1. Agriculture- Nutrition Research
Nikhil Raj, Director, TCI-TARINA
28th September 2017

2. TCI-TARINA: Under the TCI for Agriculture and Nutrition at Cornell University, TARINA is the flagship programme which is essentially a consortium of research institutes, development practitioners & NGOs
Objective
To tackle malnutrition in India by promoting more nutrition- sensitive food system that enhances the availability and affordability of diverse, high-quality and nutrient-rich foods for the rural poor.
Activities
TARINA provides a mix of technical assistance, evidence generation and capacity building for the design and implementation of agricultural projects, programs and policies that ensure improved nutrition outcomes.
About TCI-TARINA

3. Presentation Structure
Embedding the Food Systems Approach to Address Nutrition Outcomes
Diversifying food systems in India: Emerging questions
TCI- TARINA & Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture: an effort towards promoting a diversified food system

4. The Food Systems Approach A possible starting point for Agri-Nutrition Research

5. A food systems approach
What is a food system? All individuals, enterprises, and institutions that influence the supply, demand, consumption, and absorption of food and micronutrients.
GOAL: Improving the rural poor’s year-round access to affordable, diverse, and quality foods
PATHWAY: Knowledge of factors that influence both agriculture and nutrition within and between different stages of the food supply chain, as well as within and between different scales, from households to villages, districts and beyond.

6. Multi-sectoral pathways towards improved nutrition
HOUSEHOLD FOOD SUPPLY & INCOME
HOUSEHOLD ACCESS TO MICRONUTRIENTS
NUTRIENT ABSORPTION & UTILIZATION
INTRA-HOUSEHOLD ALLOCATION PATHWAY
SANITATION PATHWAY
FOOD DIVERSITY PATHWAY
INCOME PATHWAY
HOUSEHOLD FOOD ACCESS
(Quantity, quality and diversity of food)
INDIVIDUAL NUTRITION
(Individual intake and absorption of nutrient-dense foods)
IMPROVED NUTRITION OUTCOMES
ALLOCATION OF FOOD TO WOMEN & CHILDREN
1) Area of land cropped is not shown but it is + and ***

7. Diversifying food systems in India Emerging questions

8. India’s Food System Transformation Challenges
Meeting the rising demand for diet diversity
Promoting food system diversity for better nutrition outcomes - Food system still predominantly staple cereal based & vegetarian
Making nutritious food affordable to the poor
Improving the nutrition-sensitivity of the safety net programs

9. Is agricultural supply responding to the rising demand for diversity?X 
Availability of pulses remains a challenge- regional patterns changing – with lower production in the north Indian states;
Concentration of cereal production – (as % of GCA) - high concentration in the north Indian states and Eastern India); Limited crop diversity
Rising price trends of protein rich food – milk, meat
Pulses production - MP and Maharashtra have shown an increase in pulses production when seen over the last five decades;
Fruits and vegetables production has increased in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu underlying the evolving relative importance of nutritious crops
Rise in milk producing animals vs. draft power (as measured in female to male cows and buffaloes; ratio being 2:1 to as high as 5: 1 and even 20: 1 in states like Punjab and Haryana)

10. Why is smallholder response for non-staple crop production so low?
Smallholder agriculture drives India’s food systems (more than 85 per cent of farm holdings are small)
Policy bias towards staple grains
Persistence of Green Revolution era policy – price supports, input/credit subsidies, irrigation infrastructure and R&D to increase staple grain productivity
Poorly developed market infrastructure for perishable products – fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat
High skill and knowledge requirements for switching to higher value crops
High transaction costs for smallholder integration into the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable (FFV) and livestock value chains

11. How nutrition-sensitive are the safety net programs?
Purpose
PDS
Hunger Mitigation
ICDS
Early life child development
MDMS
Increasing school enrolment
National Food Security Act, 2013
Re-iterates the focus on staple food and calories
Role of pulses and coarse cereals is recognized but procurement remains a question
Is there enough incentive for farmers to produce other nutritious crops?

12. TCI- TARINA & Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture

13. TARINA aims to build better connections between factors influencing agriculture and nutrition within and between stages of the food supply chain.

14. Agri-nutrition research at TARINA: at a glance

15. Agri-nutrition research at TARINA: at a glance

16. Papers & Publications

17. Agri-nutrition research at TARINA: capacity building

18. @TCI_TARINA
tarina.tci.cornell.edu