How can policymakers, investors and development practitioners improve the affordability and availability of diverse, high-quality and nutrient-rich foods in India?

By Vanya Mehta

This is the question that set the stage for the policy dialogue in New Delhi on August 5^th, 2016, held as part of the inauguration of the Tata-Cornell Institute’s (TCI) new project: Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture (TARINA). Ideas flowed from six distinguished speakers representing the government, academic and donor community. Over 100 guests from the development sector attended the event.

Distinguished panelists (from left to right): Dr. Prabhu Pingali, Professor of Economics at Cornell University & Director of TCI; Dr. Purvi Mehta-Bhatt, Deputy Director and Head of Agriculture for South Asia at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr. Ashok Gulati, Infosys Chair Professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER); Dr. Shobha Shetty, Rural Development Sector Manager for the South Asia Region at the World Bank; Dr. P.K. Joshi, Director for South Asia at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); and Dr. Suresh Pal, Member at the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). (Photo credit: Megan Witwer)

The panel and ensuing discussion was held in light of the mission of TARINA to tackle malnutrition in India from a food systems perspective. TARINA considers the need to build better connections between factors that influence both agriculture and nutrition within and across different stages of food value chains, from production to consumption. A food system includes all value chain actors such as individuals, enterprises and institutions that influence the supply, demand, consumption and absorption of food and micronutrients. Thus, implementing a “food systems” approach to reduce malnutrition requires close engagement and coordination among a wide range of stakeholders, from policymakers, nutritionists and agricultural scientists to farmers, traders, processors, retailers and final consumers.

One of the crucial issues that the panelists agreed upon was the excessively skewed incentive system in India that subsidizes the production of staple crops, primarily rice, wheat and, to some extent, maize. These staple crops are given a price floor to ensure the farmer is not behest to the instability or fluctuations in the market. Such policies favoring staple crops arguably distort the market, thereby generating disincentives for the production of more nutritious, non-staple crops, such as fresh fruits, vegetables and pulses.

Among the proposed strategies to reduce what TCI Director, Prof. Prabhu Pingali, terms “staple grain fundamentalism”, was a suggestion to remove policies that create price-based incentives entirely and replace them with an income support program through cash transfers to farmers. This would give farmers the autonomy to make crop selection decisions and to efficiently utilize resources at their own will.

Dr. Prabhu Pingali, event moderator and panelist, fielding questions from the audience. (Photo Credit: Megan Witwer)

A few panelists suggested the government offset disincentives for non-staples by establishing a procurement and distribution system for pulses, but indicated that this would be difficult for perishable commodities like fruits and vegetables due to the high risk and costs associated with the marketing and storage of such produce. Panelists argued that more appropriate interventions for these types of commodities include the strengthening of value chains, investment in post-harvest management technologies and the introduction of government-supported cooperative systems, similar to the Amul dairy cooperative model. However, scaling-up these initiatives involves taking on a price risk, given the biotic and abiotic factors that limit the reliability of fruit and vegetable production.

Interestingly, the consensus among policymakers, practitioners and academics is shifting rather uniformly toward food processing and cold storage as a means of increasing incentives for the production of fresh foods. At present, the government is interested in attracting foreign direct investment for the food processing industry. In the past, the agro-processing industry generated more jobs and revenue for the unorganized sector than for the organized sector. New avenues can be created for exporting the processed food, but further research is required to accurately determine the competitive advantage that India has for producing such innovative products.

Deficiencies in the domestic supply and production of pulses are a particular area of concern. Some panelists claimed that India’s trade policy lacks consistency and is not able to adequately respond to fluctuations in the demand and supply of pulses. Others argued that inadequate pulse production is not only linked to policy inefficiencies, but also to factors like a lack of technological advancement and high production risks.

Reservations were expressed regarding any strategy to diversify agricultural production that involves shifting land suitable for rice production to non-staples. Increasing agricultural diversity, while keeping in mind ecological and environmental limitations, therefore becomes a very important point of consideration. On the other hand, the continuous production of water-intensive crops in water-stressed regions was also identified as a major policy concern. Panelists noted that more attention should be paid to research and development for climate-smart agriculture, with solutions that are specific to the “natural resource base” of India. Efficient utilization of inputs, accompanied by better agronomic practices, can maximize production and reduce the cost to the farmer and the environment.

The ideas shared at the August 5^th panel discussion pertain to broad initiatives to direct agricultural policy away from “staple grain fundamentalism” toward creating a diversified food system in India. This policy dialogue comes at a time when India’s rates of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are among the highest in the world, signaling the urgent need to introduce a more nutritious food base for both the urban and rural poor. Although there was considerable discussion around the diversification of India’s food supply, consumer education was also highlighted as a method to generate more demand for nutritious food in the coming years.

