An answer to the question “how to include NSA in an already ongoing project” is that it is never too late
to change the path of your project. It is essential to refocus your project or add some components of
nutrition in it. To underscore this, Ursula provides a one-page overview of 10 key recommendations
created by the FAO to be included in agricultural programs to strengthen their impact on nutrition:
1. Incorporate explicit nutrition objectives and indicators into their design, and track and mitigate
potential harms, while seeking synergies with economic, social and environmental objectives.
2. Assess the context at the local level, to design appropriate activities to address the types and
causes of malnutrition, including chronic or acute under-nutrition, vitamin and mineral
deficiencies, and obesity and chronic disease. Context assessment can include potential food
resources, agro-ecology, seasonality of production and income, access to productive resources
such as land, market opportunities and infrastructure, gender dynamics and roles, opportunities
for collaboration with other sectors or programs, and local priorities.
3. Target the vulnerable and improve equity through participation, access to resources, and decent
employment. Vulnerable groups include smallholders, women, youth, the landless, urban
dwellers, the unemployed.
4. Collaborate and coordinate with other sectors (health, environment, social protection, labor,
water and sanitation, education, energy) and programmes, through joint strategies with common
goals, to address concurrently the multiple underlying causes of malnutrition.
5. Maintain or improve the natural resource base (water, soil, air, climate, biodiversity), critical to
the livelihoods and resilience of vulnerable farmers and to sustainable food and nutrition security
for all. Manage water resources in particular to reduce vector-borne illness and to ensure
sustainable, safe household water sources.
6. Empower women by ensuring access to productive resources, income opportunities, extension
services and information, credit, labor and time-saving technologies (including energy and water
services), and supporting their voice in household and farming decisions. Equitable opportunities
to earn and learn should be compatible with safe pregnancy and young child feeding.
6|Page7. Facilitate production diversification, and increase production of nutrient-dense crops and small-
scale livestock (for example, horticultural products, legumes, livestock and fish at a small scale,
underutilized crops, and bio-fortified crops). Diversified production systems are important to
vulnerable producers to enable resilience to climate and price shocks, more diverse food
consumption, reduction of seasonal food and income fluctuations, and greater and more gender-
equitable income generation.
8. Improve processing, storage and preservation to retain nutritional value, shelf-life, and food
safety, to reduce seasonality of food insecurity and post-harvest losses, and to make healthy foods
convenient to prepare.
9. Expand markets and market access for vulnerable groups, particularly for marketing nutritious
foods or products vulnerable groups have a comparative advantage in producing. This can include
innovative promotion (such as marketing based on nutrient content), value addition, access to
price information, and farmer associations.
10. Incorporate nutrition promotion and education around food and sustainable food systems that
builds on existing local knowledge, attitudes and practices. Nutrition knowledge can enhance the
impact of production and income in rural households, especially important for women and young
children, and can increase demand for nutritious foods in the general population.
2.2. Presentation by Kebede Tafesse about the ENGINE project
Engine experience in NSA/Livelihood
The name ENGINE stands for Empower New Generations to Improve Nutrition and Economic opportunity
(ENGINE). It is a multi-sectoral 5 year (2011-2016) Nutrition Project (USAID as part of USG Global Health
and FTF initiative). This project is managed by Save with a technical lead by 5 sub primes. This project is
implemented through the government structures (Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture). The aim
is to improve the nutrition status of women and young children. ENGINE is implemented in 116 Woredas
out of which 16 pastoralists’ areas in Somali.
The project objective is to ensure dietary diversity through consumption and income pathways, women
empowerment, NSA interventions and promotion of homestead vegetables, fruits and small animals
rearing and training of DAs on NSA. Also, through practical training on vegetable production and nutrition
for model farmers at selected Farmer Training Centers, so that they could serve as a diffuser of NSA
production since they have the money and innovation attitude.
ENGINE provides vegetable seeds, fruit seedlings and farm hand tools to FTCs and schools. ENGINE
selected the following crops: Cabbage, carrot, Irish potato/sweet potato, beans, pumpkins, habesha
gomen. Also fruits such as papaya and mango. In addition, chicken, goats and sheep are promoted for its
meat and dairy. Chickens are provided to targeted households in addition to feed for three months and
vaccination. We provide small grants, set up women saving groups that are linked to microfinance
institutions. Promote vegetables and fruits through school gardens and farmers training centers and
homestead production. Put nutritional curriculum in all schools.
7|PageENGINE measured the impact of the project, although not extensively. It was found that consumption of
nutritional food (vegetable etc.) has increased significantly after 2014, but the maternal dietary diversity
not so much (probably due to seasonal differences).
Challenges of the project
Weak vegetable seed supply chain
Weak livestock extension service
Lack of appropriate vegetable processing and preservation technology
Need for strong SBCC to ensure behavior change in dietary intake
Questions from participants
Statement from one of the participants: “There are nutrition challenges in this country. We must realise
that food security is not only about food availability. A comprehensive approach of food availability and
food utilization is needed. You see malnourished children even when there is food available. The
cooperation on this issue among the different actors is very important. Integration with health sector,
education sectors is also important. We should integrate as many sectors as possible”.
