Agriculture-Nutrition Community of Practice (Ag2Nut CoP)
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The Agriculture-Nutrition Community of Practice (Ag2Nut) is a global network of professionals working on agriculture and nutrition linkages. The group is informal and designed to facilitate information sharing and networking.
Community
In 2020, the group has roughly 7,500 members from 129 countries. It includes members of national and international NGOs, UN organizations, governments, universities, independent professionals, bilateral institutions, and donor organizations.
Activities
The Ag2Nut platform and activities facilitate information sharing, networking, and dialogue in support of a broader evidence base and shared advocacy. The main activities are thematic webinars proposed by group members, an announcement-only email list, and a LinkedIn Group.
- Any member can propose and prepare a topic for sharing and discussion during a webinar. You can find past webinar recordings at this page.
- The email list is moderated, and it is a useful place to share resources relevant to the linkages between agriculture and nutrition, including events, research findings, job postings, and focused questions for feedback.
- The LinkedIn Group is where members can engage in discussion via the posts’ comments feature, as well as post about opportunities/availability to collaborate in Ag2Nut related work.
The outcomes of the group evolve with the needs of the members. Our first output in 2011-2013, was the Key Recommendations for Improving Nutrition through Agriculture and Food Systems, adopted by FAO and used by several other institutions for training staff and/or reviewing project proposals. This arose from the aim to communicate our common understanding of the linkages between agriculture and nutrition.
In the past five years, in response to the needs of the members, country subgroups have also been formed for Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria. Most recently, there has also been discussion about South Asia and Latin America/Caribbean subgroups.
In 2020, with the world dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, the group has been focusing on the effects of the pandemic in Food Systems and Nutrition. We hope to capture lessons learned and recommendations from our collective experiences and in partnership with other communities of practice.
Formation
Ag2Nut arose in June 2010 when a few DC-based professionals discovered that all were writing policy briefs on how to link agriculture and nutrition. Initiated by Emily Levitt Ruppert and Anna Herforth, the group formed to support knowledge-sharing and harmonization of guidance to the members' various global institutions.
Group Management
The Ag2Nut platform is hosted by UNSCN. Anna Herforth, Cecilia Gonzalez and Emily Levitt Ruppert serve as group coordinators. The coordinators moderate email announcements, manage membership requests, organize the webinars, facilitate the formation of subgroups, and liaise with other communities to coordinate and carry out activities.
Ag2Nut Contact/Information
Membership Platform: https://connect.unscn.org/ag2nut
Webinars: https://anh-academy.org/ag2nut-webinars
LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12189334
Twitter Handle: @Ag2Nut
Coordinators Email: ag2nut@gmail.com