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Policy Brief - Indigenous livestock and poultry to alleviate under-nutrition among women and children in rural farm-households of Sri Lanka










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    Book (stand-alone)
    A review of studies examining the link between food insecurity and malnutrition 2018
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    A review of 120 studies published since 2006 was undertaken to examine the relationship between food insecurity at the household or individual level and the following nutrition indicators: child stunting, child wasting, low birth weight, exclusive breastfeeding of infants < 6 months of age, anaemia in women of reproductive age, child overweight and adult obesity. While there is some evidence of a direct association between food insecurity and stunting for children in lower-middle and upper-middle income countries, evidence of links between food insecurity and either child wasting or overweight is almost absent, with the exception of an association with overweight among girls in middle- and high-income countries. The obesity–food insecurity link is most predominant among women in high-income countries, while it is almost absent in men. In addition, food insecurity increases the risk for low birth weight in infants and anaemia in women. Methodological concerns that pose challenges for valid comparison of results relate to study design, data analysis techniques, use of different indicators of household/individual food security and malnutrition, and the limited availability of high-quality micro-level data from large-scale surveys. Most studies report correlation rather than causal associations between food insecurity and nutrition indicators; longitudinal micro-level data from large-scale surveys can help establish causal association and capture the dynamic nature of food insecurity. Food insecurity emerges as a predictor of undernutrition as well as overweight and obesity, highlighting the need for multisectoral strategies and policies to combat food insecurity and multiple forms of malnutrition.
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    Policy brief
    Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050: Presence and biosecurity practices of youth in poultry value chains
    Evidence from urban and peri-urban subregions of Kenya and Uganda
    2022
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    This brief explores the presence and characteristics of youth working in the poultry sector through data collected in two urban and peri-urban subregions in Kenya and Uganda. Youth empowerment and employment have gained prominence in national and international policy agenda. The growing livestock sector has great potential to provide employment opportunities, but available evidence suggests that there is limited interest among young people in engaging in livestock activities. The sample includes mainly small and mid-size business-oriented entrepreneurs and not subsistence-oriented backyard poultry keepers. The data shows that the presence of youth involved in the poultry value chain with respect to their share in the total working age population is 16 to 32 percentage points lower in Kenya and 5 to 27 percentage points lower in Uganda. The share of young people is particularly low among producers, which may be due to high initial investment requirements. The average number of birds raised per year is lower among the age groups under 40 in Kenya, while differences in size of business are smaller in Uganda. The share of women is lower among young people along the entire value chain, which may be due to them being occupied with raising children and the lack of backyard poultry keepers in the sample. At the marketing node, considerably more young people have fixed stalls and use plastic or metal cages than their older colleagues. The data presented is on predominantly urban and peri-urban areas and the presence of youth would be probably lower in rural areas.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Contribution of terrestrial animal source food to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health outcomes
    An evidence and policy overview on the state of knowledge and gaps
    2023
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    Diverse foods derived from livestock production systems, including grazing and pastoralist systems, and from the hunting of wild animals, provide high-quality proteins, important fatty acids and various vitamins and minerals – contributing to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health. Livestock species are adapted to a wide range of environments, including areas that are unsuitable for crop production. Globally, more than a billion people depend on livestock value chains for their livelihoods. Small-scale livestock farmers and pastoralists make up a large proportion of livestock producers. Well integrated livestock production increases the resilience of small-scale farming systems. Livestock also provide other important ecosystem services in landscape management, provide energy and help to improve soil fertility. Rangeland or grassland ecosystems occupy some 40 percent of the world’s terrestrial area. Livestock keepers raise grazing animals to transform grassland vegetation into food. Challenges related to high resource utilization and pollution, food–feed competition, greenhouse-gas emissions, antimicrobial resistance and animal welfare as well as zoonotic and food-borne diseases, accessibility and affordability need to be solved if agrifood systems are to become more sustainable. FAO’s Committee on Agriculture requested a comprehensive, science- and evidence-based global assessment of the contribution of livestock to food security, sustainable food systems, nutrition and healthy diets, considering environmental, economic and social sustainability. The assessment consists of four component documents. This first component document provides a holistic analysis of the contribution of terrestrial animal source food to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health outcomes over the course of people’s lives.

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