While many policy limitations were tabled, such as the introduction of perishable commodities into the Public Distribution System (PDS), there were also strong differences of opinion on whether or not India should de-regulate its agricultural market and remove subsidies for staple crops entirely. This change would require farmers, traders and other actors participating in the market to respond to distortion-free, rather than imposed, prices. The question of de-regulation will likely be the most crucial point of contention for policymakers in the coming years, since the resulting decision has the potential to change the face of agricultural production in India. The panel served as a platform for debating these emerging issues, with hopes to see increased action and policy reforms that improve nutrition outcomes in the future.

The TCI-TARINA team after the public policy panel discussion in New Delhi. (Photo Credit: Usha Ramakrishnan)

By Megan Witwer

The FSDS Team included representatives from across the TARINA Consortium (Photo credit: Bhaskar Mittra)

During the first meeting of the TARINA Consortium in New Delhi from the 14th-16th of December 2015, partner organizations gathered to jointly agree on areas of intervention, research and activities that will be carried out under the project’s Results Framework. Opportunities for integrating nutrition-sensitive objectives, actions and metrics into agricultural and rural development initiatives led by NGO partners – BAIF, CARE and Grameen Development Services (GDS) – in Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, were discussed. However, the consortium determined that a rapid assessment of the food systems context in each location would need to be undertaken before interventions best suited for addressing local nutritional challenges could be properly designed and implemented.

In response to this decision, the consortium launched a Food Systems Diagnostic Study (FSDS) across the three project locations, from February to early March 2016. The objective was to identify aspects of field settings that may constrain or facilitate the project’s overall goal of creating a more nutrition-sensitive food system in India. Findings from the FSDS will support efforts to refocus agricultural projects and programs for better nutrition outcomes and to sharpen data collection for monitoring and evaluating project outcomes.

Flow Chart of FSDS Outcomes

The methods used for data collection and analysis at each project location included:

• Focus group discussions (FGDs) – with samples of households and key groups within villages, which were selected by NGO partners (e.g. women’s self-help groups, producer groups, literacy groups, etc.)
• Key informant individual interviews – with samples of individuals who hold important positions within villages, local government and organizations (e.g. small farmers, health workers, agricultural extension scientists, nutritionists, veterinary officers, etc.)
• Document review – documents related to NGO partner projects and programs, and documents/resources that provide details about aspects of the local context that affect efforts to create affordable and nutritious food systems
• FSDS team consultative meetings – for planning data collection, performing analysis, and writing-up results

FGDs and individual informant interviews were structured as qualitative data collection exercises. Guiding questions to facilitate FGDs were developed around a series of modules designed to document and understand the food systems context in each location. These modules cover five main areas of the food systems context:

1. Food production systems
2. Agricultural markets
3. Policy and institutional aspects
4. Consumption, nutrition and health
5. Women’s status

The FSDS was carried out over the course of four to five days in each project location. A total of eight or more team members from TCI, BAIF, CARE and GDS were present at each location. Two villages were visited per day, where FGDs were carried out using the guiding questions. Individual informant interviews were also conducted at the village level, but on an ad hoc basis. In each village, the FSDS team completed a transect walk to document observations related to agricultural production, animal husbandry, food storage and WASH practices. Additionally, the team visited local and regional food markets, as well as field sites where existing agricultural and rural development initiatives are being implemented by NGO partners or other local organizations.

Focus Group Discussions in Villages

(Photo Credits: Bhaskar Mittra (upper left); Mandavi Dikshit (upper right); and Megan Witwer (lower left and lower right))

Transect Walks through Villages

(Photo Credit: Megan Witwer)

Visits to Local and Regional Markets

(Photo Credit: Megan Witwer)

The recording and summation of data collected took place at the end of each day. This was typically followed by an FSDS team consultative meeting, where general impressions from site visits were shared and interventions were devised according to the objectives and expected outcomes of TARINA. This consultative process served as a platform for inter-organizational knowledge and expertise sharing, which enabled the identification of opportunities for cross-fertilization between partners and across locations.

Convergence and Capacity Sharing between TARINA Consortium Partners

(Photo Credit: Mathew Abraham)

The primary outcome of the FSDS is a set of priority interventions for refocusing projects and programs implemented by NGO partners. Each intervention takes into account the local context and was designed to either alleviate factors that may constrain or maximize factors that may facilitate TARINA’s overall goal of creating a more nutrition-sensitive food system in India.

FSDS findings are also being used to develop indicators and metrics for monitoring and evaluating the impact of planned interventions. A baseline survey will be rolled out across the three project locations in November and December 2016 to track project-level outcomes. This will be followed by baseline surveys in each project location, which will be designed to track outcomes of specific interventions implemented by each NGO partner.

By Maureen Valentine

Maureen Valentine is a TCi Scholar and a second year Ph.D student in the department of Animal Science. Maureen is currently completing her one year of fieldwork as required for TCi Scholars. Her fieldwork will involve a goat feeding experiment in Kandhamal District of Odisha State.

