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IFPRI5; GRP25; Theme 5 ; FCND ; Non-PR ; 36 p.

PR ; IFPRI1; A Ensuring Sustainable food production; B Promoting healthy food systems; C Improving markets and trade; D Transforming Agriculture; E Building Resilience; F Strengthening institutions and governance; G Cross-cutting gender theme ; DGO; COM; PHND

IFPRI4; B.1 Integrated Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health Programs and Policies ; PHND ; Non-PR

While many community-driven development (CDD) initiatives may be successful, their impact is often limited by their small scale. Building on past and ongoing work on CDD, this study addresses the fundamental question: how can CDD initiatives motivate and empower the greatest number of communities to take control of their own development? What are the key contextual factors, institutional arrangements, capacity elements, and processes related to successful scaling-up of CDD, and, conversely, what are the main constraints or limiting factors, in different contexts? Drawing upon recent literature and the findings from five case studies, key lessons on how best to stimulate, facilitate, and support the scaling-up of CDD in different situations, along with some major challenges, are highlighted. Lessons include the need for donors and supporters of CDD, including governments, to think of the process beyond the project, and of transformation or transition rather than exit. Donor push and community pull factors need to be balanced to prevent "supply-driven, demand-driven development." Overall, capacity is pivotal to successful CDD and its successful scaling-up over time. Capacity is more than simply resources, however; it also includes motivation and commitment, which, in turn, require appropriate incentives at all levels. Capacity development takes time and resources, but it is an essential upfront and ongoing investment, with the capacity and commitment of facilitators and local leaders being particularly important. A "learning by doing" culture -- one that values adaptation, flexibility, and openness to change -- needs to be fostered at all levels, with time horizons adjusted accordingly. The building of a library of well-documented, context-specific experiences through good monitoring, evaluation, and operational research will be useful in advocating for improvements in the contextual environment. Ultimately, for CDD to be sustained, it should be anchored within existing contextual systems (government), frameworks (e.g., PRSP), and processes (decentralization), even where these are imperfect. -- Author's Abstract ; Non-PR ; GRP25; Theme 5; IFPRI1; Capacity Strengthening ; FCND

A major premise of this paper is that the failure—or limited achievements—of many large-scale nutrition programs is very often a function of insufficient sustainable capacities within communities and organizations responsible for implementing them. Following a brief review of the various rationales for an intensified focus on capacity and capacity development, the paper examines the linkages between nutrition programming and capacity development processes before proposing a new approach to assessing, analyzing, and developing capacity. The ensuing sections then focus in more detail on the ingredients and influences of capacity at the levels of the community, program management, supporting institutions, and the government. Finally, the implications of a more proactive focus on strengthening nutrition capacity for donor modes of operation and support priorities are discussed. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; Capacity Strengthening ; FCND

"HIV/AIDS is a slow-moving, devastating shock that kills the most productive members of society, increases household dependency ratios, reduces household productivity and caring capacity, and impairs the intergenerational transfer of knowledge. It is socially invisible, complicated by silence, denial, stigma, and discrimination. While it affects both rich and poor, it is the poor who are most severely impacted. Though it affects both sexes, it is not gender neutral. Though AIDS is far more than just another health problem, many development organizations have yet to undertake thorough analyses of its impact on what they do and how they do it. Even fewer have actually changed their policies and procedures to adjust to the new realities. In the era of AIDS, food and nutrition security is becoming even more of a priority for many households and communities. We know that food and nutrition are fundamentally intertwined with HIV transmission and the impacts of AIDS. Evidence of the ways in which food insecurity and malnutrition may increase susceptibility to HIV as well as vulnerability to AIDS impacts, and how HIV/AIDS in turn exacerbates these conditions is increasingly well documented. Food and nutrition security is fundamentally relevant to all four of the conventional pillars of HIV/AIDS response -- prevention, care, treatment, and mitigation --and food aid can be an important addition to the arsenal. This paper, based on a detailed review of the relevant literature and the findings of a mission to eastern and southern Africa, highlights the implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic for food aid strategy and programming. By viewing food aid programs through an "HIV/AIDS lens" and in the context of a livelihoods approach, the authors argue that organizations can design effective interventions that reduce both susceptibility to HIV and vulnerability to AIDS impacts. Though there is little empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of food aid in responding to HIV/AIDS, the authors argue this should not constrain action. Using past experience as a guide, organizations can learn by doing, documenting, and continuously reassessing their programs using the evolving HIV/AIDS lens. By doing so, they ensure maximal relevance and impact." -- from Authors' Abstract ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; GRP33; Health, Diet and Nutrition; RENEWAL ; FCND

The food and agriculture sector is pivotal not only to addressing undernutrition but also to containing and preventing the spread of diet-related noncommunicable disease. This context requires action throughout the food system, from sustainably managing natural resources and input supplies to enabling consumption of healthy diets and promoting gender equity. Political commitment is growing, but much remains to be done in terms of strengthening the information base to support strategic decision making, and developing capacities for implementation at scale. In April 2016, the UN General Assembly enacted a Decade of Action for Nutrition, and nutrition is directly or indirectly related to all of the Sustainable Development Goals. This enabling environment at the global level should foster further progress in the region, and conversely, African countries can inspire other regions of the world by pursuing innovative approaches for unleashing the latent potential of the agrifood sector to drive positive change in nutrition. ; PR ; IFPRI1; ReSAKSS ; DSGD; WCAO; ESAO; PHND; A4NH ; CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)