A4NH Director, John McDermott presents an overview of the program.
Earlier this week, the A4NH team hosted the first of what will become a series of ‘brownbag’ discussions at its host center, IFPRI. The series is intended to address commonly-asked-questions about A4NH on topics ranging from our research portfolio, how we engage with partners, working within CGIAR institutions, and scaling up research in areas, such as health and food safety.
This first session, held on Monday, 9/15, drew approximately 40 participants from within the IFPRI community. The session began with an overview delivered by A4NH director, John McDermott. In his presentation, McDermott introduced the basics of A4NH, including our flagship areas, engagement processes, as well as firsthand accounts from a few A4NH collaborators within IFPRI.
Next, Summer Allen, a senior researcher in IFPRI’s Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division, introduced the portfolio of projects she and her colleagues are working on through their collaboration with A4NH, both in value chains for nutrition, and food safety research. Allen stated, “A4NH allows us to work with a range of partners with whom we may not otherwise have had the opportunity to work.”
Afterwards, Aulo Gelli, a senior researcher from IFPRI’s Poverty, Health, and Nutrition Division, spoke about the process he went through in collaborating with A4NH to develop a framework for nutrition-sensitive value chain research. Earlier this year, Gelli leveraged the extended A4NH network in hosting a workshop intended to mobilize a wide range of multisectoral partners in this research area.
Attendees at the first A4NH brownbag discussion series
A4NH is planning to continue this series through the end of 2014 and into 2015, covering a range of topics, such as in-country partnerships, scaling up our health portfolio, and A4NH’s gender research- among other topics.