1. Do you know the outcome of training given to DAs?
We trained a number of DAs/Farmer Training Centers (FTCs) to have capacity to spread nutrition
messages to the farmers. We have also tried to include nutrition in the school curriculum; all
(university) students of ETIVET and government universities with agricultural studies have a nutrition
course in their curriculum.
2. What was the cause of insignificant increase in dietary diversity scores?
The dietary diversity score is mainly for the targeted households when compared to the baseline. It
could be because of seasonal differences and a lot of households were included in the baseline but
not in the project.
3. How were you trying to empower women through this ENGINE project?
SBCC was provided to men and women so that the needs and benefits of both men and women are
addressed. Also, the project focuses on empowering women in household decision making.
4. How did you manage to do an NSA intervention in these pastoralists’ communities of the 16
targeted Woredas in Somali region? What about small grants for the targeted households?
With the Somali community, we used a different approach than highlands. We supplied feeding for
their livestock so that they do not have to travel far away to get feed for their livestock. We are
promoting agro-pastoralists to store certain crops for when there is crisis. Also, we promote milk
intake and provide cooking demonstrations and we are planning to provide preservation activities.
In addition, we provide small grant whereby repayment is not needed (it is not a loan), because we
wanted to take them out of the poverty trap.
5. How much does it cost to change to NSA? Can the government provide any financial support here?
We are in the process of making a cost–benefit analysis which may tell us how much it cost. The
purpose of this analysis is to make a calculation of the cost-benefits of all our interventions.
6. Is there a WASH component?
8|PageYes there is. We provided input latrines, hand washing promotion activities, spring water systems
and we work with the WASH task force at national level.
7. In our new program on nutrition we focus on training for DAs. How can you advise us?
We tried to train DAs and Health Extension Workers (HEW), but they are already trained through the
regular trainings of the MoA and MoH. There is currently a project of the MoA and MoH for HEWs,
DAs and HDAs on NSA so they diffuse the same messages.
8. We did data collection on these beneficiaries and found out that most of the households did not
have this by this time. Do you conduct follow up visits to the beneficiaries?
Coverage in each Woreda cannot be more than 200 households so they may not be included in our
project. I have personally visited the Woreda you mentioned and did not face these issues. But I will
take this as a note.
9. Why do you target households with children under 2?
We target the most vulnerable households and most in need, usually this includes households with
children under 2 among others.
10. How did you do your evaluation? You compare households in the same area?
We did not work with a control group. We only control against the baseline study we did.
11. You say that you promote vegetables etc. in the communities. Are you taking into account cultural
food preferences and food taboos? Also, you say that you use government structures. Could you
explain more about this?
We did not find any taboo on vegetables but in some areas there is a taboo on egg consumption. We
do take this into account but do not face challenges in this regard. The Woreda is convinced that
nutrition is part of their duty and they are the ones who implement the project. We only give
technical advice.
Figure 2. stakeholders from different organisations (private sector, knowledge institutions , NGOs
and development agencies) attended this workshop
9|Page3. Workshop topics presented and discussed
After the presentations, the participants voiced their preference with regard to topics for the next 4
workshops on NSA that will be facilitated by the EU and AgriProFocus. Below a list of those topics:
1. Best Practices: Marketing of nutritious food + input + seed supply + Processing and
Preservation
2. Best Practices: Pastoralism
3. Dealing with increasing demand for nutritious food – SBCC/DAs-raise awareness:
4. Bigger impact - when it comes to sustainability of NSA, the environment, health status,
income increase
5. M&E: Mainstreaming NSA in conventional agricultural systems: how to develop indicators
to measure NSA and its impact
6. Roles of DAs – how can we support the DAs and the MoA to effectively spread nutrition
messages to the communities:
7. Deficiencies: Lysine, iron
8. Indigenous vegetables: e.g. Amaranth
9. Bio fortification - before harvest
Who else should be involved?
- Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) should be involved in this platform - The EU will contact the MoA
through the task force and inform them
- Ministry of Health (MoH) should also be involved due to their provision of trainings for HEW
- MoEducation is also involved in training DAs so we should contact them as well
- Home garden projects
- CANGO
Modalities of the nutrition sensitive innovation community
People can also join for a particular topic
If possible and relevant, we could do field excursions as complementary to the workshop
subject. This should however be co-funded by the organization of the participant(s) wishing to
organize or join (APF only covers 50%)
Participants were asked to form a steering committee out of their midst. The following people
are very interested to take the lead in this year’s agenda: Alem Greiling (Nutri-dense PLC),
Senait (FAO), Amleset Haile (CASCAPE) and Melesse Temesgen (AAU). Facilitators/ secretariat
will be done by Ursula (EU) and Jelleke and Meskerem from AgriProFocus. This committee will
discuss a ToR, the 4 events, which topics to select, and how to make the required inventory.
The next workshop will probably be in May and will be announced on this site. Yelleke and
Ursula are the secretariat
We would like to meet 4 or 5 times this year. The majority of people like 4 times best.
We are able to provide you with a letter, if needed, to show to your employer that the time
you send on this platform (4 days per year) is effective for your own programme/ organisation
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