Agriculture, nutrition sectors must work together to fight undernutrition

"Agriculture and nutrition are deeply intertwined. Not only does increasing agricultural productivity have the potential to improve rural families' nutrition, but healthier and better-nourished farmers are more productive, earn more income, and contribute to further economic growth," Gary Darmstadt, Sam Dryden, and Emily Piwoz of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation write in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog. The authors note they "recently developed a position paper that describes why and how the agriculture and nutrition strategies of the foundation intersect, highlighting ways that we will work together in the future to make complementary investments in order to improve the lives' and health of families in developing countries." They conclude, "Combating undernutrition requires contributions from many sectors, including both nutrition and agriculture" (8/9).