Health and Nutrition

Health issues are a central theme in Feed the Future Innovation Labs for Collaborative Research research, both human and animal. Nutrition, for example, along with food science, and veterinary medicine, are explicitly mentioned in the Title XII legislation’s definition of agriculture that authorizes the collaborative research support programs.

For the past few years, cutting-edge research under the Peanut CRSP has shown that peanuts (as well as other legumes and grains) can be contaminated with toxic molds, such as aflatoxin. Consumption of contaminated food can weaken peoples’ immune systems, making them more susceptible to infections such as HIV and TB and has been associated with increased risk of some cancers. It is also linked to increased levels of stunting in children.

The Nutrition Innovation Lab, operating in Uganda and Nepal, focuses on answering the “how” and “why” of successful nutrition interventions, seeking to overcome widespread maternal and child malnutrition, even in countries demonstrating agricultural growth and poverty reduction. To date, limited empirical evidence exists to determine how to identify the best policy mechanism for achieving large scale improvements in child nutrition. This Innovation Lab research will expand an historical orientation on the biological way to improve human nutrition to emphasize research that will help to identify and explain what works operationally, on the ground, to encourage the behavior changes that result in better nutritional status, and how these changes can be scaled up. It is one of the most recent member of the Innovation Lab family, which also included a Human Nutrition CRSP in the 1980s.

In addition to the Nutrition Innovation Lab, nearly every Innovation Lab and CRSP has or had a nutrition-oriented component among their activities. In Uganda and Rwanda, the Dry Grain Pulses CRSP studied alternative methods for post-harvest storage and processing of beans that can enhance their nutritional value. In Ghana, the Horticulture Innovation Lab is working to increase nutrients in traditional diets by improving production, postharvest, and processing of Vitamin A-rich, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Building on observational studies from the Human Nutrition CRSP in the 1980s, findings from the former research in Kenya showed that adding small amounts of animal source foods to children’s diets improved their nutritional status and cognitive development. A community-based nutrition education and microfinance activity in Ghana built on this research. Women in the micro-credit groups started or expanded businesses and used the funds to purchase animal source foods for their households. Recognizing the nutritional and health values of peanuts, the Peanut CRSP established a school feeding program in Guyana based on peanut butter produced by cooperatives using locally grown peanuts.  The initiative has grown from a village to national program and established a new cottage industry employing local women to produce of the peanut-based snack.

Resources

Suaahara: Lessons learned from an integrated nutrition program

Powerpoint presented at the Nutrition Innovation Lab 2nd Annual Scientific Symposium, held August 13th and 14th, 2013 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

  • Date of Publication: 8/26/2013
  • Author(s): Pooja Pandey
  • Type of Document: Media

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Agriculture and Child Nutrition: An Analysis of Child & District-level Performance in Nepal

Powerpoint presented at the Nutrition Innovation Lab 2nd Annual Scientific Symposium, held August 13th and 14th, 2013 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

  • Date of Publication: 8/20/2013
  • Author(s): Ganesh Thapa; Gerald Shively
  • Type of Document: Media

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Socio-economic status, food security and anemia among mothers in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Powerpoint presented at the Nutrition Innovation Lab 2nd Annual Scientific Symposium, held August 13th and 14th, 2013 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

  • Date of Publication: 8/20/2013
  • Author(s): Ram K Chandyo; Manjeswori Ulak; Prakash S Shrestha; Tor A Strand; Andrew Thorne?Lyman; Lindsey Locks; Wafaie Fawzi
  • Type of Document: Media

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POSHAN Process research: Understanding processes that support nutrition program impacts

Powerpoint presented at the Nutrition Innovation Lab 2nd Annual Scientific Symposium, held August 13th and 14th, 2013 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

  • Date of Publication: 8/20/2013
  • Author(s): Shibani Ghosh
  • Type of Document: Media

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What the Lancet Nutrition Series of 2013 tells us (and what it doesn’t)

Powerpoint presented at the Nutrition Innovation Lab 2nd Annual Scientific Symposium, held August 13th and 14th, 2013 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

  • Date of Publication: August 2013
  • Author(s): Patrick Webb
  • Type of Document: Media

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Comparison of proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles in wild, pondand cage-cultured longsnout catfish (Leiocassis longirostris)

Abstract: The proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles in the fillets of wild, pond-and cage-cultured longsnout catfish (Leiocassis longirostris) were determined to identify nutritional […]

  • Date of Publication: 3/14/2013
  • Author(s): Fei Wang; Xuzhou Ma; Wu Wang; Jiyuan Liu
  • Type of Document: Scholarly Article

Comparative analysis of water quality in Litopenaeus vannamei ponds and nutritional quality of shrimp muscle

Abstract: From May to September in 2010, water quality parameters such as water temperature, total dissolved salt, dissolved oxygen, pH, transparency, nitrite nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate […]

  • Date of Publication: 3/14/2013
  • Author(s): Li Shi kai; Jiang Min; Dai Xi lin; Liu Liping; Hu Weiguo; James Diana
  • Type of Document: Scholarly Article

Fighting Hunger in East Africa: Ethiopian Workshop Identifies Strategies

Video.

  • Date of Publication: 1/11/2013
  • Author(s): INTSORMIL CRSP
  • Type of Document: Media

Improving nutrition and productivity of buffaloes to adapt to the impacts of climate change in Nepal.

Michigan State University, in collaboration with NARC, AFU and the DLS in Nepal, will conduct collaborative research on forage crop cultivation, feeding, and reproduction management in […]

Nutrition/CRSP- Africa Annual Report FY2012 (Year 2)

Contains an Overview of activities undertaken by the Nutrition CRSP’s Africa program in 2012.

  • Date of Publication: 2013
  • Author(s): Global Nutrition CRSP
  • Type of Document: Annual Report

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