Chapter 7

Planning, Monitoring and

Evaluation of Nutrition Sensitive
Agriculture Interventions
 Course outline
Introduction

Basic principles of planning for NSA

interventions.

Monitoring and evaluation indicators

for NSA activities.
 Introduction
 The Agricultural sector has the larger potential in
feeding people well by increasing
 Availability
 Affordability and
 Consumption of diverse
 Safe
 Nutritious foods and
 Diets aligned with dietary recommendations and
environmental sustainability.
 The idea of nutrition-sensitive agriculture has not
yet been internalized by agriculture project
planners and managers.
[Link] principles of planning for NSA interventions
• The basic principle of planning to make
agriculture system nutrition sensitive can be
classified as
Program and
Policy principles
• The components of each principle are presented as
follows:
Program principles
At program level, agricultural programs and
investments can strengthen impact on nutrition if
they are designed considering the following:
 Cont’d
[Link] explicit nutrition objectives and indicators into their
design, track and mitigate potential harms
Nutrition-sensitive agricultural investment programs
should not only seek to improve nutritional outcomes, they
should, at least, ensure that they do no harm to the
nutritional status of the project stakeholders, including
producers and consumers.
Harm may arise from agricultural interventions:
 Employment levels have remained static or unchanged
Small producers have been excluded
Women are not able to participate
Household food security has deteriorated
Intra-household equity of income has declined;
While planning, we have to consider the following questions:
What is/are the program’s main objective(s)?

 Is nutrition considered as part of the objective(s)?

How?

What nutrition indicators can be used to measure

the achievement of these objectives?

