Resilient & Nutrition Friendly Agriculture (CISANET 2019)

Position on Resilient & Nutrition
Friendly Agriculture
Presentation made on behalf of the theme group by:
Stacia Nordin, SANE Nutrition Education Specialist, 0999-333-073, Nordin@illinois.edu
Virginia Kwizombe, Self Help Africa Nutrition Advisor, 0993-708-660, Virginia.Kwizombe@selfhelpafrica.org
at the Launch of CISANET Strategic Plan on 28th November 2019, Lilongwe
CISANET Resilient & Nutrition Friendly Agriculture
CISANETmw@gmail.com 2019

Background
The CISANET Strategic Plan aims at creating an evidence-based,
results-focused, accountable and impactful network that is fit for purpose.
CISANET operates through three thematic groups, one of them being
“Resilient and Nutrition Friendly Agriculture”
CISANET envisions an agriculture sector that is able to achieve food, nutrition
and income security, despite shocks.

• Nutrition security requires
food security combined with a
healthy lifestyle and living
environment such as shelter,
energy, sanitation, hygiene,
exercise and health care,
ALL of which agriculture can
contribute to.
• Food Security requires that all
people, at all times, have the
food groups and water needed
for an activity and healthy life.

Good
Nutrition
Health
Body & living conditions:
care, water, sanitation, hygiene
Food & Water Security
All food groups & water:
available, accessible, utilized, all the time
Human Systems
For food, water, health, education, policies, etc.
Natural Resources & Systems
Soil, water, air, vegetation, animals (including insects & humans)
1st
4th
3rd
2nd
Environment + Agriculture =
the foundation of Nutrition,
the source of our nutrients
Nutrition Security =
Nutrient needs met for growth, health & energy
Medicating
Soil, Food, Water & People
can be avoided
with a healthy foundation
Agriculture is the Source of Nutrition
CISANET Resilient & Nutrition Friendly Agriculture - CISANETmw@gmail.com 2019
Source: Sustainable Nutrition
Manual (WFP, 2016)

High levels of
Poor Nutrition
Food & Water Insecurity
Calories, but lacking nutrients
Water becoming serious threat
Instead, Systems are out of balance
Requiring higher inputs
Higher Medications
for People
Food & Water
Plants, Animals, Soil
Source: Sustainable Nutrition Manual (WFP, 2016)

Goals for the Thematic Area
 Reduce environmental degradation and the effects of
climate change and on agriculture production and
productivity
 Increase water harvesting, the land under irrigation and
the rate of production (crops and animals) using
irrigation farming
 Improve smallholder farmers’ access to improved
agricultural technologies and access to farm inputs for
biodiverse production
Promotion of climate smart
agriculture related policies &
their implementation
Promotion of nutrition friendly
agriculture related policies &
their implementation
 Promote diversified agriculture to achieve resilience
and food security, as the basis of achieving optimal
nutrition
 Promote effective prioritization, coordination and
implementation of agricultural nutrition interventions
 Increase coverage, relevance and quality of
agricultural extension and advisory services for
resilience and nutrition
Source D

- Higher attention and budgetary allocations on staples than other food groups
- 78% of average Malawian diet were calories from staple foods
- Provision of Extension Services Skewed and Inadequate
- Policy Commitments
Key Issues around Resilient and Nutrition Friendly
Agriculture
1. Over-Production and Consumption of the Staple Food Group
- 1 Hidden Hunger – deficiencies in vitamins and minerals
- 2 Underweight or Undernourished – low intake of calorie
- 3 Overweight or Obesity – too high intake of calorie
- + Food Safety issues such as Mycotoxin, Aflatoxins, etc.
2. Triple burden of malnutrition
- Soil erosion and nutrient loses
- Water mis-management and abuse
- Loss of biodiversity
3. Natural Resource Degradation

55 55
53
47
37
6 7 6
4 3
24
20
17
13 12
9 8 9 8
5
1992 MDHS 2000 MDHS 2004 MDHS 2010 MDHS 2015-16 MDHS
Heights & Weights of Children under 5 years
Improvements from 1992 to 2010 (~20 years)
But not enough! 37% of our Children with Stunted Growth & Development
Stunted
Too short for age
Under weight
Too thin for age
Over weight
Too heavy for height
Wasted
Too thin for height
Stunted
Under
Over
Wasted
Agriculture Sector
CAN help!