Dr. Cherney gets personal with some of our experiment clientele. (Photo credit: Maureen Valentine)

Dr. Debbie Cherney, one of TCi’s Faculty Fellows and my committee chair, was graciously supported by TCi to visit India during Spring Break 2016. Dr. Cherney had never travelled to India previously, so this was an invaluable experience for her to observe India’s livestock systems. Lacking first-hand experience of India, she voiced that it was challenging to fully grasp the idiosyncrasies of project implementation here. Dr. Cherney flew into Bhubaneswar, Odisha, where my research will be based. During her one week, we met faculty at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology to speak about using their ovens for sample drying, met staff from CARE India that is supporting some of my fieldwork logistics, visited the nearby Ganjam District for a farmer training session, and had lengthy discussions about the feasibility of my planned research methods. Throughout the week’s discussions, we tentatively finalized my research plans, though I expect that my research design will be contextualized to the local scenario after speaking more with local farmers and goat sector stakeholders.

My current plan is to run an experiment in two villages of Kandhamal District in Odisha. In each village, there will be a control and a treatment group. The control group will contain goat farmers continuing with their traditional goat grazing patterns. The treatment group will contain goats fed in a semi-stall feeding system. The treatment group goats will go grazing in the morning, and return to their homes for stall feeding in the afternoon.

The reason we chose Kandhamal District is because this district has a majority population of Scheduled Tribes, which tend to be less literate and experience higher rates of poverty. Migration out of villages is common because there are few livelihood opportunities on their farms. In an effort to reduce migration, CARE India and other organizations are implementing initiatives to improve livelihoods locally. Goatery is one of the few livelihood opportunities already observed, and it is therefore logical to improve the productivity of goats with best management practices. 

A tribal woman in the Burupati village of Kandhamal District, Odisha after leaving one of the focus groups organized by Tata-Cornell. (Photo credit: Maureen Valentine)

Understanding the underlying problem…

The main challenge with improving goat rearing is that many tribal people do not consider goats’ economic potential. Their main reason for rearing goats is to sell in times of emergency, but they are not considered a viable economic livelihood. Goats are interwoven into tribal people’s lifestyle and culture without much serious thought. In the same way that it is natural to get married and have children, it is natural to have goats. Mindsets around the use of goats must be augmented in order for goats to be reared in a more economically-sound manner.

Feeding has been viewed as the largest constraint to increasing the productivity of goats because in seasons with little vegetation (mainly summer) goats must walk long distances and expend their much needed energy to find forages. For small-scale goat farmers, productivity improvements are required to compete.

Additionally, Odisha is facing increasing degradation of their forest resources due to human and animal population pressure and industrial extractions. The question of how farmers will feed their animals if their common property resources become too degraded to sustain their animals, or if the Forest Department restricts access for the same reasons, is timely. 

A herder in Ganjam District, Odisha shows off one of the larger bucks in his herd as they move towards other grazing options. (Photo credit: Maureen Valentine)

…and using research to learn how to address it.

During three seasons, we will measure the animal health (parasite load, body condition scoring, animal weight), animal nutrition (quality of different diets, feed intake), household costs, household labor, and estimate the biomass extraction from forest resources.

Research questions are as follows:

1. What is the dry matter intake and ration digestibility of free-ranging goats in tropical Odisha?
2. What are the goat physiological, health and nutrition differences between extensively grazed and semi-intensive systems?
3. What are the income and labor implications for small farmers changing from extensive to semi-intensive livestock systems? What are the environmental and sustainability implications?
4. Could the Small Ruminant Nutrition System be utilized for predicting dry matter intake and animal responses for free-ranging goats in tropical India?

I’m very appreciative that Dr. Cherney had the opportunity to come and see India and discuss my project in this preliminary phase. Next week, I’m planning to conduct focus groups with non-target villages. We will focus on farmer’s perspectives towards my proposed experiment and aspects where they may have reservations or objections. I can then amend the methodology or explanations to prepare for farmers’ reactions in target villages. I will be presenting my research proposal at an International Livestock Research Institute stakeholder meetings in May, which will be the final step before implementation.

By Harold van Es and Phil Frost

Harold van Es is a Professor of Soil and Water Management and former Chair of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Cornell University. Phil Frost is a Ph.D. student in Crop and Soil Sciences and a TCi Scholar.

Phil Frost (left) and Harold van Es (right) discuss principles of soil health with partners and community members.

In the past year, the concept of soil health has gained a lot of interest in India. The Government of India has launched a major initiative to collect soil samples from farms, analyze them in laboratories, and provide the results to farmers in the form of a soil health card.  This of course is a monumental task as there are so many farms and small fields in the country, and the logistics of having millions of soil samples analyzed is daunting. But the good news is that the government recognizes the importance of soils as the foundation of agriculture and nutrition.

