ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
6 May 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
ICARDA Researcher Wins First Place at Student Poster Presentation
Ms Shibani Ghosh, a PhD student doing her research at ICARDA, won first place for her poster on Growth Status of Children in North West Syria: A Comparison of Three Rural Livelihood Groups at the 7th annual student poster presentation at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, on 30 March 2004.

    The objective of Ghosh’s research, being conducted at ICARDA and the University of Massachusetts, was to determine the socioeconomic factors affecting access to nutritious foods. She analyzed the nutritional status of 740 children under the age of 10 belonging to three distinct livelihood systems: irrigated farming, barley/livestock, and olive/fruit tree. Using a variety of data collection tools, she calculated the prevalence of stunting, low weight, and wasting. She then compared the values to a group of children from a middle class school in Aleppo as well as the CDC/WHO international reference.

    The results showed that stunting was most prevalent in the barley/ livestock group and affected more girls than boys. The incidence of underweight children was highest in the barley/livestock group and lowest in the irrigation group. Wasting was low in the barley/livestock and olive/fruit tree groups and non-existent in the irrigated farming group.

    Ghosh’s research shows that, although poverty is the main cause of malnutrition, a detailed analysis of the socioeconomic conditions can identify the groups that require immediate attention. Her final results will provide policy recommendations to reduce the incidence of malnutrition among rural populations.

   Ghosh's research work is supervised by Dr Aden Aw-Hassan of the Natural Resource Management Program at ICARDA, and by Professor Peter L. Pellett, Department of Nutrition, at the University of Massachusetts.

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org) serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.
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