Compact2025 News in Brief: October 2, 2019

To accelerate progress to end hunger and undernutrition around the world, the News in Brief informs partners on emerging research and innovation, developments in global, regional, and national policies and programs, and timely news and events. Please feel free to share any feedback at IFPRI-Compact2025@cgiar.org. Find the latest developments in Compact2025 here.

Concerted actions for maternal entitlements could save lives and benefit economy in Nigeria

The benefits of breastfeeding and the contribution of maternity entitlements to increasing rates of exclusive breastfeeding are well known but not well researched. Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health teamed up with Alive & Thrive and UNICEF to study workplace policies related to parental leave and breastfeeding. The study shows that concerted action on the part of the public and private sectors could save thousands of lives and provide huge economic benefits.

The burden of child and maternal malnutrition in India: Improvements have to be accelerated

Malnutrition continues to be the leading risk factor for disease burden in India, concludes an analysis of the disease burden attributable to child and maternal malnutrition published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. While encouraging that India has set ambitious targets to reduce malnutrition through its National Nutrition Mission, the trends up to 2017 indicate that improvements for all malnutrition indicators have to be accelerated in most states to achieve the Indian targets in 2022 and the global targets in 2030.

Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report highlights the urgency of addressing unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and frozen parts of the planet. The report also highlights how future shifts in fish distribution and decreased abundance and catch potential due to climate change are projected to affect income, livelihoods, and food security of marine resource-dependent communities.

Men’s involvement in maternal and child health in rural Central Malawi

Contrary to literature suggesting that women are the main producers, procurers, and preparers of food, a study in PLOS One finds that in rural Central Malawi men are increasingly becoming responsible for providing and purchasing food and that they are supportive in food preparation and household activities. The authors suggest that opportunities exist for designing inclusive food and agriculture policies that can challenge misinterpretations of women’s role in food security and the underlying systems that reinforce gender inequalities.

Oil palm boom in Indonesia positively affects farm household diets

A Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems study finds high levels of undernourishment and micronutrient deficiency in farm households in Indonesia. Results suggest that oil palm adoption positively affects household dietary diversity, food availability, fruit and vegetable consumption, and micronutrient consumption both in transmigrant and local communities.

UN General Assembly and associated events tackle climate change and SDG progress

The 74^th session of the UN General Assembly from September 17–30 comprised several key side events and high-level meetings including:

The Climate Action Summit, during which a coalition of donors, aid institutions, and philanthropy promised to invest more than US$650 million in the CGIAR System Organization as part of a broader commitment of over US$790 million to address the impact of climate change on food and agriculture.
The Sustainable Development Goals Summit, the first summit comprehensively reviewing progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 SDGs since their adoption in 2015.
The Goalkeepers event—hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—that launched the Foundation’s annual report card on the world’s progress toward the SDGs with a focus on how geography and gender contribute to global inequality.
The World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit and the launch of the Food Action Alliance—a new partnership between the public and private sectors and international multilateral organizations to transform global food production.

Indian nutrition community gathers to discuss research findings

On September 24, stakeholders from the nutrition community in India convened to share findings from ongoing or recently completed implementation research studies, especially on India’s National Nutrition Mission’s key pillars. “Delivering for Nutrition in India: Insights from Implementation Research” was co-hosted by IFPRI, the National Institute of Nutrition, and NITI Aayog, and supported by Alive & Thrive, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, UNICEF, the World Bank, and the India Nutrition Initiative.

Nutrition programs need to focus on the double burden of malnutrition

Drawing on evidence from Guatemala, an IFPRI blog post explores the potential unintended consequences of unhealthy weight gain from food-assisted maternal and child health and nutrition programs. The authors highlight the importance of nutrition programs pursuing double-duty actions to simultaneously address problems of undernutrition as well as overweight/obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases.

SAFANSI comes to a close

The South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiative (SAFANSI) formally ended on September 30. The full set of outputs produced over the lifetime of the program are available on the World Bank website.

Highlights from this and past Compact2025 News in Briefs, along with other key resources, can be found at the Compact2025 Knowledge & Innovation Hub resources page.

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