Malawi is Getting Heavier
Adults who were stunted during childhood
have an increased risk of overweight & obesity
A risk factor for
chronic diseases
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Heart diseases
• Stroke, Disability
Men: 16% Overweight measured in a 2019 study
on Non-Communicable Diseases
Trends in women’s weight status MDHS 2015/16

25 %
29 %
8 %
Minimum dietary diversity Minimum meal frequency Minimum acceptable diet
MDHS 2015-16: Only 8% of Children 6-23 months
are eating the Minimum Acceptable Diet
25% of children are eating
at least 4 food groups
Everyone CAN & SHOULD
eat 6 food groups Every DAY!
29% of Children
6-8 mo eat food 2x/day
9-23 mo eat food 3x/day
A Child should eat 5-6x/day!
Only 8 % of children
Eat 4 food groups
And each 2-3 times/day
100% of children can have this!

“Hidden” Hunger affects all ages, sexes
We need 31 essential micronutrients from our diets, we only measure a few.

Cost of Hunger in Malawi
1. The total annual costs associated with child
undernutrition are estimated at 10.3% GDP:
 147 billion mk
 597 million USD
2. 66% of the adult population engaged in manual
activities were stunted as children, an annual loss of:
 16.5 billion mk
 67 million usd
Agriculture Sector CAN help!
Malnutrition is expensive!

Staples
Legumes
& Nuts
Vegetables
Staples
Animal Foods
Fats & Oils
Legumes & Nuts
Vegetables
Fruits
Agriculture production does not match Consumption advice
Biodiversity from all the food groups helps Human Health & Environmental Health
Aim should NOT be 300 kg Maize the actual need is 92 kg of Grain per person

Soil Degradation
•wind and water erosion, the single largest cause of
declining land productivity
•Poor soil management (which contributes to soil loss
such as continuous carbon mining, tillage operations,
exposure of bare soil to erosive rainfall, BURNING!)
•Poor/low vegetation cover management in high
risk areas (such as slopes)
WB estimated national average annual loss:
1992 = 20 tons per hectare per year (t/ha/yr)
FAO average national soil loss rates:
2014 = 29 ton/ha/yr
Some pockets in the southern region.
2014 = 39 ton/ha/yr in North, Nkhata Bay
1 - Namthambwe, S., A. Safalaoh, and J. Chimphamba. 2010. Chapter 6: Land and Agriculture, Malawi State of Environment and Outlook: Environment for Sustainable Economic Growth. Lilongwe,
Malawi: Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment.
2 - FAO 2016 Soil Loss Assessment in Malawi CISANET Resilient & Nutrition Friendly Agriculture

Poor Water Management:
 Bare soil in villages, offices, schools, fields
 Water wasted at thousands of water points
 Animals roaming freely unhygenically

Recommendations for
Resilient & Nutrition
Friendly Agriculture

Do we have the foods we need in Malawi?
YES! Malawi has at least 600 different foods.
Plus species for soil fertility, medicines, energy,
building, fibres, finances, etc.
Recommendation 1:
Promote agricultural biodiversity
for sustainable natural resource management
and restoration of degraded landscapes

Food for the Soil
Legumes, Mulch, Worm Farms, Compost,
Composting Toilets, Liquid manure, etc.
Recommendation 2:
Promotion of “Feeding the Soil to Feed the People”-
Agriculture must prioritize restoration and
protection of soil through development and
adherence to minimum standards
CISANETmw@gmail.com 2019 Source: Sustainable Nutrition Manual (WFP, 2016)

Staples Fats Fruits
Vegetables Legumes & Nuts
Animal Foods
Malawi is Rich! Produce & Eat all food
groups
Recommendation 3:
Agriculture should aim
for prevention of all
forms of malnutrition
including micronutrient
deficiencies by
increasing production,
processing, and
consumption of all the
food groups

Global FOOD Supply 7,000 plant foods available
only 3 crops = 50 % plant energy
Only 30 crops = 95 % calories & protein
And don’t forget Animal Foods are available, too!
FAO 1997
Soil
Production
Processing
Marketing
Buying
Preparing
Eating
Source: Sustainable Nutrition Manual: Food, Water, Agriculture & Environment.
Second Edition. World Food Programme Malawi, Endorsed by MoAIWD ATCC 2016.
www.NeverEndingFood.org/Sustainable-Nutrition-Manual
All Food Groups are needed for:

Recommendation 4:
Agriculture should contribute to
achieving ideal body weights by
creating healthy food systems with
agri-business and other marketing
stakeholders that provide consumers
with clear, informative food labels
to allow consumers to select foods they
need for an active and healthy life.
Home Environment
• Food safety
• Water
• Contaminants
• Nutrients
Natural Resource Environment
• Water
• Soil
• Seed and stock Food Market Environment
• Food availability
• Food prices
• Food diversity
• Retail and marketing
• Agricultural policy
Nutrition / health knowledge and norms
Food
allocation
Food
expenditure
Non-food
expenditure
Diet
Family
nutrition
outcomes
HOUSEHOLD
ASSETS
farm inputs
Livelihoods
• Credit
• Technology
• Knowledge
& skills
• Institutions
Health
status
Mother’s
nutrition
outcomes
Health
care
Women’s
time and
empowerment
National
nutrition
profile
Agricultural
income
Individual
& Parent’s
Caring capacity
& practices
Female energy
expenditure
National
economic
growth
AGRICULTURE
PRODUCTION
• Quantity
• Quality
• Diversity
Non-
agricultural
income
PROCESSING
Post-harvest
Handling
• Wastage
• Processing
• Storage
• Contamination
What role for agriculture in nutrition?
Slightly Adapted
By Stacia Nordin@illinois.edu

Recommendation 5:
Agriculture should support provision of
safe foods to consumers by working
with other sectors to produce, process
and promote consumption of safe
foods through evidence-based
education, labelling, regulation,
adherence to regulation, continuous
quality monitoring, and addressing
gaps in the system based on results.

Recommendation 6:
Agriculture should do much
more with agriculture
beyond producing food to
include fuel, natural
medicines, utensils and
containers, organic
pesticides, organic fertilizers
and high quality water.
Water, sanitation and
hygiene in particular starts
with the Agriculture sector
in Malawi and needs more
leadership and attention
from the Agriculture sector.

Unbalanced production
All Seasons (rains vs. dry)
Balanced Production
All Seasons (rains vs. dry)
Too Much Maize
Soil & Water Loss
Diverse Production
Care for the Earth
Agro-ecology
Designed with Nature
Care for Earth, Care for People, Fair Share
Bare
Soil & Water Loss
We need to, and can, move
from Unbalanced
to Balanced Production
Recommendation 7:
Agriculture needs a major
shift in policy direction to
promote profitable irrigated
crop production, within the
context of sustainable,
farmer-led catchment or
water management,
including water harvesting
to reduce volatility in
agriculture production,
while also contributing to
greater dietary diversity
throughout the year.

Harvest Every
Water Drop
Into soil, swales,
check dams, tanks,
from taps, etc.

Recommendation 8
All stakeholders should work
with DAESS to assure
decentralized, well-
coordinated agriculture for
quality access of services by
all members of all farming
households.
--
Agriculture Nutrition (AgNut)
must link to NCCs:
Nutrition Coordination
Committees
--
Agriculture Resilience
must link to
Civil Protection Committees
National & Decentralized Coordination Platforms are critical

Recommendation 9
The financial and programme emphasis of priorities
in NAIP should be increased for issue raised in this
Resilient and Nutrition Friendly Agriculture position
paper. Donor dependency should be increasingly
replaced with innovative public private partnerships.
Recommendation 10
Agriculture stakeholders should advocate together
with the Minister of Agriculture
to help in influencing the Food and Nutrition Bill
to be tabled in parliament.

Special thanks for leading the development of the strategy & prese
 Strengthening Agricultural and Nutrition Extension (SANE) (USAID, MoG, UIUC
 Self Help Africa
 CISANET Secretariat
• Action Aid
• CARE Malawi
• Concern Worldwide
• CSONA
• CYD
• DAPP Malawi
• ELDS
• One Acre Fund
• Farm Radio Trust
• CADECOM Chikwawa
• iDREAM
• Maziko Radio
• NASFAM
• Save the Children
• Story Workshop
• Total Landcare
• WUSC/UNITERRA
In collaboration with other RNF Theme Members:

Resilient & Nutrition Friendly Agriculture (CISANET 2019)

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