Angel Navuri : 14th February 2011
The government has been advised to re-introduce the teaching of agriculture in primary schools to equip pupils with knowledge which they can apply towards the realisation of Kilimo Kwanza.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian during a conference on Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health, the Director General for International Food Policy Institute, Shenggen Fan said by introducing the subject in primary schools it will help to create the foundation for future experts who will make the Kilimo Kwanza initiative reality.
“We need to have agriculture experts in future and the subject has to be introduced to the individuals from primary school level,” he said, noting that the subject is currently taught mainly in colleges and universities.
Fan also advised the government of Tanzania to come up with a new paradigm for agricultural development whereby agricultural growth will not only increase production and reduce poverty but also improve nutrition.
He said agricultural experts in the country should link agriculture with health and nutrition as a way of reducing malnutrition.
The question facing Tanzania is how to set priorities and sequence interventions to maximise the benefits from the dynamic and nonlinear relationship between growth and nutrition while also paying attention to the role of conditional factors, he said.
“Experts should not influence farmers on increasing production without linking it with health and this is how we will reduce malnutrition for many children and women who have been affected,” Fan added.
He said as part of overall economic growth, agricultural growth has an important role to play in reducing and preventing under nutrition through a number of channels.
He said its impact extends from increased household ability to purchase and produce more nutritious food to economy-wide effects, such as increasing government revenues to health, infrastructure and nutrition intervention programmes.
According to the DG other factors, such as infrastructure, the status of women including their educational level and land distribution, may contribute to how well agricultural growth translates into nutritional improvements.
He said: “The question we face now is to what extent can agricultural growth and growth in particular sub-sectors of agriculture can be a springboard for nutritional improvement through such channels as increased agricultural production and lower food prices.”
Opening the conference, India Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh said malnutrition remained a serious problem in many parts of Africa and other developing countries. Globally, nearly 1 billion people still go hungry daily.
“Nearly one in four children under age of five is underweight. The problem of hidden hunger that is, deficiency of essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron, Vitamin A and iodine is also severe. Nutrition is therefore, a serious challenge that has not received the attention it truly deserves,” explained the PM
According to him, malnutrition is not only a consequence of poverty; it is also a cause of poverty. A malnourished child is more vulnerable to diseases and less able to earn a living. The complexity of causes that underlie malnutrition calls for a multi-sectoral strategy to address the three key issues of availability, access and absorption.
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=26043
The government has been advised to re-introduce the teaching of agriculture in primary schools to equip pupils with knowledge which they can apply towards the realisation of Kilimo Kwanza.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian during a conference on Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health, the Director General for International Food Policy Institute, Shenggen Fan said by introducing the subject in primary schools it will help to create the foundation for future experts who will make the Kilimo Kwanza initiative reality.
“We need to have agriculture experts in future and the subject has to be introduced to the individuals from primary school level,” he said, noting that the subject is currently taught mainly in colleges and universities.
Fan also advised the government of Tanzania to come up with a new paradigm for agricultural development whereby agricultural growth will not only increase production and reduce poverty but also improve nutrition.
He said agricultural experts in the country should link agriculture with health and nutrition as a way of reducing malnutrition.
The question facing Tanzania is how to set priorities and sequence interventions to maximise the benefits from the dynamic and nonlinear relationship between growth and nutrition while also paying attention to the role of conditional factors, he said.
“Experts should not influence farmers on increasing production without linking it with health and this is how we will reduce malnutrition for many children and women who have been affected,” Fan added.
He said as part of overall economic growth, agricultural growth has an important role to play in reducing and preventing under nutrition through a number of channels.
He said its impact extends from increased household ability to purchase and produce more nutritious food to economy-wide effects, such as increasing government revenues to health, infrastructure and nutrition intervention programmes.
According to the DG other factors, such as infrastructure, the status of women including their educational level and land distribution, may contribute to how well agricultural growth translates into nutritional improvements.
He said: “The question we face now is to what extent can agricultural growth and growth in particular sub-sectors of agriculture can be a springboard for nutritional improvement through such channels as increased agricultural production and lower food prices.”
Opening the conference, India Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh said malnutrition remained a serious problem in many parts of Africa and other developing countries. Globally, nearly 1 billion people still go hungry daily.
“Nearly one in four children under age of five is underweight. The problem of hidden hunger that is, deficiency of essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron, Vitamin A and iodine is also severe. Nutrition is therefore, a serious challenge that has not received the attention it truly deserves,” explained the PM
According to him, malnutrition is not only a consequence of poverty; it is also a cause of poverty. A malnourished child is more vulnerable to diseases and less able to earn a living. The complexity of causes that underlie malnutrition calls for a multi-sectoral strategy to address the three key issues of availability, access and absorption.
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=26043
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