Thus far, the government interprets the concept of soil health as relating mostly to the nutrient status of the soil. Nutrients are a critical component of soil health, but we regard it as a broader concept that also includes the physical and biological functions of the soil. With the many advances associated with the Green Revolution, Indian agriculture has become more reliant on chemical inputs to achieve high yields with the enhanced crop genetics. But we are now seeing crop production being constrained by more complex biological and physical processes that need our attention.

The Tata-Cornell Initiative includes a project on soil health that involves several researchers, including the two of us (Harold van Es is a Professor of Soil and Water Management. Phil Frost is a PhD student funded by TCi), and Adjunct Professors Peter Hobbs and David Rossiter.  We are building heavily on the soil health assessment and management framework that was developed at Cornell University. Since we started this effort in the early 2000’s, soil health has become a major U.S. and international focus. We have learned much about the importance of soils as a biological system, and how management practices can enhance the functioning of the soil. The picture below conceptually explains the importance of soil health to human health through two tracks: enhancing agricultural productivity and nutrition, and through its impact on ecosystem services and environmental health. When soils function well, there is better water and nutrient retention, less flooding, less greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts that also influence the quality of life for farmers.

Our TCi soil health project is off to a good start. We have established relationships with institutions like Bisra Agricultural University (BAU) in Ranchi (Jharkhand), CIMMYT, PRADAN, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), and even a large private fertilizer company (Indo Gulf). We believe that it is important to work with both public institutions, NGOs and private companies. During our January 2016 visit, we offered a soil health workshop at BAU (see picture below) that was very successful. It greatly enhanced people’s understanding of soil health and the framework that we have developed at Cornell University.

First International Workshop on Soil Health, hosted at Birsa Agricultural University in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

As part of Phil’s PhD research, we have been able to make preliminary assessments of soil health on Jharkhand farms. This helps us understand the status of soil health in the region, and can guide management approaches to regenerate the soils. During our trip, we also visited farms and research stations to better understand soil constraints to crop productivity. We were struck by the poor soil health status of many fields, but were also gratified to see many opportunities to enhance soils and crop yields. Nutrient availability, soil compaction, and a lack of biological functioning is very common on the intensively farmed lands.The picture below shows wheat roots being severely restricted to the surface layer due to compaction from puddling or other mechanical soil disturbances.You can imagine that when roots are allowed to explore deeper soil horizons they can access water and nutrients from a much larger soil volume. In fact, the poor nutrient status of many Indian soils may in part be explained by high nutrient extractions from the surface layer only.

Example: Root growth severely restricted due to soil compaction.

Research at various institutions, especially the BISA stations have demonstrated that better soil management can have great impact on crop productivity (see picture below). Using reduced tillage, better rotations, and timely seeding and transplanting can considerably enhance the productive capacity of the soil. Still, we found that plow pans (a compacted layer at around 10-15 cm) was a very common problem that limited soil productivity. We are exploring ways to better assess this problem and promote effective management practices to overcome it.

Example of what healthy soils and management can do: well-developed roots and a productive crop. Location: BISA farm site.

Our next project efforts will focus on establishing soil health laboratories with our partners, and perform more comprehensive assessment of the health status of soils in the project region. This will also include a geospatial component that will help us understand the geographic distribution of the soils and their health. From this, we can establish better soil health management guidelines.  We are also exploring the potential utility of a “lab-in-a-box” that would allow consultants and extension agents to perform basic soil health assessments in the field, with farmers present. This provides both a soil analysis, and an opportunity to educate the farmer community on soil health. This direct connection is very important, as many Indian farmers are disappointed that they often do not receive the results from their soil analyses.

In all, this project is off to an excellent start. We are able to build on the momentum that the Government of India is creating around soil health. We are offering a more holistic vision of soil health management, beyond the basic application of synthetic fertilizers. We have some great partners in this project who have also become enthusiastic about the broader soil health framework. The fact that even a large commercial fertilizer company sees opportunities around delivering services on soil health is most encouraging. Phil’s research is progressing rapidly, and we will hopefully be able to share important results soon.

Third Sector Partners, a leading senior management and board search firm in the Not for Profit sector, has been retained for the recruitment of this position. The location of the position is in New Delhi or Mumbai. Interested candidates can send in their CVs along with three references and a cover note to project.director.tci@gmail.com by 20 Feb 2016, or contact Third Sector Partners at Tel: +91 22 43493333. Please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Introduction:

Led by the Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative (TCi), Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture (TARINA) is a 4-year grant funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The goal of this investment is to promote a more nutrition-sensitive food system in India by enhancing the availability and affordability of nutrient-rich food. The broad objectives for what we propose are to:

1. Provide technical assistance to make agricultural projects nutrition-sensitive;
2. Provide an evidence-driven pathway to policy reforms that promote availability and affordability of a more nutritious food system; and
3. Develop leadership and capacity to institutionalize nutrition-sensitive agriculture in India.

