Tobacco, unhealthy diets, inactive lifetsyles and alcohol abuse all increase the risk of NCDs. The NCD high-level meeting will give the important role of nutrition during the life cycle another boost, but it also reinforces the fact that countries can't look at nutrition or other interventions in a silo. We know that NCDs can be managed, and in most cases prevented, but they require collective efforts across sectors. Combating NCDs also require action plans that set specific, realistic goals to spur communities onto a path where nutrition, fitness, preventative health interventions, healthy habits and other actions all converge.
The nutrition community needs to be demonstrate where nutrition fits in to these country action plans. The nutrition community must bring the best programs and evidence (not just clinical, but also programmatic) to the table, along with a clearly outlined path that empowers country-leaders to activate smart and effective nutrition programs within the context of their broader NCD plans.
Despite the challenging circumstances that women in developing countries face, important innovations in communications and organizing are helping women play a key role in the fight against hunger and poverty. "Access to credit, which provides women farmers with productive inputs and improved technologies, can be an effective tool in improving livelihoods in Africa and beyond," said Worldwatch Institute's executive director Robert Engelman.
Worldwatch researchers traveled to 25 countries across sub-Saharan Africa to meet with more than 350 farmers groups, NGOs, government agencies, and scientists, highlighting innovations, such as better extension and communication services, that are helping farmers improve their livelihoods. The findings are documented in the recently released report, State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet.
Nourishing the Planet highlights four innovations that can strengthen women's agricultural capacity: providing microfinance credit, providing access to the global market, providing extension services, and providing organizational support to women's projects.
Providing women with microfinance credit. Globally, women fall well short of receiving the same financial benefits and opportunities as men. Only 10 percent of the credit services available in sub-Saharan Africa, including small "microfinance" loans, are extended to women. The New York-based nonprofit Women's World Banking is the only microfinance network focused explicitly on women, providing loans of as little as $100 to help women start businesses. Microfinance institutions from 27 countries provide the loans to women who in many cases have no other way to access credit.
Providing women access to the global market. In Africa's Western Sahel, the production of shea butter is boosting women's entry into global markets. Women-run cooperatives across the region are tapping into the global demand for fair trade and organic beauty products by selling the skin-care cream they produce from the shea nut crop to cosmetics firms such as Origins and L'Oréal. These "responsible" companies in turn pay fair price for the products and invest in the women's communities.