Nutrition, Sustainable Livelihoods
and Extension: Linking Agriculture,
Human Health and Nutrition with
ENAM Project
Owuraku Sakyi-Dawson, PhD
Agricultural Extension Department
College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences
University of Ghana, Legon
The ENAM Project is funded through the Global
Livestock-CRSP funded in part by US-AID Grant No.
PCE-G-00-98-00036-00; Women in Development, US-AID

Overview
• Describe evolution of a framework for
sustainable linkage between
agriculture, nutrition and human
health based on the experiences of
the ENAM project’s research and
development approach
• Outline a Nutrition, Sustainable
Livelihoods and Extension course
developed from the framework

Sources of the childhood
malnutrition
• Primarily vegetarian diets
• Deficiencies in micronutrients
– Vitamin A, B-12, riboflavin,
calcium, iron and zinc
• Sub-optimal child feeding practices and
styles

Improved nutrition for better
health requirements?
• Field fortification / Food systems
paradigm for sustainable production of
nutritious food
• Improve diet quality e.g. through
consumption of Animal Source Food
(ASF)
- Challenge – Required increases in
income and household production
• Knowledge on importance and how of
improved nutrition

Suitable Framework’s Attributes
• Holistic food-based & integrated
• Diets – balanced, safe / wholesome,
adequate quantities
• Efficiency in role of agriculture as source
of inputs for diets (availability and
diversity), lower prices
• Efficiency in the post-harvest handling,
distribution - more competitive and lower
prices
• Agriculture’s role as direct & indirect
improved income source - accessibility

Primary objectives of ENAM Project
Planning Grant 2003 - 2004
•Develop a Problem Model with key stakeholders to study the
constraints to the intake of animal source food (ASF) in children
•Identify potential mechanisms to increase the consumption of
ASF
Primary objectives of ENAM Project
Research Grant 2004 - 2009
* Implement a multi-sectoral sustainable intervention
(health, agriculture, and business development) to respond to
the constraints identified in the Problem Model
* Integrate training and research for capacity building

Phase 1
Participatory process to develop
problem model for constraints on use
of ASF in children’s diets
Phase 2
Implement an income-generation
and education intervention
(Microfinance, entrepreneurial
education and nutrition education)
Phase 3
Transfer of activities to local agents

Phase 1
Participatory process to develop problem
model for constraints on animal source foods
(ASF)
Availability
Accessibility
Utilization
(Based on Food / Nutrition Security
Framework and Multi- Stakeholder
Process)

Problem model for constraints on ASF
Feeding skills
Number of extension
Seasonality and nutrition field staff
knowledge
Processing Household
and storage food allocation
ASF
Pests and diseases Availability Household size
Accessibility
Marketing Utilization Cultural beliefs
linkages and attitudes
Caregiver
Financial services empowerment
Income

Suggested interventions to overcome constraints
Community level
 Stimulate income-generation activities (IGA)
 Provide access to micro-credit loans
 Food processing/storage training
 Entrepreneurship/marketing training
 Nutrition education training for caregivers
 Dialogue with leaders/communities to
change commonly held beliefs and support
women
Regional/country level
Extension continuing education
●
Ministry and NGO staff

Phase 2
Implementation of an income-generation and education
intervention
Participatory research and development
interventions - PRA tools + Multi-Stakeholder
processes
- Stakeholder key informants interviews
- Synthesis
- Validation workshops
- Social Mapping / wealth ranking
- Causal diagramming

Intervention process: identify IGA
Community ENAM Team Community
Develop list of IGA
Consensus on IGA to
support
Promotion of
Reviewed IGA suitability
selected IGA
Develop support
packages for
Cash flow analysis selected IGA

What are the “best practices” for IGA?
Best practices
Individual IGA – on-farm and off-farm
Both cash and real input may be required
Loan guaranteed by group (social collateral)
Small weekly loan repayments
Renewal of loan upon repayment
Education linked to financial services
Identified gaps
Limited emphasis on ASF-specific IGA
Inconsistent involvement with market linkages
Limited emphasis on nutrition education & evaluation
Mixture of activities, actors, service provision

VALUE CHAIN
APPROACH/FRAMEWORK
Agricultural Value chain—all the activities and
services that bring an agricultural product (or a
service) from its conception to its end use are
important for addressing nutrition
Input Production Processing Wholesale Retail
supply
Financial
Services
Services
Support
Value chain approach—identifying opportunities
and addressing their constraints throughout the
value chain at community and industry wide level

VALUE CHAIN FRAMEWORK
Global Enabling Environment Global
Retailers End Markets
National / Local / Informal
Enabling Environment National
Retailers
Sector-specific Exporters
Wholesalers Vertical
providers Linkages
Cross-cutting Buyers
providers Horizontal
Linkages
Producers
Financial (cross
cutting)
Input Suppliers
Supporting
Markets

Sustainable
Livelihoods
Framework Livelihood
Outcomes
• + Sustainable
Livelihood use of NR base
Capital Assets • + Income
Policies & • + Well-being
Human Institutions • - Vulnerability
(Transforming • + Food /
Structures & Nutrition security
Social Natural Processes)
• Structures
●
Government
●
Private Sector
• Processes
Livelihood
●
Laws Strategies
Physical Financial ●
Policies
●
Culture
Vulnerability ●
Institutions
Context
• Shocks
• Trends
• Seasons
Presentation © IDL

Linking Agriculture and
Nutrition: a SL Framework
Understanding SLF is necessary for:
2.Intervention design and monitoring
3.Turning household and community assets
into resources that can be drawn on for
increased resilience and decreased
vulnerability
4.Linking nutrition and other disciplines in
the SLF (esp. agriculture, food science)
5. Providing opportunity for holistic and
dynamic interventions

Phase 3
Transfer of activities to local agents
for sustainability

Phase 3
Sustainability: transfer of activities to local agents
Making the intervention sustainable
(1) Profitable Income Generation Activities
(2) Continued access to financial services
Transfer to rural banks
(3) Nutrition education
Transfer to rural banks
Transfer to community peer counselors
Work towards certificate course for extension staff

Partnerships to strengthen sustainability
Microfinance Entrepreneurial Nutrition
ENAM
interventions
activities education
Enabling Freedom Peer
institutions from Heifer
Education
& processes Hunger
Capacity building and systems strengthening
Permanent Rural Banks Communities
Institutions

Lessons for Curriculum
Development
• A framework for “holistic” food-based
linkages between agriculture, human
nutrition and health can address
malnutrition sustainably if:
it integrates several components including
food / nutrition security, value chain,
sustainable livelihoods, and multi-
stakeholder processes.

Nutrition, Sustainable Livelihoods and
Extension 2 Credits Course : Univ. of Ghana
• Basic Nutrition
• Nutrition and the SLF
• Role of extension in Nutrition
• Qualitative Assessment Tools w.r.t SLF
(Multi-Stakeholder Processes)
• Improving Nutrition through Behavior
Change
• Fieldwork on PRA Tools/ MSPs, Value
Chains (Food tracking), Assessment of
Community Nutrition Programs

Good nutrition for healthy lives