Knowledge

​IFAD Investments have opportunities for improving food security and nutrition outcomes. In 2016 ESA conducted a mapping exercise on nutrition sensitive interventions to provide insight for an effective nutrition mainstreaming and operations at project level.

The purpose of this study is to map nutrition-sensitive interventions in IFAD-funded projects in the ESA region, and to provide guidance for effective nutrition mainstreaming operations. 

The specific objectives are to: 

(1) map the various interventions used in delivering nutrition-sensitive activities; 

(2) identify pathways for nutrition outcomes; 

(3) evaluate the scale and scope of intervention implementation; 

(4) assess the effect of the project on beneficiaries; 

(5) identify and map areas of opportunities for scaling up; 

and (6) identify challenges, weaknesses and gaps. 

Bananas (Musa spp.), including dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana are the eighth most important food crop in the world, and the fourth most important in least
developed countries (FAOSTAT, 2013). They are produced in 135 countries and territories across the tropics and subtropics. The vast majority of producers are smallholder farmers
who grow the crop for either home consumption or local markets. Less than 15 per cent of the global production of more than 130 million metric tons is exported. Today, the
international banana trade, totaling around 17 million metric tons, is worth over US$7 billion per year (FAOSTAT).

The Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM), an outcome of the G8 and G20 discussions on food security and agricultural growth, is a four year multi-donor partnership between developing nations and development partners to make risk management an integral part of policy planning and implementation in the agricultural sector.