NEWS BITS

I am pleased to let you know that my paper “Food and Nutrition Emergencies in East Africa” has been published by IFPRI and is now available at at http://www.ifpri.org/publication/food-and-nutrition-emergencies-east-africa .
Ruth Oniang'o

Community Nutrition: A Handbook for Health and Development Workers
This book has been prepared for health and other development professionals who work at community and district levels, as well as for teachers and students of nutrition. It is written in an easy to read style and has many illustrations. The information in it is based on reliable international guidelines and it has been checked for accuracy and relevance by experts in Africa and elsewhere.
The book covers nutrients and foods, feeding the family and the causes, diagnosis and control of malnutrition through the life cycle. It deals with undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies and pays particular attention to the emerging challenge of chronic conditions (such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases) and to the links between nutrition and HIV. Knowledge is useless until it is put into practice and so the book gives guidelines on programme implementation and on changing behaviour through better communication. There are appendices on energy and nutrient needs, sources of nutrients, food composition tables and anthropometric measurements as well as a list of recent materials and other sources of information.
The book was edited by Ann Burgess, Marlou Bijlsma and Carina Ismael with contributions from other nutritionists working in and outside Africa. It is published by Macmillan Education (November 2009. ISBN: 9780230010635) and is available from:
-Teaching-aids At Low Cost (TALC) info@talcuk.org or www.talcuk.org – see under ‘Shop’ and ‘Books’ price UK£5.50
- African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) bookshop, PO Box 30125-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
maureen.olyaro@amref.org or http://www.amref.org/info-centre price unknown;
- Macmillan Education, Between Towns Road, Oxford OX4 3PP, UK Nicola.Langford@macmillan.com price UK£8.50
and through good bookshops.
Note: distribution costs may be added to the price.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

ASHOKA COMPETITION

ENTER THE COMPETITION NOW!

Improved Nutrition: Solutions through Innovation <http://www.changemakers.com/nutrition>,
is seeking the most innovative entrepreneurial ideas for improving global nutrition.

Three winners will each receive a cash prize of US$ 5,000.

Five entrants will be chosen by GAIN to attend the GAIN Business Alliance Global Forum, Dubai in May 2010, where they will have the opportunity to present their solutions to investors.

Chair-elect announced for the Global Forum on Agricultural Research

We are very pleased to announce that the new Chair of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) will be Dr Monty Jones, Executive Director of the Forum on Agricultural Research for Africa (FARA). 

The multi-stakeholder Steering Committee of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research met this weekend in Alexandria, Egypt and selected Dr Jones from among a very strong field of candidates. The current Chair, Prof. Adel El-Beltagy of Egypt, will hand over the charge to Dr Monty at the closing session of the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 2010), in Montpellier, France, March 28-31, 2010 (http://www.gcard2010.net)

Dr Jones was co-winner of the prestigious World Food Prize in 2004, for his work on the development of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) with important physical traits for weed suppression through vigorous and spreading growth and higher levels of resistance/tolerance to major biotic and abiotic stresses. The new rice varieties give higher yield and taste good and offer great promise for improving rice productivity for poor farmers in Africa.

Dr. Jones is the recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Birmingham. He has also received awards such as the Insignia of the Grand Officer Award from the order of the Rokel, Sierra Leone; the National Order of Merit Award from Côte d’Ivoire; and the King Baudouin Award given to WARDA by the CGIAR.  

In 2007, he was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by the New York Times.

In thanking the Committee for his appointment, Dr Jones highlighted the value of GFAR in advocacy for the value of agricultural research in development and for the need for investment in this critically important sector if we are to meet international development goals in poverty, hunger and nutrition.  He also highlighted the value of GFAR in mobilizing all those who care about the future of agriculture to create effective changes in agricultural research systems around the world to enhance their impact in development and ensure that these are truly in tune with both the real demands of those served by agricultural research and those who provide the enabling resources.  He also called for a more pro-active view in the research community, to better anticipate and address future challenges and changing circumstances, in which GFAR has a major role to play in mobilizing concerted actions globally, for the benefit of local producers and consumers.

Dr Jones also highlighted the need for change in the CGIAR international agricultural research system and appealed for international centers and CGIAR members to join with those working at national and regional levels to make GFAR and the GCARD effective instruments for assuring the relevance and directing the evolution of the whole global agricultural research community, a role recognized in the recent G8 L’Aquila Statement on Food Security, 2009.

Current GFAR Chair, Prof El-Beltagy, said that the selection of Dr Jones will greatly strengthen GFAR as Dr Jones comes with a strong commitment to further enhance the work of GFAR and its constituencies to make a difference in the livelihoods of resource poor farmers. In the current global scene, with the shadow of world food crisis, financial crisis and the climate change, the prime task ahead is to optimize the linkages between the different partners in agricultural research for development through a dynamic platform (GFAR). He expressed his great confidence in Dr Jones to work in the future with the GFAR Steering Committee and other partners in research for development to successfully achieve the noble objectives with which GFAR was created.