TARINA will link the evidence-generating capabilities of the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Emory University and Cornell University with the implementation, technical capacity and experience of leading NGO partners BAIF, CARE and GDS to achieve its objectives. The TCi will also establish a Centre of Excellence in Delhi that will further the integration of agriculture and nutrition in India through the provision of products and services and collaboration with other institutions in this space.

The Tata Trusts, India’s largest philanthropy, will support this consortium through their convening power and influence with policymakers at the national and state level and by being a  frontrunner  in  generating  demand  for  technical  assistance  to  proactively  integrate  a “nutrition lens” into agricultural projects that they fund.

For more information, click here.

Reason for hire:

This position seeks a dynamic individual to develop and manage the successful delivery of the TARINA project. The incumbent would be expected to provide leadership and strategic direction as well as manage day-to-day activities that contribute to TARINA’s overall achievement of its objectives. H/She should be comfortable interacting with a wide variety of stakeholders both external and internal along with the ability to articulate effectively across levels and mediums.

Roles and responsibilities:

Specific responsibilities related to the Director include, but are not limited to:

• Provide leadership and strategic direction on implementation of TARINA, and day-to-day management of activities that contribute to TARINA’s overall achievement of its objectives.
• Participate in the TARINA Steering Committee as an Ex Officio member/secretary and chair the TARINA Management Committee.
• Develop required processes and systems to ensure effective and high-quality execution of its various objectives.
• Ensure close collaboration and synergies between the partner institutions, and foster a mutually beneficial and positive learning environment.
• Oversee the development and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems and other learning tools for TARINA.
• Management and oversight of the Centre of Excellence in Delhi.
• Represent TARINA in various policy fora and meetings.

Must Have’s:

• A master’s degree in Agriculture, Economics, Nutrition or related field (or equivalent) management degree.
• Ten or more years of professional development-sector experience with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Demonstrated expertise in agriculture and nutrition issues in India
• Proven track record of high-quality, timely and optimized project and service delivery in projects of a similar nature, including experience in technical advisory for policy development and implementation.
• Some experience with large, advisory contracts and development projects for government or development agencies.
• A strong network of relevant stakeholders and potential clients, both globally and in India, in the fields of agriculture and/or nutrition.
• Financial analysis abilities and the necessary rigor to establish and manage budgets.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to work with independence and flexibility to ensure targets and outcomes are reached.

By Erin Kelly

Erin Kelly is a Communications Specialist at the International Center for Research on Women. This interview originally appeared on the ICRW website.

On January 20th, ICRW awarded Dr. Soumya Gupta with the inaugural Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research, which honors the work of an up-and-coming research focused on alleviating gender inequality. Dr. Gupta’s work focuses on the linkages between agriculture systems and women’s empowerment and in turn, how these affect nutritional outcomes. 

Dr. Gupta is a post-doctoral fellow with the Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative. Below, is ICRW’s interview with Dr. Gupta.

Why did you choose to focus on agriculture and nutrition? How are these two connected and what impact do they have on women’s lives?

I became interested in linkages between agriculture and nutrition because there is very little empirical evidence for India that connects farming systems and women’s empowerment in agriculture to their own micronutrient status. My research looks at three different farming systems in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra to identify what aspects of these systems are important for women’s empowerment, dietary diversification and women’s iron status.

Agriculture-based approaches are increasingly being propagated to tackle micronutrient malnutrition. Of the five main pathways between agriculture and nutrition identified by the World Bank, women’s empowerment is the least studied agriculture-nutrition pathway. Women constitute 30 percent of the agricultural labor force in India, but their access to productive resources, inputs and services for agriculture reflects a ‘gender gap’ that is most often rooted in social norms specific to a given geography and culture. The nature of the farming systems in which women practice agriculture may be important for determining the extent of this gap. Moreover, while women’s empowerment influences choices made in the realm of agriculture, it can also influence intra-household dynamics that can result in improved health and nutrition outcomes for themselves and their children. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you faced in gathering data for your research?

In terms of designing the survey there was a lot of back and forth with our collaborators in India. I worked with economists, nutritionists and medical professionals, all of whom brought their extensive experience and insights to the table. It was, however, a fine balance in designing a survey instrument that was concise and specific to the research objectives, and not give in to the temptation of designing a questionnaire that would collect “as much data as possible”.

Logistically one of the biggest challenges was setting up the blood-study. Building trust with the communities and convincing women that we would in fact return with detailed blood reports (which we did) took a lot of effort. Once the samples were collected they had to be centrifuged in the field itself. For this we had to have electricity and a functional centrifuge machine. We were fortunate that both those aspects worked in our favor for the most part.  

What assumptions did your research help overturn? What impact does that have on how we understand agriculture and nutrition among women?

We find that women in households with a more diverse production system do not necessarily have lower rates of iron deficiency. This suggests that production (and diet) diversity by itself might not be sufficient for improved micronutrient outcomes. Rather the emphasis needs to be on production and/or consumption of nutrient- dense crops. Women’s empowerment too is key for distinguishing women with iron deficiency from without. In addition to empowerment levels, an important role is also played by home gardens and iron supplementation. This suggests the need for a food-systems approach when leveraging agriculture for improved nutritional outcomes. 

