Post-Event Insights: Strengthening Nutrition Through Agriculture with the Agri-PDB Platform

Join Our Webinar on Nutrition-Sensitive Investments in Agriculture

The webinar on nutrition-sensitive investments in agriculture, held on January 15th, 2025, focused on how Public Development Banks (PDBs) can enhance their funding strategies to improve nutrition outcomes and contribute to sustainable development. Organized by the Agri-PDB Platform in collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and Results for Development (R4D), the event provided a valuable platform for sharing experiences and lessons on integrating nutrition components into PDB operations. 

Dr. A.V. Bhavani Shankar from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD),  shared key nutrition interventions within NABARD’s strategy, including promoting soil and water conservation techniques to improve agricultural productivity and supporting the cultivation of climate-resilient, nutrient-dense crops like millets and vegetables. Additionally, NABARD’s focus on agro-biodiversity and integrating livestock, aquaculture, and agroforestry helps strengthen household nutrition and income security, particularly for vulnerable communities, including women and children. 

Nora Praher from the World Food Program (WFP) presented the SheCan initiative, a blended finance program in Cameroon that supports smallholder farmers by providing working capital through microfinance institutions. She highlighted how this program enables farmers to supply nutritious food for school feeding programs, contributing to food security and improved nutrition outcomes. 

Mary D’Alimonte from Results for Development (R4D) introduced the OECD’s nutrition policy marker as a tool for identifying and tracking nutrition-sensitive investments. She explained how PDBs can utilize this tool to design agriculture programs that incorporate nutrition objectives such as food fortification and promoting a healthy diet, ultimately contributing to achieving the nutrition targets of the SDGs.  

Adrien TROUVADIS from Gret shared key learnings from a nutrition-sensitive agriculture project, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach to address food and nutrition security. Key recommendations include integrating nutrition and food diversification into agricultural projects, promoting sustainable and local food systems, supporting gender equality, and involving local stakeholders in decision-making to ensure long-term impact and equity in access to nutritious food. 

The Q&A session offered deeper insights into implementing nutrition-sensitive strategies across agriculture projects. Dr. Bhavani Shankar elaborated on NABARD’s key interventions, such as millet cultivation, kitchen gardening, and agroforestry, as tools to enhance food security and household nutrition. Nora Praher highlighted the gender-responsive design of WFP’s SheCan initiative, focusing on empowering women and improving school meal programs. Participants also inquired about aligning PDB efforts with WFP initiatives and plans to expand SheCan into Latin America, with pilots set to launch in Ecuador and Colombia. 

The meeting concluded with an engaging discussion on the potential for a follow-up webinar later in the year, aimed at providing practical tools for PDBs, such as a checklist or scorecard to guide agriculture project managers in integrating nutrition-sensitive investments. On the horizon, the next webinar, scheduled for the last first week of February, will focus on agroecology, exploring tools and resources to assist PDBs in assessing and supporting the transition to agroecological practices.