Leading the battle against ‘invisible malnourishment’

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Leading the battle against ‘invisible malnourishment’

Category:Updates
Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted

AwF’s woman of the month award for May goes to Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted for the exceptional contribution her work has made in creating food-based systems to overcome micronutrient deficiencies in low-income countries across Asia and Africa. Shakuntala is currently Research Program Leader, Value Chains and Nutrition at WorldFish.

With fishing community in West Bengal, India

With fishing community in West Bengal, India

Shakuntala’s work focuses on the potential of small nutrient-rich fish in combating and preventing vitamin and mineral deficiencies, in particular, vitamin A, iron, zinc and calcium. She has carried out work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, West Bengal and Nepal, together with government institutions, universities and NGOs. In Bangladesh, deficiencies of these nutrients are widespread effecting more than 20 million people, particularly women and young children. Intergenerational malnourishment occurs as pregnant and breast feeding women and their children are unable to access essential micronutrients due to social and economic factors. As a result, children can suffer irreversible damage that persists through life, stunting their growth and preventing normal brain development and cognition. A sustainable source of essential fatty acids and micronutrients, including calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin B12 can be found in small indigenous fish. The small fish, mola can be farmed alongside other fish species, including carp in ponds and can be harvested frequently, making it ideal for regular household consumption. Produced locally at low cost, they can be cooked and eaten whole in a meal with rice and vegetables. Dried small fish can also be made into chutney with onion, spices and oil and served as an accompaniment to daily meals for pregnant and lactating women, and a flour of dried small fish, orange sweet potato, rice and oil can be boiled with water and served as porridge for infants and young children.

Shakuntala speaking at Jeju 2015

Shakuntala speaking at Jeju 2015

Dr. Craig A Meisner, Country Director, WorldFish South Asia, said this about AwF’s May 2016 champion “Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted is the most persistent person I have ever met.  This is a glowing complement.  She knows her nutrition science and is persistent to push for greater emphasis on nutrition in all our projects.  Because of her, WorldFish Bangladesh joined a 4-member coalition (SAVE, iDE, HKI) to conduct 7 years of nutritional research in NE Bangladesh, funded by EU-DFID.  Because of her, we are pushing for the use of the small indigenous fish in all our development projects.  Because of her work, we are ready to scale out fish chutney and fish powder on a large scale empowering the private sector.  Truthfully, because of her persistence and insistence, the program of work in Bangladesh and throughout the world has broadened and due to that, our impact is much more measurable among the poor and malnourished.”

Shakuntala extends her influence in the international, regional and national fora as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Nutrition Innovation Laboratory funded by Feed the Future, USAID. She plays a pivotal role in promoting the agenda of fish for improved nutrition as well as the importance of the fisheries sector in contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2015, she was a keynote speaker at the World Aquaculture conference in Jeju, Korea; speaker at the United Nations (UN) Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea at UN, New York; speaker at the Southeast Asian Conference on Eco-nutrition: From Concepts to Practice in Achieving Sustainable Diets, Los Baños, Philippines; speaker at the World Food Prize, Des Moines, Iowa; and speaker at UN World Food Security, meeting, FAO, Rome, Italy.

With fisheries staff in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

With fisheries staff in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Director, Aquaculture and Genetic Improvement at WorldFish, Michael Phillips said “Shakuntala has also demonstrated a strong commitment to mentoring and providing opportunities for young staff and through that she has helped establish a new group of young scientists – working as interns, on PhDs and starting their careers – who will provide a strong foundation for continued development in a key area of fisheries and aquaculture.”

Toby Johnson, Communication Manager at WorldFish has provided this additional information

Papers 2015:

2015 S. H. Thilsted Powell, B., S. H. Thilsted, A. Ickowitz, C. Termote, T. Sunderland1 and A. Herforth Improving diets with wild and cultivated biodiversity from across the landscape Food Security June 2015, Volume 7, Issue 3, pp 535-554,
2015 S. H. Thilsted Bogard, J.R., Thilsted S.H., Marks G.C., Wahab M.A., Hossain M.A.R., Jakobsen J. and Stangoulis J Nutrient composition of important fish species in Bangladesh and potential contribution to recommended nutrient intakes. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. Vol. 42, September 2015, Pages 120–133
2015 S. H. Thilsted Bogard J, Hother A-L, Saha M, Bose S, Humayun K, Marks G, and Thilsted SH Inclusion of Small Indigenous Fish Improves Nutritional Quality During the First 1000 Days Food Nutr Bull. 2015 Sep;36(3):276-89. doi: 10.1177/0379572115598885. Epub 2015 Aug 20.
2015 S. H. Thilsted Andersen, A. B., L. K. H. Schmidt, D. Faurholt-Jepsen, N. Roos, H. Friis, K. Kongsbak, M. A. Wahed, and S. H. Thilsted The effect of daily consumption of the small fish Amblypharyngodon mola or added vitamin A on iron status: A randomised controlled trial among Bangladeshi children with marginal vitamin A status Asian Pacific Journal Of Clinical Nutrition doi: 10.6133/apjcn.092015.11. Published online: September 2015
2015 S. H. Thilsted Bene, C., R. Arthur, H. Norbury, E. H. Allison, M. Beveridge, S. Bush, L. Campling, W. Leschen, D. Lttle, D. Squires, S. H. Thilsted, M. Troell and M. Williams Contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food security and poverty reduction: assessing the current evidence World Development doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.11.007.  Volume 79, March 2016, Pages 177–196.
2015 S. H. Thilsted Fiedler, J.L., K. Lividini,  E. Drummond and S. H. Thilsted Strengthening the contribution of aquaculture to food and nutrition security: The potential of a vitamin A-rich, small fish in Bangladesh Aquaculture doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2015.11.004.  Volume 452, 1 February 2016, Pages 291–303

Media coverage:

http://www.scidev.net/south-asia/health/news/bangladesh-explores-mola-fish-for-a-nutrition-boost.htmlhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-10/bangladesh-fish-chutney/6746462

http://www.farmingfirst.org/2015/10/shakuntala-thilsted-fish-chutney-and-flour-offer-malnutrition-hope-in-bangladesh/

http://www.agweb.com/article/fisheries-aquaculture-fill-gap-in-global-food-security-dialogue-naa-agweb-guest-editor/

YouTube videos:

If you would like to nominate a woman to be the next Woman of the Month, please check the Criteria and complete the Nomination Form.


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