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Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP4; HarvestPlus; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance, HarvestPlus; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), While the key role that policy plays in sustainable development has long been recognized, rigorously documenting the influence of research on policy outcomes faces conceptual, empirical and even political challenges. Addressing these challenges is increasingly urgent since improving policies—broadly defined—is at the heart of the structural transformation agenda. This paper describes the use of a new evaluation method—outcomes trajectory evaluation (OTE), based on both evaluation and policy process theory—to explore the influence of HarvestPlus, a large and complex research for development program focused on improving nutrition, on a specific policy outcome, namely the establishment of crop biofortification breeding programs in national agricultural research institutes in Bangladesh, India and Rwanda. The findings support claims of significant HarvestPlus contributions to the establishment of the programs while also raising issues that need to be monitored moving forward to ensure sustainability. The paper also discusses the pros and cons of the OTE approach in terms of both methodological rigor and program learning. In particular, the fact that HarvestPlus is a long-running program allows us to reflect on how a “backward looking” approach such as OTE builds on and complements the more “forward looking,” theory of change-based approaches that informed HarvestPlus programming and evaluation during its earlier, highly-successful phases. Such a long-run perspective is rare in development evaluation and it offers important lessons for how to think about and plan for evaluation over the course of a complex agriculture research for development program.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance, PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), Rapid transformations are occurring in food systems around the world with significant economic, health, and environmental implications. As part of this change, the focus of agricultural production needs to transition from quantity of food production to quality of diets. This brief begins by summarizing evidence from nutrition-sensitive agriculture and explaining how resource tenure and governance issues relate to the production of nutrient-rich foods. The brief then explores the importance of resource tenure and governance issues for diets and health in the context of food system transformation: this section focuses on supporting healthy diets in traditional food systems, meeting the global demand for nutrient-rich foods, and managing and mitigating disease risks in intensifying agricultural landscapes.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance, PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), Les systèmes alimentaires se transforment rapidement dans le monde entier, engendrant des répercussions économiques, sanitaires et environnementales considérables. Face à ces évolutions, il convient d’opérer une transition dans la production agricole en privilégiant la qualité des régimes alimentaires plutôt que la quantité de production alimentaire. Cette note présente un résumé des données probantes issues de l’agriculture sensible à la nutrition, et explique comment les problèmes de propriété et de gouvernance des ressources sont liés à la production d’aliments riches en nutriments. Elle examine ensuite l’importance de ces problèmes pour les régimes alimentaires et la santé dans le contexte de la transformation du système alimentaire, en mettant l’accent sur le soutien à des régimes alimentaires sains dans les systèmes alimentaires traditionnels, la satisfaction de la demande mondiale d’aliments riches en nutriments, et la gestion et l’atténuation des risques de maladies liés à l’intensification des paysages agricoles.1

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance, PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), Se están produciendo rápidas transformaciones en los sistemas alimentarios de todo el mundo, lo que está teniendo importantes consecuencias económicas, sanitarias y medioambientales. Como parte de este cambio, el enfoque de la producción agrícola debe pasar de la cantidad de producción de alimentos a la calidad de las dietas. Este informe comienza con el resumen de las pruebas (evidence) de la agricultura sensible a la nutrición (nutritionsensitive agriculture) y explica cómo la tenencia de recursos y las cuestiones de gobernanza se relacionan con la producción de alimentos ricos en nutrientes. A continuación, el informe investiga la importancia de la tenencia de los recursos y las cuestiones de gobernanza para las dietas y la salud en el contexto de la transformación del sistema alimentario: esta sección se centra en el apoyo a las dietas saludables dentro de los sistemas alimentarios tradicionales, la satisfacción de la demanda mundial de alimentos ricos en nutrientes, y la gestión y mitigación de los riesgos de enfermedades a causa de la intensificación de los paisajes agrícolas.1

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP4; G Cross-cutting gender theme; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index; Open Access, A4NH; PHND; EPTD, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Increasing numbers of development agencies and individual projects espouse objectives of women’s empowerment, yet there has been little systematic work on mechanisms by which interventions can enhance women’s empowerment. This gap exists because of the lack of consensus on indicators as well as the lack of attention paid to measuring the effects of different types of interventions on empowerment. This paper identifies the types of strategies employed by 13 agricultural development projects within the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project Phase 2 (GAAP2) that have explicit objectives of empowering women. We distinguish between reach, benefit, and empowerment as objectives of agricultural development projects. Simply including women does not necessarily benefit them, and even activities that benefit do not necessarily empower. To identify strategies to empower women, we build on the domains included in the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and are working with the GAAP2 portfolio of projects to develop an empowerment metric that is applicable in the project setting (a project-level WEAI, or pro-WEAI). We have identified the following potential domains to be included in pro-WEAI: input into production decision making, control over resources, control over income, leadership, time, physical mobility, intrahousehold relationships, individual empowerment, reduction in gender-based violence, and decision making on nutrition. The GAAP2 projects address these domains through a wide variety of activities that can be grouped into four main types: (1) direct and indirect provision of goods and services; (2) forming or strengthening groups, organizations, or platforms and networks that involve women; (3) strengthening knowledge and capacity through agricultural extension, business and finance training, nutrition behavior change communication, and other training; and (4) changing gender norms through one-way awareness

PR, IFPRI3; ISI; CRP2; GAAP; CRP4, A4NH; PIM; EPTD; PHND, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; CRP4, A4NH; PIM; PHND, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), What is the impact of agricultural development projects on women’s and men’s assets?