What is/are the impact pathway(s) through which

the program is likely to impact nutrition?
2. Assess the context at the local level to design
appropriate activities to address the types and
causes of malnutrition
• During designing a nutrition-sensitive
intervention, an analysis of the context, in
particular of the nutritional problems that
affect different parts of the population, their
multiple causes, and the social and
institutional contexts that shape the food and
nutrition security situation is paramount
important.
 3. Target the vulnerable and improve equity
• Throughout planning of our agricultural intervention,
target the vulnerable (women of reproductive age
group, children, youth, the landless, and others) and
improve equity is paramount important.
• Agricultural planner, should address the following
question.
• Who will benefit from the program?
• How is the project or investment expected to reach
women of childbearing age and young children?
• Is it possible that the intervention may benefit one
group while harming another?
4. Collaborate and coordinate with other sectors
Impact on nutritional status cannot
necessarily be achieved by food and
agriculture programs alone.
Access to health, water and sanitation, education
and social protection programs are usually
required.
It is therefore important to seek synergies with
operations from other sectors like environment,
and other development partners through joint
strategies with common goals, to address the
multiple underlying causes of malnutrition.
 As an agricultural planner, we should consider the
following questions while planning to collaborate with
other sectors.
 Are existing or proposed mechanisms for facilitating
coordination and communication among stakeholders
available?
 At what level do they operate?
 Who is involved in this process?
 Could agricultural investment take place in the same
geographic area as other health, water and sanitation,
and social protection programs which are also
important for reducing malnutrition?
 Could the project include alternative income-
generating activities or link with social safety nets for
hungry seasons?
5. Maintain or improve the natural resource base
During planning, our activities should consider to use the
natural resources in a sustainable way, contribute to climate
change adaptation, and take measures to ensure that wild
biodiversity is maintained and neither crops nor agricultural
practices degrade the natural resource base.
Water, soil, air, climate and biodiversity are critical to the
livelihoods and resilience of vulnerable farmers and to
sustainable food and nutrition security for all.
• We should also take into consideration the following
question during planning
• Does our agricultural intervention include measures to
protect or improve soil quality and biodiversity?
• Is our agriculture intervention likely to affect the
quantity and quality of water available to households
with malnourished individuals?
6. Empower women
Women’s income and decision-making power is linked to improved
nutrition for household members because of the role women play
across cultures as providers and gatekeepers of household nutrition,
child care, and health.
Furthermore, gender equity takes into account women’s central role
in translating agricultural inputs and outputs into nutrition impacts.
 Our planning should answer following questions:
 How will women be involved and benefit from the agriculture
program interventions?
 Are they likely to control income generated by the program?
 How is the project expected to influence gender-specific time
demands?
 Are time demands for women likely to reduce the quality of child
care?
 Are time demands for women likely to result in their increased
income and decision-making power?
[Link] production diversification and increase
production of nutrient-dense crops and small-scale
livestock
Diversified production systems is important for small holder farmers to
ensure resilience to climate and price shocks, more diverse food
consumption, reduction of seasonal food and income fluctuations, and
greater and more gender-equitable income-generations.
 Therefore, during planning, we have to consider the following
questions:
 Do farmers reside close enough to their fields that diversifying
production is likely to influence own-consumption?
 Do farmers have access to markets where they would be able to sell
perishable foods?
 Are there specific micronutrient-rich foods that are unavailable or
too expensive?
 What local resources or underutilized foods could be grown to
improve diets and nutrient intake?
 8. Improve processing, storage and preservation
• Appropriate processing, storage and preservation are essential to
reduce post-harvest losses and improve or prolong access to and
consumption of micronutrient-rich foods.
• Processing and storage techniques can preserve the
nutrient content of food, and certain processing techniques
can even increase it, e.g. roasting, germination and
fermentation.
 Therefore, we have to answer the following questions during
planning for agriculture interventions:
Does the program change the quality, food safety or
nutrient content of the food(s) targeted by the project?
What crops might be appropriate for enhanced
preservation?
Are there entry points in the value chain for aflatoxin
control?
 9. Expand markets and market access for
vulnerable groups, particularly for marketing
nutritious foods.
Market opportunities may be an incentive for
farmers to produce and potentially consume
nutritious foods they otherwise would not.
An important contribution that investments in
agricultural value chains can make to nutrition
is by improving market access:
 For producers, processors and retailers, to help them sell
their products and generate income which can be invested
in better health, care and food consumption; and
 For consumers, to improve availability and affordability
of nutrient-dense foods.
10. Incorporate nutrition promotion and education
It is important to include measures in
program design to build on existing local
knowledge, attitudes and practices of the
community on nutrition.
Nutrition knowledge can enhance the
impact of production and income in rural
households, especially important for women
and young children, and can increase
demand for nutritious foods in the general
population.
 2. Policy principles
• Agriculture programs and investments need to be
supported by an enabling policy environment if they are to
contribute to improving nutrition.
• Food and agriculture policies can have a better impact on
nutrition if they:
1. Increase incentives (and decrease disincentives) for
availability, access, and consumption of diverse, nutritious
and safe foods through environmentally sustainable
production, trade, and distribution:
2. Monitor dietary consumption and access to safe, diverse, and
nutritious foods.
3. Include measures that protect and empower the poor and women
4. Develop capacity
5. Support multi-sectoral strategies to improve nutrition:
 7.2. Monitoring and evaluation indicators for NSA activities
• The idea of nutrition-sensitive agriculture has not yet been
internalized by agriculture project planners and managers. So,
proper monitoring and evaluation of agricultural projects for their
impact on household food security and nutrition is important.
 The monitoring data that should be collected for NSA
interventions are;
• Basic socio-demographic information
• Information indicating participation and the extent to which
households have been reached/affected by the agriculture project
• Data on household food insecurity levels and on the dietary
quality
• Data on child and maternal nutritional status
• Income level of the household
• Information on women’s empowerment (qualitative and
quantitative
• On-farm availability, diversity, and safety of foods
THANK YOU
&
GOOD LUCK
 Quiz 1 (10 Points)
1. Who do you think should engage in
NSA?

2. Two basic principle of planning in NSA.

3. List some data needed for Monitoring

and Evaluating NSA Interventions.