Publication:
Improved Nutrition through Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services: Case Studies of Curriculum Review and Operational Lessons from India

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (3.22 MB)
928 downloads
English Text (96.68 KB)
47 downloads
Published
2016-02
ISSN
Date
2016-02-26
Editor(s)
Abstract
Even after several decades of green revolution, malnutrition continues to be a major development challenge in much of South Asia, and India has a major share of the malnourished people in the region. For nutrition goals to be integrated into extension the curricula provided to current and future agricultural extension agents must be revisited. As part of the South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiative (SAFANSI), this paper focuses on approaches to incorporating such nutrition content into the agricultural extension curriculum. Three state agricultural universities in Tamil Nadu, united Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar were used as case studies for the curriculum review. Through these case studies, face-to-face consultations at the national level down to program implementation at the village level have been developed. These include consultative workshops, and a conceptual framework and strategy for incorporating nutrition into extension curriculum development to improve nutrition outcomes. This strategy, detailed in this report, includes opportunities for collaboration from the national level to the community level. Specific lessons and follow-up actions are outlined that may be useful for other South Asian countries. The paper is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two reviews current literature on agriculture-nutrition linkages to develop a conceptual framework for integrating nutrition into agricultural extension programs. Research methods and approaches are given in chapter three. Results and discussions are given in chapter four. Lessons from the case studies are presented in chapter five, and chapter six consists of concluding remarks.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Babu, Suresh Chandra; Singh, Meera; Hymavathi, T. V.; Rani, K. Uma; Kavitha, G. G.; Karthik, Shree. 2016. Improved Nutrition through Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services: Case Studies of Curriculum Review and Operational Lessons from India. Agriculture global practice technical assistance paper;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23767 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Improving Learning in Uganda, Volume I : Community-Led School Feeding Practices
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-01-08) Najjumba, Innocent Mulindwa; Bunjo, Charles Lwanga; Kyaddondo, David; Misinde, Cyprian
    This study highlights various school feeding options that could be made available for Ugandan parents to adopt through a sustained and school-led dialogue that is enabled by clear policy guidance about the roles and responsibilities of duty bearers at various levels. The introduction presents the background and rationale for the study, with a discussion of the scientific evidence behind school feeding and Learning. The methodology of the study is next describes. Chapter 2 provides the policy framework for school feeding in Uganda while chapter 3 presents the observed community-led school feeding practices. Chapter 4 provides insights on issues for consideration by the government and especially the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) to generate a clear way forward for school feeding in Uganda. The report ends with an appendix and a reference list.
  • Publication
    Sierra Leone Early Childhood Development : SABER Country Report 2013
    (Washington, DC, 2013) World Bank
    This report presents an analysis of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs and policies which affect young children in Sierra Leone. This report is part of a series of reports prepared by the World Bank using the SABER-ECD framework. The country report includes analysis of early learning, health, nutrition and social and child protection policies and interventions in Sierra Leone, along with regional and international comparisons. The SABER-ECD initiative is designed to enable ECD policy makers and development partners to identify opportunities for further development of effective ECD systems. The SABER-ECD classification system does not rank countries according to any overall scoring; rather, it is intended to share information on how different ECD systems address the same policy challenges. This country report presents a framework to compare Sierra Leone s ECD system with other countries in the region and internationally. Each of the nine policy levers are examined in detail and some policy options are identified to strengthen ECD are offered.
  • Publication
    Tajikistan : Early Childhood Development
    (Washington, DC, 2013) World Bank
    This report presents an analysis of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs and policies which affect young children in Tajikistan. This report is part of a series of reports prepared by the World Bank using the Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER)-ECD framework. Tajikistan has a population of 7.76 million people, of which 35 percent are below the age of 15. Unlike some countries in the region, Tajikistan has a positive population growth rate. SABER-ECD collects, analyzes and disseminates comprehensive information on ECD policies around the world. In each participating country, extensive multi- sectoral information is collected on ECD policies and programs through a desk review of available government documents, data and literature, and interviews with a range of ECD stakeholders, including government officials, service providers, civil society, development partners and scholars. SABER-ECD identifies three core policy goals that countries should address to ensure optimal ECD outcomes: establishing an enabling environment, implementing widely and monitoring and assuring quality. Improving ECD requires an integrated approach to address all three goals. Tajikistan has taken steps to develop and adopt national laws and regulations that promote appropriate dietary consumption by pregnant women and young children.
  • Publication
    On Gender and Growth : The Role of Intergenerational Health Externalities and Women’s Occupational Constraints
    (2010-12-01) Agénor, Pierre-Richard; Canuto, Otaviano; da Silva, Luiz Pereira
    This paper studies the growth effects of externalities associated with intergenerational health transmission, health persistence, and women's occupational constraints-- with particular emphasis on the role of access to infrastructure. The first part provides a review of the evidence on these issues. The second and third parts present an overlapping generations model of endogenous growth that captures these interactions, and characterize its properties. The model is then used to perform several gender-based or gender-related experiments -- a reduction in the cost of child rearing, improved wage equality in the market place, and better access to infrastructure. The last part draws together the implications of the analysis for promoting the role of women in growth strategies.