Which part of your research are you most excited about?

Given the interdisciplinary nature of my research I am glad that we were able to incorporate the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) developed by IFPRI and its partners. At the time of the survey it was the first time the WEAI was assessed in an Indian context. The multi- dimensional nature of the WEAI allowed us to identify not just the key contributors to women’s disempowerment in agriculture, but also allowed us to compare women’s empowerment levels to those of men in the same household. The other aspect of my research that I am very proud of is the blood study to assess prevalence of iron deficiency. We gathered data on multiple iron assays and the non-response rate for the study was less than 2%. Being able to use the WEAI and iron results for three different farming systems brought out several differences, some which were explained by the data we had and some from the qualitative information collected during the fieldwork.  

How do you hope your research informs policy/practices?

Each farming system result from the WEAI (i.e. areas in which women are disempowered) can be used to inform the design of policies targeted at women who practice agriculture. Similarly, information on dietary intake suggests that behavior change communication, as well as iron supplementation, can be important to tackle stubbornly high rates of anemia seen in the region. From a data point of view this research highlights the need to have detailed biochemical information to assess both the prevalence and severity of iron deficiency. 

What’s next for you?

I am continuing my work with the Tata-Cornell Initiative on Agriculture and Nutrition (TCi) as a post-doctoral fellow. TCi has recently launched a new project, funded by the Gates Foundation, called the Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture (TARINA), that aims to promote nutrition-sensitive food systems by providing technical expertise, building an evidence-base for policy reform and institutionalizing a nutrition sensitive agriculture in India. This project provides me a good mix of fieldwork and research and I’m excited about what lies ahead! 

By Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, 2001 World Food Prize Laureate, and Chair of the TCi Advisory Board

Food systems have much greater impact on our health and wellbeing than they are getting credit for by the popular press and in the general debate. In spite of economically well-functioning food systems, nutrition-related health problems are huge both in the United States and worldwide. These problems could be significantly reduced if health goals are explicitly considered in the decisions made in the food systems.

Consumer choice at local farmers market in US (Credit: Harvest 2050)

Such decisions influence diets in a variety of ways, some positive and others negative. Unhealthy diets contribute to nutrient deficiencies and overweight, obesity and related illness. Every third non-pregnant woman worldwide is iron deficient and the number is increasing and one-fourth of the world’s preschool children do not grow to their full potential, primarily because of unhealthy diets leading to malnutrition. About 15% of the world population is obese; close to 10% has diabetes and many more are added every day. The impact of unhealthy diets is compounded by reductions in physical activity, both in high-income countries and, increasingly, in developing countries.

In the U.S. alone, between 40 and 45 million Americans are food insecure, while one-third of the total population is obese and another third is overweight but not (yet) obese. Thirty million Americans are diabetic, 86 million have pre-diabetes and the numbers are going up. The costs of malnutrition and related illness, including those mentioned above, are huge, whether measured in monetary costs to societies or in welfare terms for the individuals affected.

So how can food systems be changed to improve health and nutrition?

The obvious answer would be to assure that food systems are driven solely by health goals rather than economic goals. That is also a naïve and unworkable answer. Failure to take into account basic economic factors would lead to inefficient and unsustainable systems.

A better answer is to find ways to achieve both health and economic goals. The specific win-win solutions will depend on the context and the nature of the health problem. The following may serve as illustrations:

1) Joint efforts by the food processing industry, consumer-oriented non-government organizations and government to simultaneously change consumer preferences and the content of processed foods towards a more healthy diet, e.g. more micronutrients and fiber and less sugar, sweeteners and fat, while maintaining or increasing profits in the food processing industry.  Such efforts, which would be relevant in communities where obesity is the most important diet-related problem, might include nutrition education, advertising and changes in government regulations, subsidies and other policies, including those that influence relative prices of various food commodities.  There is an urgent need for the interested parties to get together to design and implement a mutually beneficial solution to the obesity problem caused by the current unhealthy diet.

2) Fortification of basic food staples with nutrients that are deficient in the diet.  While industrial fortification is widespread in the United States, benefitting both the processing industry and consumers, it is much less common in developing countries.  In addition, biofortification (breeding crops to increase their nutrition value) offers opportunities for higher incomes for farmers and better diets for consumers.

Consumer choice at farmers market in India (Credit: Jessica Ames)

3) Expanded publicly and privately funded research to increase the productivity and reduce unit-costs of production of fruit and vegetables to encourage increased micronutrient consumption and decreased intake of dietary energy while increasing incomes to farmers, a win-win opportunity waiting to be exploited.

4) Investments in rural infrastructure, such as roads, electricity and market facilities, in low-income countries. This would reduce the post-harvest losses and marketing costs for the benefit of farmers, consumers and traders.

