thank you for the opportunity to comment. The issues raised for discussion are valid. Quite large literature available onthe questions raised. Yet they are in different disciplines and the specialists in one ares often do have knowledge about the other and hence when it comes to beinging it all together we feel we dont have the information. The book by Per Pinsturp - Andersen and Margaret Biswa on Nutriton And Develop some 30 years ago covered some of the issues. A collegue of mine just commneted, " we have not acted on the knowledge we already have on these issues." While i am not sure of this, I do believe what is missing is the capcity to design and implement food system based nutrition interventions and nutrition driven food system design. Anyone who has the local knowldge in developing countries know that these issues are not even consdiered either by the researhcers or by the practitioners mainly due to wantof capacity. Hopefully we can develop some tools that will help in decentralised program design that will bring food systems and nutrition outcomes to gether. They are only in the policy statements and startegy dicument at best in some countries. Even there not much is known on how to proctically change the desings of the food ssystems to accomplish nutritional outcomes. This will require multidisciplinary cpacity of teaching nutritionist to ocnsider food ssytem variables and extension profesionals on nutritional objectives.
I share some efforts in this direction.
1. Kataki, P., and S. C. Babu, eds. 2002. Food Systems for Human Nutrition. New York: Haworth Press.
You can google this book which has vaious chapters that could be useful for this on going discussion, form technology, insitutions, M&E to extension and policy and program design.
2. Babu, S. C., and P. Sanyal. 2009. Food Security, Poverty, and Nutrition Policy Analysis: Statistical Methods and Policy Applications. New York: Elsevier Publishers.
This book can help in building capcity for desinging local program interventions linking food systems and nutritional outcomes.
THE FOLLOWING PAPERS WILL BE USEFUL AS WELL
1. Babu, S. C. 2002. Food Systems for Improved Human Nutrition: Linking Agriculture, Nutrition and Productivity. Journal of Crop Production 6 (1/2): 7-30.
2. Babu, S. 2002. Designing Nutrition Interventions with Food Systems: Planning, Communication, Monitoring and Evaluation. Journal of Crop Production 6 (1/2): 365-373.
3. Babu, S. C., and V. Rhoe. 2002. Agroforestry Systems for Food and Nutrition Security – Potentials, Pathways and Policy Research Needs. Journal of Crop Production 6 (1/2): 177-192.
4. Babu, S. C. 2000. Rural Nutrition Interventions with Indigenous Plant Foods - A Case Study of Vitamin A Deficiency in Malawi. Biotechnology, Agronomy, Society and Environment 4(3): 169-179.
5. Babu, S. C. 1999. Designing Decentralized Food Security and Nutrition Policies- A Knowledge-based System Approach in Malawi. Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture 38(1): 78-95.
THANK YOU
SURESH BABU
IFPRI
Suresh Babu