Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health

Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health is the title of a global policy consultation and international conference to be held in New Delhi, India from 10–12 February 2011, which will examine the linkages between work undertaken in the agriculture, nutrition and health sectors. The conference is organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) with support from the Asian Development Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Indian Economic Association,IDRC, PepsiCo, UK Department for International Development (DFID), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Feed the Future Initiative, and The World Bank.

Agricultural products are not only sources of energy and nutrients, but also sources of fuel, medicine, fiber, and lumber. Agriculture as an activity is also the source of livelihood and income for much of the world’s population, especially those living in rural areas. For this reason, agriculture has a considerable, positive impact on health and nutrition.

On the downside, agriculture has many negative effects on health. Agricultural production, trade, and distribution can negatively affect the environment through pesticide and fertilizer runoff polluting the soil and ground water. According to WHO, around 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water.

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