Many other illustrations of potential win-wins could be mentioned. The key point is that efforts to achieve health goals that are compatible with economic goals pursued by the agents in the food system, will succeed. Those that are incompatible will fail.

This blog originally appeared on the Harvest 2050 blog on January 11, 2016.  Learn more about the Global Harvest Initiative and follow them on twitter @Harvest2050.

TCi Interns conducting market-level dietary diversity survey, Telangana, India (Photo credit: Jessica Ames)

This summer internship opportunity in India may be of special interest to students in departments like government, economics, international relations, development studies, health, nutrition, human ecology, anthropology, sociology, gender studies, South Asian studies, history, etc.

Cornell University undergraduates and graduate students are welcome to apply. Preference is given to students returning to Cornell in the fall (e.g. Juniors and first year grad students).

Apply today! Deadline to apply is Wednesday, January 27th by 11:59 p.m.

For more information, read the Call for Applications below.

TCi Interns enjoy unique cross-cultural exchange opportunities while working in rural villages and receiving support by partner organizations like ICRISAT

Call for Applications: TCi Summer Internship

The application period for the TCi Summer Internship Program is open!  The application packet can be accessed here.  The deadline has been extended to Wednesday, January 27th (the first day of classes).  

About TCi:
TCi is the Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative.  It is a long-term, multidisciplinary research program. TCi focuses on policy analysis and the design and evaluation of innovative interventions linking agriculture, food systems, human nutrition, and poverty in India.  Learn more.

About the TCi Summer Internship:
This is a competitive, merit-based internship that requires interns to engage full-time over the course of 6-10 weeks in an applied, development-related research project in India. Interns will contribute to the ongoing research projects developed by TCi in conjunction with several of our partner collaborators. Preference is given to students who will be returning in the fall (especially Masters/professional students and Juniors), but all are welcome to apply. Funding provided. Learn more.

For more information:
·         Visit the website: http://tci.cals.cornell.edu/projects/tci-summer-internship
·         Read the feature article in periodiCALS.
·         Hear from previous interns on the blog.
·         Get a quick overview through an informational briefing.

To submit your application or if you have further questions, please contact Jessica Ames, Program Manager, at ja524(at)cornell(dot)edu.  

Remember, applications are due on Wednesday, January 27th by 11:59 p.m.

Thank you for your interest! Good luck in your application!

By Erin Kelly

Erin Kelly is a Communications Specialist at the International Center for Research on Women. This is a re-post of her piece which originally appeared on the News & Commentary section of the ICRW website.

The International Center for Research on Women is proud to announce the winner of the inaugural Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research.

After careful consideration by a diverse panel of judges, the award will be conferred to Dr. Soumya Gupta.

Dr. Gupta is a post-doctoral fellow with the Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative at Cornell University. Dr. Gupta’s PhD research examined the extent to which women’s empowerment in rural communities of central India is influenced by agricultural management practices and how these practices, in turn, influence the quality of women’s diet and their vulnerability to iron deficiency.

Dr. Gupta’s research is among the first to systematically and empirically assess the empowerment status of women in India as it relates to agricultural determinants and nutritional outcomes. It recognizes the fact that while women’s empowerment influences choices made in the realm of agriculture, it can also influence their own nutritional outcomes. In her research, she focuses on assessing iron deficiency, which affects approximately half of the women in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, India. Iron deficiency is known to adversely affect cognitive development, immune system response to infections and labor productivity. It is the most prevalent micronutrient deficiency in the world and iron deficiency anemia is a severe public health concern in India.

Her research indicated that while diversification of production systems and diets is an important pathway to improved nutrition, the outcome is conditional on women’s status. She found that empowered women tend to have better access to diet diversity and improved iron status. Dr. Gupta’s research also highlights the importance of a systemic approach to improving nutritional goals and the need for targeted interventions.

“I could not imagine a more deserving researcher upon which to bestow the honor of the inaugural Paula Kantor Award,” said ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou. “Dr. Gupta’s work truly embodies the spirit and passion that Paula brought to her work every day. I see so many parallels between the important work that Paula was doing to better integrate gender into agriculture and rural development and Dr. Gupta’s field research. I look forward to giving this special award to Dr. Gupta and to watching her grow as a researcher focused on filling in critical gaps in knowledge on issues affecting women and girls.”

Dr. Gupta received her PhD in Applied Economics from Cornell University, a master’s degree from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India, and a bachelor’s degree from Hindu College (University of Delhi).

“I am honored to be the first recipient of the Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research. There is a great need for better data (and metrics) in the field of agriculture, nutrition and women’s empowerment. In light of that, the Paula Kantor award acknowledges the importance of gathering primary data for evidence-based research,” said Dr. Gupta. “At the same time the Award also recognizes the tremendous effort that goes into designing a field-based data collection activity that is methodologically robust, contextually relevant, and ethically sound. I am inspired by Paula’s work and life, and with this award look forward to continuing my research on the linkages between nutrition and agriculture with a focus on women’s empowerment, and contributing to policy reform in a meaningful way.”

