Agriculture for Improved Nutrition: Seizing the Momentum

Policy makers, practitioners and scholars working at the intersection of agriculture and nutrition are living in an unprecedented time. Never before has there been such a flurry of activity in reimagining the many ways in which our food and agricultural system can be fundamentally transformed to improve the nutrition of billions of people around the world.

In just under a decade, researchers have produced more and more literature that clearly describes the conceptual links between agriculture and nutrition, and what agricultural interventions are getting right – and what they are getting wrong – in tackling malnutrition. Practitioners have heard the call and begun improving the design of their programming, so much so that many agriculture–nutrition interventions now measure dietary diversity and women’s empowerment in their day-to-day work. Policy makers are forming influential policy mechanisms at the global and regional levels, including from the United Nations, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, and multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, that call on multiple sectors, including agriculture, to combat malnutrition. Many countries are integrating nutrition into their agriculture plans, and others are laying out accountability mechanisms for the agriculture sector within their nutrition strategies. These plans reflect shifting national priorities towards nutrition and agricultural growth, and we are seeing a proliferation of tools, training programs and expert communities that together are building capacity for carrying out agriculture–nutrition work.