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Cornell University

Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition

Author: Prabhu Pingali

agriculture and rural development book cover

Understanding the Multidimensional Nature of the Malnutrition Problem in India

Abstract India’s slow progress in combating its malnutrition problem was highlighted most starkly when a comparison between its rates of poverty and malnutrition decline between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s was brought to the fore, with the release of the National Family Health Survey in 2005....
boy holding fruit

Unraveling India’s Malnutrition Dilemma – a Path Toward Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture

Abstract This chapter makes the case for India to shift to a nutrition-focused agricultural sector that goes beyond staple grain productivity to emphasize the production and consumption of micronutrient-rich foods. The chapter first reviews the nutrition trends in India, characterized by slow progress in addressing...
sustainable food and agriculture book cover

Policies for Sustainable Food Systems

Abstract Over the past 50 years, agricultural growth has contributed to jumpstarting overall economic growth and poverty reduction in many countries, but the progress has not been uniform and has often been accompanied by significant environmental costs. To adequately and sustainably feed the ever-growing population,...
biological extinction book cover

The Green Revolution and Crop Biodiversity

Abstract Crop diversity in the fields of the developing world has changed fundamentally over the past 200 years with the intensification and commercialisation of agriculture. This process accelerated with the advent of the Green Revolution (GR) in the 1960s when public sector researchers and donors...
Population, Agriculture, and Biodiversity Problems and Prospects book cover

Climate Change and Food Security

Abstract This timely collection of 15 original essays written by expert scientists the world over addresses the relationships between human population growth, the need to increase food supplies to feed the world population, and the chances for avoiding the extinction of a major proportion of...
smallholder farms book cover

Transforming Smallholder Agriculture to Achieve the SDGs

Abstract There is overwhelming historical evidence from the developed world and from the newly emerging economies of the developing world that indicates that agricultural growth has been the primary engine of overall economic growth. The transformation of economies around the world, from predominantly agricultural to...
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Toward an Integrated Approach to Nutritional Quality, Environmental Sustainability, and Economic Viability: Research and Measurement Gaps

Abstract Nutrition is affected by numerous environmental and societal causes. This paper starts with a simple framework based on three domains: nutritional quality, economic viability, and environmental sustainability, and calls for an integrated approach in research to simultaneously account for all three. It highlights limitations...
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Mainstreaming Nutrition Metrics in Household Surveys – Toward a Multidisciplinary Convergence of Data Systems

Abstract Since the 2008 food price crisis, food and nutrition security are back on the global development agenda, with particular emphasis on agricultural pathways toward improved nutrition. Parallel efforts are being promoted to improve the data and metrics for monitoring progress toward positive nutritional outcomes,...
food security cover art

Agricultural Policy and Nutrition Outcomes – Getting Beyond the Preoccupation with Staple Grains

Abstract There is a growing disconnect between agricultural policy and contemporary nutritional challenges, the persistent problem of micronutrient malnutrition and child stunting, as well as the emerging challenges of overweight and obesity. Diversification of production systems and the market supply of enhanced diversity will only...