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ORIENTATION NOTE for the THEMATIC DISCUSSION of the

14
th
round of conference calls with SUN countries, 16-19 June 2014
Thematic discussion
Contribution of agriculture, food systems and social protection to nutrition

Multiple publications, including the Lancet Nutrition Series and the SUN Framework for Action propose a
multi-sectoral approach to Scaling Up Nutrition which integrates nutrition as a goal and appropriate
nutrition indicators in different sectoral policies. Through this approach, the underlying determinants of
malnutrition are better addressed by encouraging coordinated nutrition-sensitive programming
complementary to specific evidence-based interventions in the areas of food, health and care. It can include
areas such as food security (including agriculture and food), social protection (including emergency relief,
maternity/paternity protection), health (including maternal and child health care, immunization and family
planning), education, water-supply, sanitation and hygiene, as well as cross-cutting issues like human
rights, womens empowerment and equity, governance and state fragility.
Once there is consensus on the causes of malnutrition that need to be tackled, countries might set up the
mechanisms that allow to address them in a coordinated and synergetic way. This may entail further
engagement of stakeholders from different sectors in Nutrition Multi-stakeholder platforms, improved joint
analysis, planning and understanding of common contribution to nutritional outcomes, and promotion of
coordinated monitoring of implementation and reporting on results.

The present thematic discussion specifically focuses on how food and agriculture systems and social
protection schemes are contributing and/or can better contribute to achieving nutritional outcomes
in SUN countries.

Food and agriculture systems
1
have a primary role in feeding people well, by increasing availability,
affordability, and consumption of diverse, safe, nutritious foods and diets throughout the year, and mitigate
negative effects that agriculture and food related policies and interventions can have on nutrition. They are
responsible for providing all peoples nutritional needs, while at the same time, contributing to economic
growth. Food and agriculture policies and programmes can contribute to improved nutrition by promoting
diversification of food production, in particular of nutrient-rich foods (e.g. fruits, horticultural products,
legumes, livestock and fish, underutilized and biofortified crops). They can support improved processing
(including fortification), storage of food in order to retain and/or optimize nutritional value, reduce
seasonality of food insecurity and post-harvest losses and make healthy foods convenient to prepare - while
ensuring the food safety of commercialized agricultural products. Food and agriculture policies and
programmes should seek to expand markets and market access for vulnerable groups, particularly for
marketing nutritious, affordable and locally produced food or products. Ensuring women have access to
productive resources, income opportunities, extension services and information, credit, labor and time-
saving technologies, and at the same time are supported in their roles as mothers and caretakers is
fundamental to maximize agricultures contribution to improved nutrition. Finally, preserving and
improving the use of natural resources is essential to ensure positive and sustainable impacts on food
and nutrition security are sustainable.

1
Food systems encompass all the people, institutions and processes by which agricultural products are produced,
processed , stored, marketed and brought to consumers, inclusive of crop production, livestock, fisheries, forestry.
27 May 2014 Page | 2

Social protection is also one of the key domains that can influence the well-being of people and can help
improving nutrition. Social protection provides a unique combination of instruments to protect
vulnerable population from risks and shocks and to promote more resilient livelihoods. If well-
coordinated, it can help foster the impact of food and agriculture systems on nutrition, by providing food
assistance during crisis, developing social safety nets (including in-kind or cash transfers, development of
national public work programmes), upgrading school feeding activities, developing insurance for small-
scale farmers to protect them from crises, extending maternity protection, etc.
Food and agriculture systems and social protection must collaborate and coordinate with other sectors, and
programmes, through joint strategies with common goals to address the multiple underlying causes of
malnutrition. The following conceptual framework developed by UNICEF helps visualize the different
causes of malnutrition, and the boxes highlights examples of how Food and Agriculture and Social
Protection policies and Programmes can tackle these different causes.


Source: UNI CEF Conceptual Framework for malnutrition


Participants might like to consider the following questions when preparing for the meeting:

1. Engagement: How are food & agriculture and social protection stakeholders engaged in nutrition
coordination mechanisms/SUN Multi-stakeholder platforms? Has this engagement changed/ increased
in the last year?
2. Common planning and results: How are food & agriculture and social protection issues addressed in
nutrition planning processes? Do you use a single set of expected results for Nutrition which is used by
the food & agriculture and social protection sectors? Have they identified specific targets and are these
targets reflected into the national nutrition action plan/SUN common results framework?
3. Example: Can you give one example on how food & agriculture and/or social protection are working
together with other sectors to achieve nutrition results, either at the policy level and/or at the
decentralized level? (These examples can be relevant for the preparation of ICN2)?
4. Challenges: Which are the main challenges your country faces in terms of improved coordination
between agriculture, social protection and health sectors on nutrition? Are there any opportunities that
can be seized to overcome these challenges?

Production, processing, storage
and marketing of nutritious foods
Food availability (year round)
Income
Access (year round)
Utilization
Biodiversity
Bio fortification
Fortification
Food Assistance
Natural resource management
Insurance for risk management
Nutrition education
Labor saving technology
School-feeding
Income used for health and
hygiene
Social safety nets
In kind/Cash transfer
Public work
Food safety and safe agriculture
practices