Research Gaps in Food and Nutrition Security Across Africa

Richmond AryeeteyUniversity of Ghana School of Public Health

3 Billion

Poor Quality Diets

3-16% GDP loss

Undernutrition: Africa & Asia

3 – 6 million cases

Nigeria (2011-2030)

Key challenges of Food & Nutrition Security

(IFPRI, 2016; Global Panel, 2016)

Generate new evidence

Manage and Use existing

evidence

Assumptions about research

Research

Evidence

Better decisions

Broader evidence landscape

Case studies in Ghanaian context

Evidence Synthesi

s

Evidence landscape

Utilization for Decision making

New Research(applied)

New research(basic)

Strengthen qualityFormalize evidence

use Share evidencePromote use of

evidenceDemand

Existing research Data& findings

generate manage translate use

“Level of evidence” pyramid

GOLDEN STANDARD

GAPS in EVIDENCE Landscape

–Substantial duplication of research effort–Research not adequately linked with local

priorities–Research was driven by external parties –Research and policy community not linked

Lachat et al 2014, Holdsworth et al, 2014)

Identifying nutrition problems, agenda-setting, commitment-building, and priority-setting at all levels

Coordination, alignment and collaboration in assessments, analytics, planning, implementation and evaluation

Accessing information on potential nutrition-specific interventions, nutrition sensitive actions, programs, policies, and implementation innovations

Adopting, adapting and designing actions andinnovations

Detailed implementation planning,guidelines, commodities, training manuals, job aids..

Mobilizing human, financial and organizational resources

Initiating, managing and expanding implementation

Monitoring, evaluating, learning, adapting, sustaining and/or terminating

ImplementationCapacitiesProcedures,Practices,PoliciesImplementationKnowledge PortfolioEvidence,Information,Guidelines,Experience

The Roles of Implementation Knowledge and Capacities (in the Implementation Spectrum)

Credit: David Pelletier

Food and Nutrition Research landscape in Ghana

• Micronutrient deficiencies• Epidemiology of undernutrition focused on children• Limited attention to nutrition of women and adolescents

Focus on undernutrition

• Focused on epidemiology of overweight/obesity• Limited evidence on diets, food environment & behaviors• Experiments testing interventions are rare

Emerging attention on over-nutrition

• Focused on social safety nets and nutrition-sensitive food security

• Limited evidence on harnessing poverty alleviation programs to address nutrition

•

Emerging attention to nutrition

sensitive research

N

UTR

ITIO

N L

INKS

1. Gaps identified in Nutrition Links Project• How can effective

strategies in nutrition sensitive agriculture work in one setting but not in another?

Replicating success

• What strategies are needed to promote inter-institutional planning and programming between health and agriculture?

Delivery mechanisms

• Integration of data systems across Agriculture, health, nutrition, livelihoods?

• Quality of routine data• Strenthening use

District Data systems

2. Priority research gaps in Nutrition in Ghana

Behavioural issues

•Understanding traditional diets•Socio-cultural influences on diet and nutrition•Social and behaviour change•Dynamics of complementary feeding

Implementation issues

•Local context evidence for recommended actions•Implementation gaps•How social norms influence intervention uptake

Anemia (women and children), Stunting, iodine deficiency disorders, zinc deficiency and diarria

3. Research Gaps relating to healthy diets in GhanaWeak contextual evidence for developing

food-based dietary guidelines

Food consumption behaviour• Portion sizes• Eating habits

Understanding of the food environment• Food access• Food composition

Drivers of food choice

4. SUN Movement Nutrition Research GapsNutrition capacity

•Mapping capacity in nutrition •Building nutrition capacity in non-health sectors•Deploying nutrition training through community institutions eg banks

Nutrition sensitive interventions

•How to make social protection programs work for nutrition •Promoting uptake and scale up of nutrition-sensitive solutions eg OFSP, ODF

Working together

•Understanding best mechanisms for working together across sectors•How to build and sustain transformational leadership in multi-sectoral teams

Food and nutrition data systems to monitor progress

Conclusions

• There is need for attention to broader evidence pipeline

• Leadership is needed at country level to manage food and nutrition security research across sectors

• Need to recognize the contextual differences within countries and to focus attention on understanding subnational gaps in evidence