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP4; B Promoting healthy food systems, A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), This paper describes and assesses the strength of a theory of change for how adoption of farm-level technologies and practices for aflatoxin mitigation can contribute to reductions in aflatoxin exposure among consumers in a market context. In response to widespread concerns about the public health consequences of aflatoxin exposure and its implications for agricultural development and trade, risk-mitigating agricultural technologies and practices are being developed and adapted for developing-country contexts. While some of the technologies have been shown to be effective in reducing on-farm aflatoxin contamination, links between technology adoption and reduced aflatoxin exposure among consumers have not been clearly described. Often, a win-win situation is assumed, although the pathways by which adoption of improved practices by farmers contribute to reduced exposure among consumers are complex and gendered. There any many underlying assumptions, especially about market incentives, consumer behavior, and the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of regulatory approaches in domestic markets in developing countries. Based on the analysis, priority areas for research and development, in particular in CGIAR, are identified.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP4; B Promoting healthy food systems, A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Increased consumption of meat, milk, eggs, and fish among poor consumers in developing countries has the potential to improve nutrition as well as drive pro-poor economic development. However, animal-source foods are a major source of food-borne disease. In addition to the health impacts, concerns about food safety can reduce consumption of nutritious foods and reduce market access for smallholders. Researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute and partners have developed and piloted an institutional innovation—a training, certification, and branding scheme for informal value chain actors—that has the potential to improve the safety of animal-source foods sold in informal markets. To support further research and, eventually, delivery at scale, this paper develops a theory of change for how the intervention is expected to contribute to better nutrition and health outcomes for consumers. The outcomes along the pathway from intervention to impact are identified, along with the underlying causal assumptions. For each assumption, the existing evidence is summarized and assessed. The results show that for some parts of the impact pathway, outcomes and causal links are well defined and supported by evidence, while for others, the program logic needs to be refined and more evidence gathered to validate hypothesized causal relationships in specific contexts. Addressing these gaps through research and through piloting interventions with development partners can increase the likelihood of achieving expected outcomes and contribute to learning about how to improve the performance of informal markets in developing countries.

PR, IFPRI3; CAPRi; CRP4; G Cross-cutting gender theme; DCA; CRP2, A4NH; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH); CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

PR, IFPRI3; ISI; CRP4, A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; CRP4; G Cross-cutting gender theme, EPTD; PHND; PIM; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Ownership of assets is important for poverty alleviation, and women’s control of assets is associated with positive development outcomes at the household and individual levels. This research was undertaken to provide guidance for agricultural development programs on how to incorporate gender and assets in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions. This paper synthesizes the findings of eight mixed-method evaluations of the impacts of agricultural development projects on individual and household assets in seven countries in Africa and South Asia. The results show that assets both affect and are affected by projects, indicating that it is both feasible and important to consider assets in the design, implementation, and evaluation of agricultural development projects. All projects were associated with increases in asset levels and other benefits at the household level; however, only four projects documented significant, positive impacts in women’s ownership or control of assets relative to a control group, and of those only one project provided evidence of a reduction in the gender asset gap. The quantitative and qualitative findings suggest ways that greater attention to gender and assets by researchers and development implementers could improve outcomes for women in future projects.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; B Promoting healthy food systems; B.1 Integrated Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health Programs and Policies; CRP4; HarvestPlus, HarvestPlus; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), These theories of change were developed to help the HarvestPlus program deliver on its planned outcomes and impacts. HarvestPlus expects to contribute to the reduction in micronutrient deficiency among women and children in rural areas of developing countries through the breeding and dissemination of staple crop varieties with increased levels of key micronutrients. After ten years of breeding, economic, and nutrition research to develop and assess varieties and their potential impact on human nutritional outcomes, HarvestPlus is entering a third five-year phase focused on delivering micronutrient-rich varieties at scale in nine target countries. To support program design, implementation, and evaluation in the “delivery” phase of the HarvestPlus program (2014–2018), theories of change were developed for three crop-country combinations—maize in Zambia, beans in Rwanda, and cassava in Nigeria—to describe how HarvestPlus expects to contribute to the outcome of reducing inadequate micronutrient intake among women and children in different agricultural and socioeconomic contexts in which HarvestPlus works. The evidence supporting the assumptions and risks for each link in the pathway is summarized and assessed. The results show that for some parts of the impact pathway, outcomes and causal links are well defined and supported by evidence. In other areas, the program logic needs to be better articulated so that hypotheses can be formulated and evidence generated. Addressing these gaps through research, adaptations in delivery activities, and monitoring can increase the likelihood of achieving expected outcomes as well as improve the ability of HarvestPlus and other nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs to learn from current activities to inform a broader scaling up.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; B Promoting healthy food systems; B.2 Value Chains for Enhances Nutrition; CRP4, PHND; MTID; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), In this paper we explore how a value chain framework can inform the design of interventions for achieving improved nutrition. Conceptually, there are three main channels for value chains to improve nutrition: (1) through increased consumption of nutritious foods (a demand side pathway); or (2) through increased incomes from value chain transactions (a supply side pathway) or (3) through increased nutrition value-addition in the chain transactions. These three pathways are interlinked and involve complex dynamics that are not straightforward to understand.

PR, IFPRI3; ISI; GAAP; CRP4; CRP2, EPTD; PHND; A4NH; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH); CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

PR, IFPRI4; CRP2; CRP4, A4NH; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)

PR, IFPRI4; CRP2; CRP4, EPTD; PHND; A4NH; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)

PR, IFPRI4; CRP4; CRP5; F Strengthening institutions and governance, EPTD; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH); CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), Research on institutions for agricultural water management under the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food