Community of Practice on Integrating Nutrition into Extension and Advisory Services: Indonesia Context

Indonesia has developed into an upper middle class country with a gross national income per capita (PPNB) of US$ 4,919.7 in 2023 (BPS, 2023). In the last decade, Indonesia has recorded an average annual growth of around 5 percent. In line with this economic development, Indonesia has made progress in improving food and nutrition security. Access to food has increased and the prevalence of malnutrition (malnutrition) has decreased in recent years. However, the nutritional status of the Indonesian people is still low by international standards and the variation remains large between regions. Many residents are still at risk of starvation and malnutrition (Smeru, 2020).

According to the 2018 Global Nutrition Report, Indonesia is one of three countries with the highest number of children with wasting conditions (Development Initiatives, 2018). According to the results of the 2018 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas), 10.2 percent of children under 5 years of age in Indonesia experienced wasting and 30.8 percent were stunted (Ministry of Health, 2019). The lowest prevalence of stunting was reported in Gianyar, Bali Province (12%), while the highest prevalence of stunting was found in Nias, West Sumatra Province (61%) (Central Statistics Agency, 2019). At the same time, Indonesia also witnessed increasing rates of overweight and obesity, as well as micronutrient deficiency. Thus, Indonesia faces a triple burden of malnutrition, namely undernutrition alongside overnutrition and micronutrient deficiency (Smeru, 2020).

Many studies show that food and nutrition problems are also caused by consumption patterns and behavior of individuals and households, so the implementation of nutrition-sensitive agriculture is important. Until now, the knowledge and awareness of key actors and business actors regarding this matter are still limited. Hariyadi (2011) suggests that households with poor nutritional awareness behavior have the potential to increase the risk of stunting in toddlers 1.22 times greater than households with good nutritional awareness behavior. Knowledge about nutrition and health plays an important role in promoting healthy eating behavior. Wu et al. (2022) shows that sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender, education level, occupation, residential address, and history of chronic diseases are potential factors that influence individual nutritional awareness.

Ecker and Breisinger (2012) suggest an overview of the food and nutrition security system. The overview implies that the issue of food and nutrition in micro systems (household and household members) that can be viewed as nutrition status is influenced by macro systems and external shocks. The nutrition status reflects human capacity and productivity. Intervention can be carried out through economic policies, social policies and programs, and nutrition and health programs. Agriculture is one of key factors mentioned by Ecker and Breisinger that affects the household economics and social development. Improving agricultural practices to be more sensitive to the needs of people for nutritious and healthy food is a need.
This framework provides a foundation for understanding food security and nutrition systems. It is based on the 1996 World Food Summit definition of food security, which states that food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Although absolutely necessary, food intake and access at the individual and household levels are not enough to maintain the food and nutritional security status of the population because other factors also play a role.
The action for improvement on nutrition status should also consider the agri-food value chains. Strategies and entry points for nutrition-sensitive value chains views interconnectivity between on -farm and on-farm context of agriculture. In the light of this, the improvement of nutrition status of people should take into the supply and demand aspects.

With the objective to find solution in the context of nutrition sensitive agriculture and for strengthening extension sensitive nutrition and vice versa, we deveop Community of Practice on effective integration nutrition into extension and advisory services (NSEAS). On June 29, 2024, we launched the CoP on NSEAS in an face to face meetin held at the Center for Human Resources Development of IPB University. The meeting was organized as workshop and training about the nutrition sensitive nutrition and vice versa. . There were 12 participants of the meeting represented different organizations, including extension workers, civil society organization activist, researchers, academicians, students, and journalist. The objectives of the CoP on NSEAS are as follows:
➢ Advocate for the role of extension and advisory services on nutrition and food security in Indonesia from a multi sectoral perspective;
➢ Provide evidence of the impact of extension on nutrition and food security in Indonesia;
➢ Provide learning and exchange experiences opportunities not limited to CoP members to guide the extension and advisory services on the context of agriculture, extension-education, and nutrition;
➢ Contribute to policies, organizational mandates and programs related to EAS that promote food and nutrition security (sustainability context).


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