  • Publication
    Liberia Early Childhood Development : SABER Country Report 2012
    (Washington, DC, 2012) World Bank
    This report presents an analysis of the early childhood development (ECD) programs and policies which affect young children in the Republic of Liberia. It is part of a series of reports prepared by the World Bank using the systems approach for better education results (SABER)-ECD framework and includes analysis of early learning, health, nutrition, and social and child protection policies and interventions in Liberia, along with some regional and international comparisons. SABER-ECD identifies three core policy goals that countries should address to ensure optimal ECD outcomes: establishing an enabling environment, implementing widely, and monitoring and assuring quality.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    The Container Port Performance Index 2023
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-18) World Bank
    The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) measures the time container ships spend in port, making it an important point of reference for stakeholders in the global economy. These stakeholders include port authorities and operators, national governments, supranational organizations, development agencies, and other public and private players in trade and logistics. The index highlights where vessel time in container ports could be improved. Streamlining these processes would benefit all parties involved, including shipping lines, national governments, and consumers. This fourth edition of the CPPI relies on data from 405 container ports with at least 24 container ship port calls in the calendar year 2023. As in earlier editions of the CPPI, the ranking employs two different methodological approaches: an administrative (technical) approach and a statistical approach (using matrix factorization). Combining these two approaches ensures that the overall ranking of container ports reflects actual port performance as closely as possible while also being statistically robust. The CPPI methodology assesses the sequential steps of a container ship port call. ‘Total port hours’ refers to the total time elapsed from the moment a ship arrives at the port until the vessel leaves the berth after completing its cargo operations. The CPPI uses time as an indicator because time is very important to shipping lines, ports, and the entire logistics chain. However, time, as captured by the CPPI, is not the only way to measure port efficiency, so it does not tell the entire story of a port’s performance. Factors that can influence the time vessels spend in ports can be location-specific and under the port’s control (endogenous) or external and beyond the control of the port (exogenous). The CPPI measures time spent in container ports, strictly based on quantitative data only, which do not reveal the underlying factors or root causes of extended port times. A detailed port-specific diagnostic would be required to assess the contribution of underlying factors to the time a vessel spends in port. A very low ranking or a significant change in ranking may warrant special attention, for which the World Bank generally recommends a detailed diagnostic.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, January 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16) World Bank
    Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.
  • Publication
    The Container Port Performance Index 2020 to 2024: Trends and Lessons Learned
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-22) World Bank
    The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) provides a global benchmark of how container ports perform in handling vessel calls. Developed jointly by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence, it measures the time ships spend in port and relates this to the number of containers moved during that time. This approach makes the CPPI a unique diagnostic tool that can highlight patterns in port operations and shed light on global and regional supply chain dynamics. Now in its fifth edition, the CPPI report covers the period from 2020 to 2024. It builds on a well-established methodology to generate scores for more than 400 container ports worldwide. Over time, the CPPI has become a trusted reference point for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers who seek to understand how ports adapt to shocks, recover from disruptions, and identify opportunities for investments, reform and modernization. A major innovation in this edition is the introduction of multi-year trend analysis. Rather than presenting annual snapshots, the report now tracks how CPPI scores have changed across five years. This longitudinal perspective reveals shifts in port performance, showing where scores have risen, fallen, or remained stable. By linking these movements to external factors, the CPPI offers insights into how global and regional supply chains evolve under pressure. The results clearly mirror the crises that have shaken global trade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CPPI scores in different regions declined sharply as congestion, equipment shortages, and delays overwhelmed many ports. By 2023, global averages rebounded in parallel with easing freight markets and reduced congestion. Yet 2024 brought new challenges: the Red Sea crisis disrupted major trade lanes, while climate-related constraints at the Panama Canal added further stress. These shocks were reflected in lower global and several regional average scores, underscoring the vulnerability of maritime transport to geopolitical and environmental events. The CPPI is not about comparing one port against another, but about understanding changes in performance over time. Ports that improved their scores often did so by reducing time at anchor, optimizing berth operations, investing in digital tools, and strengthening coordination across logistics partners. The evidence confirms that improvements are possible across ports of all sizes, and that rising scores are linked to deliberate actions to minimize time in port relative to containers moved. By consolidating five years of results, this edition transforms the CPPI into a long-term reference point. It shows how global crises have affected shipping, how different regions have adapted, and what lessons can be drawn for future resilience. The World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence remain committed to maintaining the CPPI as a global public good, providing transparency, comparability, and practical insights to support more reliable and sustainable maritime supply chains.
  • Publication
    Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05) World Bank
    Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.
  • Publication
    To Phase Down
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31) World Bank
    Building on existing frameworks, this report outlines a near-term approach to reduce emissions from CFPPs while putting in place the conditions for programmatic engagements that sustain progress toward phasedown. The steps to be taken to scale up clean energy are described in the World Bank’s 2023 report “Scaling Up to Phase Down: Financing Energy Transitions in the Power Sector”; the focus is on the essential role of governments in creating the policy-, institutional-, and project-level conditions for scaling investment in a bankable pipeline of clean energy projects. The Bank’s approach to a just transition from coal to clean energy has been articulated as a series of interventions under three pillars (institutional governance, people and communities, and reclamation or repurposing of land and assets) and undertaken over three distinct phases of the coal sector’s transition (preclosure planning, closure, and regional transition) (World Bank 2018). The framework presented here involves three components. These are reducing exposure to and uncertainty from stranded assets to contain the costs of the transition; reusing assets to maintain engagement in discussions on coal phase-down, despite a sensitive political economy; and reconciling conflicting interests in pursuit of a fair balance in the distribution of transition costs.