Report identifies gaps in research on agriculture for nutrition

Serious knowledge gaps exist in how agricultural developments lead to people's improved nutrition, which current research is not addressing, a report has found.

The report reveals eight gaps that are currently being neglected, including specific target groups — particularly rural workers and non-rural populations — as well as a lack of methodologies to guide research in the field.

Published by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), the report — 'Current and Planned Research on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition: A Mapping and Gap Analysis'— first identified the direct agricultural factors, such as farming practices and the food value chain, as well as indirect, including health, economic and education|al status, that feed into nutritional outcomes.

It then analysed which of these factors 151 research projects on agriculture for nutrition — mainly based in low- to middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa — addressed.

Firstly, the report's authors found, not a single project considered the full range of direct and indirect factors identified by the model, leading to a poor understanding of the full 'pathway of change' — from agricultural processes to nutritional measurements in populations.

More specifically, research addressing the indirect effects of agricultural changes on wider market dynamics, such as economic growth, income and health services — which have a knock-on effect on nutrition — was particularly deficient.

Research into the effects of agricultural policy changes on nutrition levels was also found to be lacking.

At a similar macro level, there was a lack of research into governance — investigating how changing policy and institutional processes could improve the development, implementation and scaling-up of agriculture for nutrition programmes.

Specific target groups, namely rural workers and non-rural populations, also received very little attention from research.

Combined with the gap in investigating the risks to urban and rural populations to nutrition-related non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, this led authors to question whether research was being directed at the poorest, most-needy populations.

Finally, the report highlighted a lack of recognised metrics and methodologies to guide research linking agriculture to nutrition.

But the report highlighted an "enormous surge" in interest in the field, Corinna Hawkes, an affiliate of the Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH) and an author of the report, told SciDev.Net.

"By showing what is going on at the moment, it [the report] can really engage researchers and the donor community to translate research into action", she said.

However, Kedar Rai, principal scientist at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) felt that it was ignorance of the link between agriculture and nutrition among policymakers, not researchers, that was the main problem.

He said a sustained advocacy campaign was essential to bring this issue to the attention of governments.

Hawkes admitted that progress would ultimately be determined by political involvement, and said that although the report may not influence policymakers, it was an important first step for invigorating the research community.

Link to full report  [1.08MB]

Jan Piotrowski

scidev.net

New World Bank Push to Tackle Drought in the Horn of Africa and Sahel

The World Bank said today that nine million people are currently facing food shortages in the Horn of Africa (down from a high of 13.3 million in September 2011 when the drought was at its peak), and nearly 14 million people in the Sahel region, which mainly includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger are at risk of hunger because of drought, limited food, political instability, and periods of conflict.

In an update briefing to its Executive Directors, the Bank said it was working to alleviate the development impact of two simultaneous droughts in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. It said a $1.8 billion Drought Response Plan for the Horn of Africa is underway to meet immediate food needs while looking at a broad, longer-term approach that combines investments in health and nutrition, with better weather forecasting, early warning systems, drought resilience, and other risk management measures.

To date, $147 million has been disbursed and $944 million has been committed for fast-tracking drought prevention projects and programs.

In addition to the above, the regional Horn of Africa Emergency Health and Nutrition project has helped treat over 35,000 malnourished children under age five living in refugee camps, with $30 million in funding from IDA’s Crisis Response Window.

“Our strategy focuses on meeting immediate needs through ongoing development projects in the worst-hit countries and helping lay the foundations for long-term drought resilience.” said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region.  “We are working closely with our countries and partners alike to deliver positive development results that improve poor people’s lives.”

With a changing climate likely to intensify extreme weather events, the World Bank’s Africa teams are committed to help drought-affected countries in both regions to boost economic growth and alleviate people’s suffering.

How the Bank is helping people in the Horn of Africa and Sahel

World Bank assessments show that the drought is having a significant, adverse impact on the region’s economic development. Financial losses for Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda alone could amount to as much as $13.6 billion.  The outlook is sobering. Below average rainfall is predicted for the Horn of Africa throughout 2012.

·         Ethiopia: A new safety net program is supporting three million transitory, food-insecure people, and work is underway to strengthen social safety nets as well as to increase investments for boosting production and improving rural infrastructure to enable poor people to have better access to food.
·         Somalia:  A $9 million Grant from Global Fund for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is providing 97,000 people with temporary employment through a ‘Cash for Work’ program and supporting the recovery of food production through rehabilitation of productive assets such as land, livestock and water.

“The drought in Horn of Africa and the unfolding events in the Sahel are having an enormous impact on the poor and those made homeless by conflict. Communities are simply unable to find food because it’s either too expensive, or they are forced to live on the run after being forced out of their refugee camps because of violence,” says Jamal Saghir, World Bank Director for Sustainable Development in the Africa Region.  “Droughts always affect poor people the most.”

