A Needs Assessment Report from a Communications Perspective, based on Field Work in Bangladesh 

Dr. Lulu Rodriguez and Lea Peck of the University of Illinois’ Agricultural Communications Program were asked to join an interdisciplinary team of students, faculty members and staff of two other universities that visited Bangladesh on behalf of the Integrating Gender and Nutrition within Agricultural Services (INGENAES) project. 

INGENAES’ mandate is to assist USAID’s Feed the Future missions to strengthen gender and nutrition integration within agricultural extension and advisory services (EAS). Its stated objectives are (1) to build robust nutrition-oriented institutions, projects and programs capable of assessing and responding to the nutrition needs of farmers and farm families; (2) identify, test the efficacy, and strengthen proven mechanisms for delivering improved EAS to women farmers; (3) disseminate gender-appropriate and nutrition-enhancing technologies and access to inputs to improve women’s agricultural productivity and enhance household nutrition; and (4) apply effective extension approaches and tools to enhance the nutritional status especially of those who reside in rural areas. 

INGENAES Case Study

Households include a number of decision-makers who hold varying beliefs about how family members should be involved with food—its purchase, preparation, distribution, consump-tion, and marketing. Households are complex and dynamic systems, involving gender and generational roles influenced by tradition, culture, circumstances, and historical changes. Taking on a household lens is compatible with a systems’ perspective on agricultural develop-ment, such as an agricultural innovation systems framework that incorporates “all the actors in the system and their interactions”, as well as institutions and policies that impact the system and its innovations. 

This section discusses the history of the farmer field school approach, including origin and emergence, characteristics and evolution of the approach, and the current global status.

Case Studies of Curriculum Review and Operational Lessons From India 

Even after several decades of green revolution, malnutrition continues to be a major development challenge in much of South Asia, and India has a major share of the malnourished people in the region. The nutritional issues in India are complex and therefore require a multifaceted, multidisciplinary solution. One facet of the solution is increasing knowledge about the causes of and solutions to malnutrition at the farm household level through agricultural extension. Disseminating nutrition-sensitive agricultural knowledge is not currently an activity of agricultural extension in India, but there is great potential for integrating it through the well-established network of extension offi cers. For nutrition goals to be integrated into extension, the curricula provided to current and future agricultural extension agents must be revisited. As part of the South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiative (SAFANSI), this paper focuses on approaches to incorporating such nutrition content into the agricultural extension curriculum.

Three state agricultural universities in Tamil Nadu, united Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar were used as case studies for the curriculum review. Through these case studies, face-to-face consultations at the national level down to program implementation at the village level have been developed. These include consultative workshops, and a conceptual framework and strategy for incorporating nutrition into extension curriculum development to improve nutrition outcomes. This strategy, detailed in this report, includes opportunities for collaboration from the national level to the community level. Specifi c lessons and follow-up actions are outlined that may be useful for other South Asian countries.

INGENAES Tip Sheet

In many Latin American countries, coffee is considered one of the top export crops. Many rural families use coffee sales as a significant source of income, and in Honduras coffee production is around 26 percent of the 60 percent of total agricultural production (FAO, 2015). Coffee is an ideal crop for Honduras as there is limited arable land that is suitable for other types of agriculture, and it can be grown in the mountains. However, one of the challenges associated with coffee production is how the income that is generated from the sales is used to benefit the household. This activity sheet explores how income from coffee sales might be used to improve overall family nutrition.

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INGENAES Material Informativo

En muchos países latinoamericanos, el café es considerado uno de los principales cultivos de exportación. Muchas familias rurales utilizan las ganancias obtenidas de la venta de café como una fuente importante de ingresos. En Honduras la producción de café se calcula que es el 26% del 60% de la producción agrícola total (FAO, 2015). El café es un cultivo ideal para Honduras, ya que existen pocas tierras arables adecuadas para otros tipos de agricultura y además, se puede cultivar en las montañas. Sin embargo, uno de los retos asociados con la producción de café es la distribución del ingreso generado por la venta del café y como este, se utiliza para beneficio del hogar. 

Esta hoja de actividades explora cómo los ingresos de la venta de café pueden ser utilizados para mejorar la nutrición de la familia. 

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INGENAES Info Sheet

In many Latin American countries, diets are based around “basic grains” – corn and beans. Many rural poor families depend on basic grains for their survival, and they are considered the most important crops to the social and economic life of Hondurans. Corn and beans represent twelve percent of the agricultural GDP and generate about 300,000 permanent jobs in Honduras (www.hondurasnews.com/basic-grains-crops-good). However, with climate change and poor farming practices, many families do not grow enough of these crops for their household needs and other nutritional needs are not met due to an overemphasis on these two food sources.

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INGENAES Material Informativo

En muchos países de América Latina, las dietas se basan en "granos básicos" - maíz y frijoles. Muchas familias de los sectores rurales dependen de los granos básicos para solventar sus necesidades alimentarias. En Honduras los granos básicos desempeñan un importante rol en el aspecto social y económico. El maíz y los frijoles representan el 12% del PIB agrícola y generan cerca de 300.000 empleos permanentes en Honduras. Sin embargo, debido a factores como el cambio climático y en algunos casos inadecuadas prácticas agrícolas, la productividad de estos cultivos es baja y no suple las necesidades alimentarias y nutricionales del hogar.

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INGENAES Tip Sheet

Nutrition is important in everyone’s lives, but what good nutrition specifically means may mean different things to different members of a community or family. Women may be the ones who prepare food, but they often have less influence on household decisions including what foods they prepare. It is important to include men in discussions as they may be making production, marketing or purchasing decisions. When men understand the contribution they can make, they can take action to improve family nutrition.

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INGENAES Technical Note

Aflatoxins play an important role in household health and nutrition. 

Aflatoxins are fungal toxins produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aspergillus is a common form of mold that can colonize and contaminate food before harvest or during storage, especially following a drought or prolonged exposure to a high-humidity environment. 

Aflatoxin exposure in children can lead to stunted growth, developmental delays, and issues with immune suppression and increased susceptibility to infectious disease. Longer-term exposure to aflatoxins increases the risk for liver and gallbladder cancer. Factors that increase the risk of aflatoxicosis include limited amounts of food, environmental conditions that favor mold growth on food, and limited regulation and oversight for aflatoxin monitoring and control. 

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