Poor diets are a primary cause of malnutrition and the leading cause of disease worldwide. Improving diets, including increasing fruit and vegetable intake, could save one in five lives lost annually. This change must begin with consumers, by understanding dietary patterns and finding cost-effective ways to make diets rich in fruit and vegetables more desirable, accessible, affordable, and available.

A part of CGIAR’s new Research Portfolio, the Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets (FRESH) Initiative is working with partners to address this challenge, starting from consumers and working back through the food system to increase fruit and vegetable intake for multiple impacts — improving diet quality, nutrition, and health while also improving livelihoods, empowering women and youth, and mitigating negative environmental impacts. In this webinar co-hosted by CGIAR and IFPRI and in partnership with CIMMYT, the World Vegetable Center, and others, stakeholders will explore this innovative approach and the global and national relevance of FRESH in different contexts.

Opening Remarks

• Johan Swinnen, Global Director, CGIAR Systems Transformation Science Group & Director General, IFPRI (Presentation)

FRESH Overview

• Deanna Olney, Lead, FRESH initiative, CGIAR & Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI (Presentation)

Speakers

• Mathieu Ayenan, MS, Research Assistant, Plant Breeding, World Vegetable Center
• Saman Kalupahana, Nutritionist, World Food Programme (WFP)
• Joyce Kinabo, Professor of Human Nutrition in the Department of Food Technology, Nutrition, and Consumer Sciences at the Sokoine University of Tanzania
• Laura Munro, Advisor, Agriculture Research Team, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
• Sarah Schmidt, Advisor, Agricultural Research for Development, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Moderator

• Namukolo Covic, Director General’s Representative to Ethiopia CGIAR, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)