PRESENTATIONS & DISSEMINATION
The latest conference and workshop presentations from the MINI team.
6TH ANH ACADEMY WEEK - ONLINE (29TH JUNE - 1STÂ JULY, 2021)
To what extent can market interventions such as aggregation schemes raise the consumption of fruits and vegetables amongst participating smallholders, either through own-production or via market purchases? Based on the econometric analysis of household survey data collected from Jashore district, Bangladesh, Dr Nazmun Ratna and team explored the potential trade-offs between market sales and own-consumption in a presentation given as part of the 'Agriculture and Nutrition Interventions' thematic session at the 6th ANH Academy Week. The full recording of the thematic session can be watched in the video below, with Dr Ratna's presentation starting from 3 mins and 10 seconds.
6TH ANH ACADEMY WEEK - ONLINE (29TH JUNE - 1STÂ JULY, 2021)
Food loss and waste is a major issue in Bihar, with between 15-35% of all fruit and vegetable production lost between the farmgate and consumer household. Despite the potential impacts, very little has been studied around the systemic causes of food loss in Bihar, especially through the perspective of stakeholders with lived experience of the horticultural value chain. To this end, we interviewed 31 value chain stakeholders (e.g. farmers, traders, commission agents and consumers) to identify the reinforcing and balancing feedbacks underpinning the generation of F&V loss in Bihar. Our poster at the ANH Academy Week 2021 looks to unpack some of these key feedbacks and decisions made by value chain actors to identify potential leverage points to reduce food loss and waste across the horticultural system of Bihar.
MARKET INTERVENTION FOR NUTRITIONAL IMPROVEMENTÂ (MINI)
DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP - JESSORE TEAM (ONLINE, 26TH MAY 2021)
Following hot on the heels of the Bihar team, the MINI Jessore team (alongside Digital Green) held a two hour dissemination workshop to share some of our key findings emerging from our (i) value chains analysis, (ii) system dynamics modelling, (iii) food safety analysis, and (iv) econometric modelling of livelihoods and fruit and vegetable intake amongst farmers participating in the Loop aggregation scheme. We were also very fortunate to be joined by four high-level policy-makers who participated in a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities of making horticultural value chains more nutritionally sensitive. These policy-makers were (i) Dr Shamsul Alam (Member, Senior Secretary, GED, Bangladesh Planning Commission); (ii) Mr Mohammed Yousuf (Director General of Department of Agriculture Marketing); (iii) Dr Rahul Amin Talukder (Additional Secretary, Policy Planning & Coordination Wing, Ministry of Agriculture); and (iv) Dr Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar (Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council). The full recording of the dissemination workshop (including the panel discussion) can be watched below.
MARKET INTERVENTION FOR NUTRITIONAL IMPROVEMENTÂ (MINI)
DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP - BIHAR TEAM (ONLINE, 26TH MAY 2021)
Concluding the best part of three years, the MINI Bihar team (alongside Digital Green) conducted a two hour dissemination workshop to share some of the key findings emerging from our system dynamics modelling of nutrition-sensitive market interventions, as well as our poultry value chains work in Ghana. We were also very fortunate to be joined by Mr. Kirtti Pani of PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action), who spoke about the contributions of horticultural production clusters to the livelihoods and nutrition of smallholder farmers in Odisha. The full recording of the dissemination workshop (including the question and answer sessions) can be watched below.
5TH ANH ACADEMY WEEK - ONLINE (30TH JUNE - 2ND JULY, 2020)
The 5th edition of the Agriculture, Nutrition & Health (ANH) Academy week moved online this year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Each participant recorded a 7-minute presentation ahead of the discussion session held on Zoom. This year the MINI project presented some of our initial consumer versus producer trade-offs resulting from adapting horticultural aggregation schemes (such as 'Loop') to increase the availability of fruits and vegetables in more local, retail-oriented markets in Bihar, India. Watch the video below to learn more about these trade-offs, as well as potential combinations of changes to the wider enabling environment that might navigate the system towards 'win-win' futures for horticultural producers and consumers.
3RDÂ ASIA PACIFIC SYSTEM DYNAMICS CONFERENCE - BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (2ND-4TH FEBRUARY, 2020)
The Asia Pacific System Dynamics Conference (APSDC) is an annual meeting open to all interested in system dynamics modelling - from academia, industry, government and NGO’s. Dr Karl Rich presented on behalf of the MINI team, focusing on the structure of our system dynamics model of the 'Loop aggregation scheme' and wider horticultural value chain, as well as some initial validation efforts and scenario runs. Our results explored some select pathways towards futures that simultaneously achieve positive futures for three traditionally competing outcome dimensions: (i) farmers participating in Loop, (ii) the availability and affordability of fruit and vegetables in retail-oriented markets, and (iii) the financial sustainable of the Loop system going forward. Follow the links below to read our conference abstract and presentation slides.
MINI PROJECT INDIA-FOCUSEDÂ DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP - PATNA, INDIA (12TH DECEMBER 2019)
Bhavani Shankar and Greg Cooper from the MINI team held a project update and dissemination workshop in Patna in December 2019. The half-day event was designed to feedback some of the key findings from our initial 18-20 months of research in Bihar, including headline analysis from our rapid value chain analysis and household survey. The workshop was attended by ~15 colleagues from Digital Green and the 'Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society' of the Government of Bihar (known locally as JEEViKA), and presented an opportunity to plan ahead for the upcoming value chain analysis of the JEEViKA rural livelihoods poultry scheme. Follow the link below to view the presentation from the day.
4TH ANH ACADEMY WEEK - HYDERABAD, INDIA (24TH-28TH JUNE, 2019)
The Agriculture, Nutrition & Health (ANH) Academy Week is an annual event that brings together over 300 researchers and practitioners in agriculture from across the globe. Here we presented our methodological techniques and initial findings from our 'spatial group model building' (SGMB) sessions in Bihar, India. In essence, we worked with numerous stakeholders (e.g. Loop farmers, vegetable traders and market commission agents) to understand the drivers and feedbacks involved in horticultural aggregation, market choice and price formation across the horticultural value chain. Follow the links below to read more about SGMB, the offline 'LayerStack' tool and our formal modelling plans.
Panel photo available from the ANH site
SYSTEM DYNAMICS 'LEARNING LAB' @ 4TH ANH ACADEMY WEEK - HYDERABAD, INDIA (24TH-28TH JUNE, 2019)
Alongside the main research conference, The Agriculture, Nutrition & Health (ANH) Academy Week features a series of 'learning labs' to provide hands-on, introductory training sessions to a variety of methods and techniques in the agri-nutrition world. In Hyderabad, Greg Cooper, Dipok Choudhury, Vinay Rana and Bhavani Shankar gave a two hour learning lab on the basic theories and practices of system dynamics modelling (SDM). Around 40 conference attendees participated in the learning lab, which explored how to build, simulate and even evaluate simple system dynamics models of human population growth and agricultural technology adoption. You can try the hands-on activity at home by following the links below!
MINI PROJECT FUNDERS
.png)