Drought in the Sahel is steadily worsening after less rainfall in 2011.

Large-scale refugee migrations are also worsening the drought’s toll as in the case of Mali where a recent coup resulted in over 320,000 people being displaced.  Other examples of the World Bank’s support to drought-hit countries in the Sahel:

Niger: $15 million in supplemental budget support was provided to the Government to address the fiscal shortfall caused by the food crisis and the Libyan crisis, also four active investment lending operation were retrofitted to provide cash transfer, micro-projects and cash-for-work opportunities to the repatriates.
Chad:  The Agriculture Production Support Project (PAPA) pipeline project is being reviewed to help improve the food security situation through accelerated financing of small-scale infrastructure.
Working in partnership is vital

The World Bank is working closely with the UN system, the European Union, and regional institutions such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to foster cooperation across all sectors.

The work is benefiting from cutting-edge satellite surveillance and data-intensive efforts by leading organizations such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the new Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action (ITHACA) program which mobilizes ICT technology to tackle climatic problem

Contacts: 

In Washington:  Sarwat Hussain, (202) 473-4967, shussain@worldbank.org;

                        Aby K. Toure, (202) 473-8302, akonate@worldbank.org

To see more on the World Bank’s work in alleviating hunger and the effects of drought, please visit: http://go.worldbank.org/ES5VW6H4W0  

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbankafrica

Be updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/worldbankafrica

For our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank

worldbank.org

Brussels plans 'bio-economy' strategy

The European Commission is working on a new strategy to help industry tap into the so-called 'bio-economy' – a fast-growing business that already provides 22 million jobs.

The two trillion euro sector, which covers everything from agriculture, forestry and fisheries to food, chemicals and biofuels, is an area where Europe must invest, according to Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Speaking at a conference in Brussels, the commissioner said the bio-economy has a key role in promoting innovation issues that address major societal challenges such as pressure on natural resources.

"The time is right to launch a European strategy on the development of a bio-economy.

The bio-economy strategy will aim to reinforce European leadership in the biosciences," Geoghegan-Quinn said, promising investment in education, research and innovation.

She said the Commission would begin a consultation process by the end of the year, before adopting a communication in the autumn of 2011.

The commissioner said the strategy would be on the agenda of the Council of Ministers by spring 2012.

The EU will today (15 September) launch a new International Bio-Economy Forum in collaboration with Australia, New Zealand and Canada to promote collaboration.

Europeto launch 'innovation partnerships'

Geoghegan-Quinn also revealed that the Commission will launch a small number of targeted 'innovation partnerships' in areas with a direct link to societal change.

"These partnerships will provide a framework for pooling resources and bringing together key actors and relevant policies and instruments, simultaneously unblocking bottlenecks and building bridges.

They will not be a brand-new instrument as such: rather they will weave together in a new way the many existing instruments already in play," she said.

The commissioner also pledged to ensure that the next Framework Programme for Research (FP8) will continue to provide investment in research from which innovation can flow.

EurActiv

Ag-Energy: biodiesel, harina y pellets de soja

Una inversión de U$S 90 millones en Santiago para agregarle valor a la oleaginosa.
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El establecimiento está instalado en el parque industrial de Frías, a la vera de la ruta nacional 157, unos 150 kilómetros al oeste de la capital santiagueña.
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La empresa Ag-Energy de Viluco SA, firma de capitales tucumanos de la familia Lucci, tuvo una inversión total de U$S 90 millones.
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La planta industrial producirá biodiesel, harina de alta calidad proteica y pellet de soja.
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La fábrica de combustible ecológico y derivados de soja cuenta con 9 silos con una capacidad total de 450.000 toneladas de almacenamiento.
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Para el acopio de los productos, Ag-Energy dispondrá de 5 plantas satélites, 2 de ellas instaladas en los departamentos santiagueños de Moreno y Jiménez, 2 en Salta (Orán y Anta) y la restante en Cruz Alta (Tucumán).
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El objetivo de la planta es captar buena parte de los 5 millones de toneladas de soja que se producen en el norte del país.
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El arquitecto Daniel Lucci comentó que eligieron la provincia y la localidad de Frías por su ubicación estratégica, pero además porque “fuimos muy bien recibidos” por el gobierno provincial a partir de la inclusión del proyecto en la Ley de Promoción Industrial 6750.
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El proyecto se inició a fines de 2007.
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¿Por qué la ciudad de Frías?
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“Elegimos Santiago porque consideramos que tenía sentido poner una planta de extracción de soja y producción de biodiésel en el vértice sur de la zona tributaria norte del país de soja, que produce 5 millones de toneladas de soja por año, equivalentes al 10% de la producción nacional y desde ese vértice, poder abastecer parte de la demanda regional que hoy es abastecida desde el sur.
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Hoy, la materia prima baja hacia Rosario, ahí se procesa y luego vuelve a subir, y no necesariamente en su estadio primario como harina de soja sino como producción de huevo, pollo, cerdo, carne, entonces indudablemente hay un camino de ida y vuelta y una irracionalidad logística.
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Entonces toda vez que se pueda detener la materia prima antes que llegue al sur entendiendo como tal a Rosario, transformarla y aprovecharla regionalmente, hay una ganancia logística y una mayor eficiencia en la cadena de valor”, explicó Lucci.
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Fuente: José Aranda en
El Liberal, Sgo. del Estero.
elnuevoagro.com.ar