This is the first year that ICRW is giving out the Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research, designed to honor the legacy of former ICRW colleague Paula Kantor, who was killed while working in Afghanistan, while honoring the work of a young, promising researcher.

Dr. Gupta will receive the award at ICRW’s 40^th Anniversary celebration in New Delhi, India on January 20^th.

By Megan Witwer 

Megan joined the TCi staff in 2015 as a research support specialist. She is assisting with the coordination and administration of the TARINA project.

Participants of the first meeting of the TARINA Consortium at the IFPRI Campus in New Delhi, December 14-16, 2015

Over the past 50 years, the Green Revolution in India has ushered in new technologies that enhanced the productivity of staple grains and transformed the country’s agricultural landscape. As diverse farmlands were converted to monoculture fields of wheat, maize and rice, land dedicated to micronutrient-rich food crops diminished. While this transformation has helped to alleviate hunger, much of the rural population suffers from micronutrient deficiencies, or what is often referred to as hidden hunger. These deficiencies have resulted in a high incidence of childhood stunting and wasting as well as anemia in both women and children, which threaten the long-term health and development of India’s rural population.

To tackle hidden hunger and boost the nutrition profile of agriculture in India, the TCi has been awarded a US $13.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With this new investment, the TCi will promote a nutrition-sensitive food system in India that enhances the rural poor’s year-round access to more affordable, diverse and quality foods. This will be achieved through the integration of nutrition-focused objectives, actions and metrics into ongoing and future agricultural projects and programs, primarily in the States of Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, as well as the potential scaling up of these initiatives.

The four-year grant establishes Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture (TARINA), a consortium that connects multi-disciplinary and policy-focused academics with scale, quality and impact-focused Indian implementation partners and policy influencers. Led by TCi, the TARINA Consortium links the evidence-generating capacities of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Emory and Cornell Universities with the implementation and technical capacities of leading NGO partners – BAIF Development Research Foundation, CARE India and Grameen Development Services (GDS). The TARINA project was launched on 1st of December 2015 and will run through November 2019.

The broad objectives of the project are to:

1. Provide technical assistance in redesigning agricultural projects to ensure nutrition outcomes at scale.
2. Provide assistance and evidence for policy reform that enhances diet quality at affordable prices.
3. Build capacity to design and implement nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs and policies.

From the 14th-16th of December 2015, the TARINA Consortium met for the first time in New Delhi to agree on research and activities that will be carried out under the project’s three main objectives, and the next steps for establishing an M&E framework.

With regard to the first objective, the consortium discussed where TARINA could be integrated into ongoing activities of projects and programs implemented by BAIF in Bihar, CARE in Odisha and GDS in Uttar Pradesh. Several areas of intervention were identified for each state, including a set of interventions that are common across all three states and that have the potential to be scaled up. These include the promotion and development of: pulse production, labor-saving technologies for women, dairy value chains, kitchen gardens and small ruminants. NGO partners agreed to begin preparatory work and planning around these common areas of intervention by organizing and mobilizing community groups and institutions.

In a discussion regarding TARINA’s second objective, the consortium agreed to prioritize research initiatives according to their: (1) policy relevance and traction, (2) nutritional impact and (3) feasibility. Based on these criteria, the consortium decided to focus on the following research topics: diversification in agricultural production; the nutrition dimension of integrated value chains; managing price shocks; the nutrition dimension of agricultural research and extension; improving the availability of more nutritious foods; and policy convergence across nutrition, health and agricultural programs.

Similarly, in a discussion regarding the project’s third objective, the consortium agreed to focus on a core set of action items. These include the initiation of policy dialogue; communication and outreach; building the capacities of implementation and policy partners; consolidating and collating existing research; and establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) in New Delhi that will help implement these activities and offer products and services which support the project’s overall goal, including the provision of new evidence and research where needed. The CoE will also work to generate demand for its products and services to ensure its sustainability beyond the life of the four-year grant.

Prior to establishing an M&E framework for TARINA, the consortium will conduct a diagnostic survey to gain a better understanding of the challenges and constraints affecting food and nutrition outcomes in each project location. The survey is a rapid assessment that will rely on existing data and information as well as interviews with community groups and local stakeholders. It is intended to deepen the consortium’s knowledge about ongoing projects and programs implemented by NGO partners and the general context in each state. Results from the diagnostic study will help to narrow interventions that will be implemented in each project location under objective one, and to refine research initiatives prioritized under objectives two and three. They will also be used to identify indicators for monitoring and evaluating the impact of project interventions over time.

A team of TCi researchers will join NGO partners in their respective project locations to complete the diagnostic survey from February to March 2016. The TARINA Consortium will then reconvene in late March to finalize a work plan for years one and two of the project and to decide on the metrics for the M&E framework based on the results of the survey.