Health Talk for the Food Systems Summit on Women Nutrition

8 June 2021 – As a part of the Health Talks for the Food Systems Summit, the Micronutrient Forum (MNF) and the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies (HMHB) Consortium organized a session on Women Nutrition: Resilience and Recovery on the Road to 2030 on 8 June 2021 at 5.30-6.30 pm IST, 2-3 pm CET, 8-9 am EDT.

Food Systems Dialogues- Health Talks

Against the backdrop of the World Health Assembly and the Food System Summit Dialogues 2021, these ‘Health Talks’ aimed to highlight the interlinkage of food systems and health and why food systems transformation is necessary to achieve health and well-being for all. The WHO has developed a new narrative that encompasses health, food systems, and human rights through five thematic areas or pathways that depict how food systems influence health.

Health Talk- Women Nutrition: Resilience and Recovery on the Road to 2030

Under the theme of ‘Unhealthy Diets and Food Insecurity’, the session on Women Nutrition: Resilience and Recovery on the Road to 2030 discussed evidence-based approaches to improve women nutrition and health by increasing synergies between food and health systems.

Women’s roles in families and communities make them key drivers of development. They are caretakers – of children, the ill and the elderly, water, food, and shelter, as well as food producers and income earners. Good nutrition is foundational to women’s wellbeing and resilience made painfully clear by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, collective efforts have been mainly directed to child nutrition and failed to improve women’s nutrition. In the lead up to the U.N Food Systems Summit and Tokyo’s Nutrition for Growth Summit this year, this session highlighted the urgency for new and SMART commitments across food and health systems to build women’s health and resilience – for women, their families, and the broader social and economic development of nations.

The hour-long session consisted of short presentations and a dialogue moderated by Anna Lartey, Professor of Nutrition at the University of Ghana, where session attendees were invited to ask questions.

The impressive line of speakers included-

Framing and Opening – Mrs. Aisha Buhari, First Lady of the Republic of Nigeria
Empowering female farmers to ensure access to healthy food and resilient farming communities – Cherrie Atilano, AGREA, the Philippines.
Food and health system interventions to improve women & maternal nutrition and foster resilience – Jessica Fanzo, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health & Saskia Osendarp, The Micronutrient Forum
The role of female entrepreneurship, access to healthy foods and women’s nutrition – Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, AACE Foods and Sahel Capital Partners, Nigeria
Collaborations across Food and Health systems to improve nutrition – Michael Ojo, Country Director GAIN, Nigeria
Commitments for Women Nutrition in the Year of Action on Nutrition – Jemimah Njuki, Director for Africa, IFPRI

Session Information

Get to know the speakers here.

To know more about the session, read the Concept Note and the Agenda here.

This event was recorded and is available to view in English, French, and Spanish.

See the talk featured on the WHO Health Talks page and the UN Food Systems Summit 2021 page.

Read the Event Brief here.

N4G and UNFSS 2021 Commitment Guides

Read the Nutrition for Growth Commitment Guide on maternal nutrition and multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) by the HMHB Consortium.

It is available in English, French, and Spanish.

Read the UN Food Systems Summit Guide for women nutrition by the HMHB Consortium in English, French, and Spanish.

Media & Social Media Kit

For dissemination download the flyer and social media graphics for