DISCUSSION No. 145 • FSN Forum digest No. 1322
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Sustainable Farming Systems for Food and Nutrition Security |
until 10 November 2017 |
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Dear Members,
Our discussion Sustainable Farming Systems for Food and Nutrition Security continues to attract comments, which we are happy to present to you below.
In this discussion, organized jointly with the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia Research Programme (LANSA), we invite you to reflect on the linkages between agriculture, nutrition and the environment.
The discussion also provides opportunity to showcase experiences and on-going research from low- and middle-income countriee.
The full versions of the comments received so far are available on the FSN Forum website, where you will also find the introduction to the discussion and the guiding questions.
As always, comments are welcome in either English, French or Spanish.
We hope you will keep sending us your valuable input on this important topic!
Your FSN Forum team |
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CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED
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 Md. Sirajul Islam, co-facilitator of the discussion
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In his first comment, Sirajul points to the “farming systems approach”, which considers crops, fisheries and livestock at the same time and takes into account their interactive relationships. He also highlights the importance of climate-smart technologies in reducing household vulnerabilities.
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In his second contribution, Sirajul highlights that the concept of homestead gardening has changed over time and explains the approach taken by BRAC, which has introduced the so-called “nutri-garden”. In nutri-gardens, nutrient-dense and naturally fortified fruits and vegetables are grown, which provide an important source of nutrition and income for rural households. In addition, Sirajul shares the link to a success story on nutri-gardening.
Read the contribution |
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Nicola Lowe, University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom |
Nicola discusses the research she is carrying out with her colleagues, which aims to measure the effectiveness of bio-fortified wheat flour in reducing zinc deficiency in Pakistan, a widespread problem affecting over 40% of the women in the country. She shares a couple of resources related to the research concerned.
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Kuruppacharil V. Peter, Kerala Agricultural University, India |
Kuruppacharil stresses that homestead gardening can play an important role in ensuring that families are self-sufficient in the production of nutritious food, and shares an article on this topic.
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Md. Kamrul Islam, Cotton Development Board, Bangladesh |
Kamrul argues that rural farmers have little access to information and advisory services. He suggests to establish a platform linking the different actors in the production system, including farmers, extension personnel, researchers, and agricultural input dealers, through a mobile app in the local language. This will help farmers in real-time decision making fostering sustainable agriculture and improved nutrition security.
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Harish Yadav, MSME, India |
Harish draws attention to the Global Hunger Index, which demonstrates that some developing countries with high growth rates are characterized by serious hunger conditions.
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Sania Akter Akter, Aid Organization, Bangladesh |
Sania explains how paddy crop failure in Bangladesh leads to poverty among the local population. The root causes of crop failure relate to a lack of knowledge and support concerning the adoption of modern agricultural technologies. Low agricultural productivity leads farmers to pledge their land to richer people. Consequently, in their search for employment, they often migrate to urban areas where they end up living in miserable conditions.
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Suresh Babu, IFPRI, United States of America |
Suresh points out that environmental and natural resource sustainability are often neglected when agricultural policies are designed. He shares a discussion paper he co-authored, titled “Integrating environmental considerations in the agricultural policy process: Evidence from Nigeria”.
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Umekulsoom Inam, Applied economics research center, Pakistan |
Umekulsoom is conducting research on linking food security and crop diversification in Sindh, Pakistan. She argues that not the accessibility of food, but rather its utilization constitutes a problem due to a lack of adequate drinking water and sanitation facilities. This does not only pose threats to public health, but also adversely affects livestock productivity.
Read the contribution |
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