Magnate mexicano lanza proyecto genético

El empresario mexicano Carlos Slim anunció el lanzamiento de un proyecto de investigación de médicina genómica para estudiar el cáncer, la diabetes tipo 2 y la insuficiencia renal en las poblaciones de América Latina.

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La iniciativa de US$65 millones será llevada a cabo por el Instituto Carlos Slim de la Salud, el Instituto Broad -organismo afiliado al Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (MIT) y la Universidad de Harvard- en Estados Unidos y el Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica de México.

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La base del proyecto de tres años es estudiar las bases genéticas de estas enfermedades en las poblaciones latinas para acelerar el desarrollo de métodos de prevención y medicamentos para tratarlas.

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Y también incluirá el entrenamiento de científicos mexicanos en este campo.
"Estoy convencido de que sólo con la genómica

(el estudio del material genético de los organismos)

seremos capaces de enfrentar la costosa carga de enfermedades que están ejerciendo una presión en los presupuestos de incluso los países más ricos" expresó el empresario mexicano.

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Flagelos

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El cáncer se ha convertido en una de las principales causas de muerte en América Latina, en particular cáncer de pulmón, gástrico y de hígado en hombres, y de mama, cuello uterino y gástrico en mujeres.

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En niños, el cáncer es la segunda causa de muerte en México.

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En las últimas décadas se han descubierto los principales genes responsables de la enfermedad y esto ha conducido al desarrollo de terapias más efectivas.

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Gracias a estas terapias y a los mejores métodos de prevención los países desarrollados han logrado disminuir las tasas de mortalildad de muchos tipos de cáncer.

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Pero en el mundo en desarrollo, las tasas de muerte por cáncer continúan aumentando.
El cáncer es causado por defectos o mutaciones en los genes de las células que alteran la forma como éstas se reproducen.

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El nuevo proyecto creará un catálogo de estas mutaciones genéticas que ocurren en siete tipos de cáncer.

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Con esta información se intentará identificar cuáles son las "debilidades" de los genes que pueden ser explotadas con nuevos tratamientos y cuáles son los pacientes que pueden responder a fármacos anticancerosos específicos.

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Mejor control

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La diabetes tipo 2 se ha convertido en una de las enfermedades más prevalentes en América Latina y es responsable de un alto número de muertes y discapacidad.

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Los tratamientos disponibles actualmente no han logrado evitar la progresión de la enfermedad y el control de los pacientes.

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Este control, afirman los expertos, sólo puede lograrse con el conocimiento de los factores genéticos que causan la enfermedad y que hasta ahora no han logrado identificarse.

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Y ninguna de las investigaciones sobre diabetes 2 se ha enfocado hasta ahora en las poblaciones de América Latina.

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El proyecto genómico analizará más de 8.000 muestras de individuos latinos para tratar de encontrar la base genética de la diabetes en esta población.

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Se espera que conociendo los factores de riesgo de la enfermedad se pueda mejorar su prevención, tratamiento y control.

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Finalmente, el proyecto también estudiará una variante de insuficiencia renal común el región, la nefropatía quística renal tipo 1.

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Hasta ahora se desconocen las causas biológicas que provocan este padecimiento por lo cual ha sido imposible desarrollar tratamientos efectivos.

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El nuevo proyecto estudiará el ADN de familias afectadas por esta enfermedad para tratar de identificar a los genes responsables, descubrir los mecanismos que la causan y desarrollar terapias para curarla.

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"Carlos Slim está haciendo un compromiso visionario con la salud pública de las Américas -expresó el doctor Eric Lander, director y presidente del Instituto Broad del MIT y Harvard- reconociendo que el progreso de la salud pública debe construirse sobre el fundamento de entender la base genética de la enfermedad".

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bbc.co.uk

Hacia una bioeconomía latinoamericana basada en el conocimiento

El secretario de Articulación Científico Tecnológica, Dr. Alejandro Ceccatto, participó de la apertura del foro organizado para fortalecer la cooperación entre los países de América Latina, el Caribe y Europa en investigación y desarrollo (I+D) orientados a producir la bioeconomía del conocimiento.

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