Devex Dish: A report card for World Bank nutrition

The World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group recently released its evaluation of World Bank nutrition programs — and the findings were largely positive.

The IEG evaluates different World Bank practice groups for effectiveness over extended periods of time. It examined nutrition programs from 2007 to 2018 and found that both nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive work is headed in the right direction, but can still be improved. The bank has spent $22 billion in countries burdened by undernutrition in that time frame.

“There’s a big question: The World Bank, or more importantly the World Bank’s client governments, have been spending $22 billion a year across multiple sectors. Does it work?” Shawn Baker, who led the evaluation’s external review group, tells me. The group is composed of people with no World Bank affiliation.

“To me, there are three big headlines that come out of [the evaluation]: Yes, it is working; in general it’s getting better over time; but there’s room for improvement,” he continued, adding that the evaluation “provides confidence that these investments are working, but it also does not shy away from where there are weaknesses and areas for improvement.”

The evaluation offers a look into one of the thorniest issues in development: Is what’s being done having the intended effect, making the money spent worth it? While the nutrition landscape is even more challenging after the onset of COVID-19 — not included in the evaluation period — the findings offer a way forward for the bank to continue expanding its nutrition portfolio. It also provides solid evidence for countries skeptical of dedicating their national budgets to nutrition.

The detailed findings are prime development speak, i.e., too wonky for me to fully summarize for you here. Have a look at my article for the details, including the response to the findings from bank global nutrition lead Meera Shekar. Dive into the evaluation yourself if you’re brave!

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Rain on me

The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 40% of the world’s population is living in water-scarce regions. In Kenya — which has an annual supply of renewable freshwater below 1,000 cubic meters (35,000 cubic feet) per capita — water-stressed farmers in arid or semiarid areas typically wait for a rainy season, with two cycles per year for growing food crops such as maize, beans, and sorghum.

But rainwater harvesting offers farmers the ability to funnel water runoff into human-made basins and ponds in what’s referred to locally as “regenerative agriculture.”

“Farmers can use this stored water to nurse their fruit orchards and even the food crops they have grown in between the trees,” says George Mabuka, a program manager at a local social enterprise called the Cereal Growers Association.

Drought has affected more people worldwide in the past 40 years than any other natural disaster, according to FAO. And water management is going to be even more key as the effects of climate change compound, with as many as 3.5 billion people experiencing water scarcity by 2025 and 70% of water use currently going toward agriculture.

Read: Kenyan farmers use water harvesting to counter climate change effects

A mouthful

More than 80% of people in need across northern Ethiopia are “behind battle lines,” according to Phiri, a spokesperson at the World Food Programme. Meanwhile, up to 50% of pregnant and breastfeeding women screened in the country’s Amhara and Tigray regions were found to be malnourished.

Samantha Power, the administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said Monday that 79 trucks of food arrived in Tigray’s capital city over the past week — the first allowed to reach the area in over a month.

The way we worm

“In 2016, only six African countries reported fall armyworm outside its native range,” according to FAO. But now, the pesticide-resistant larval moth is being reported in 70 countries across three regions, even reaching the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. FAO says “fall armyworm is estimated to cause nearly $10 billion in annual maize yield losses in Africa alone,” and the pest feeds on as many as 80 other crops — and sometimes other armyworms.

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said last week that farmers need more funding, technical innovation, and capacity development so countries can limit the spread of the fall armyworm and safeguard food security.

Today’s dish: Parsnip latkes

From chef Fiona Zublin, whose day job is Devex deputy managing editor and editor of Devex Dish! While our recipes usually focus on nutritious ingredients, it’s the holiday season! So do yourself a favor and deep-fry some starches.

With Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s all upon us in the weeks ahead, we’ll be gathering with friends and family to eat the dishes that are the most meaningful to us. What is your preferred dish to prepare for the holidays you celebrate? I’d love to share your traditions with our readers all over the world as the festive meals approach. Send me your favorites at dish@devex.com.

Number munching

That’s the number of crops included in a new database developed at the University of São Paulo to give researchers better access to existing information about food loss and waste. The Post-Harvest Loss Information System, known by the Portuguese acronym SIPPOC, has over 200 papers from over 80 countries and examines all aspects of the supply chain that see loss and waste.

Read: A new way to track food loss and waste

Chew on this

India’s Parliament has voted to repeal three controversial farm laws after Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew support for them following a year of protests from farmers. [Al Jazeera]

The European Union’s new Common Agricultural Policy rules “aim to shift money from intensive farming practices to protecting nature, and reduce the 10% of EU greenhouse gases emitted by agriculture.” [Reuters]

Childhood stunting costs the private sector at least $135.4 billion in sales annually across 95 low- and middle-income countries. [The Lancet]