Is it possible to tackle obesity and undernourishment simultaneously? That’s the question 2017 Research Award Recipient Carly Hayes set out to answer. Peru, she says, “suffers from a double burden of malnutrition: over 59% of the adult population are overweight or obese, while many children in rural areas are stunted or suffer from anemia.”

Peru has carried out a concerted program to reduce stunting in children under five, says Hayes, but efforts to address obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases such as diabetes have been piecemeal and lack overall policy coherence. A debate is underway as to whether the policies that solved one problem could be retrofitted to address another.

Hayes concluded that retooling existing nutrition policies is a viable option, but “these policies shouldn’t take the place of a more holistic nutrition strategy that seeks to create a healthier food environment.”

Hayes’ says the research and fieldwork in Lima, the Department of Cusco, and the town of Ollantaytambo in the high Andes “gave me the chance both to deepen my knowledge of non-communicable disease prevention and to strengthen my skills in logistics and planning, monitoring and evaluation, and communications.”

“I feel that I grew a lot as a researcher, as a professional, and on a personal level throughout my year as a research awardee.”

However, Hayes considers that one of the most valuable opportunities “was the chance to interact with a cohort of awardees who bring a wide variety of experience, knowledge, and skills to the program. Learning from this remarkable group has allowed me to expand my knowledge of 10 international development issues, instead of just one!”

Youth fare better financially than adults in the processing of cassava in Ghana. They could also surpass them in production and marketing if they had more access to credit and extension services, says Nana Anima Akrofi, a 2016 IDRC Research Award recipient.

Ghana is the world’s sixth largest producer of cassava and the crop remains the country’s most important staple food. Cassava is also of growing economic importance and could provide jobs for women and youth while increasing food security.

Akrofi set out to determine what role youth play in the cassava value chain and how their performance compares to that of adults. “The main challenge youth face is poor access to credit and extension services,” she says. “This inhibits their production activities. They are, however, relatively more profitable in processing — by turning the roots into dry flakes or flour — than adults.”

Akrofi credits the IDRC Research Award for enabling her “to identify issues in agri-food businesses that could generate options for improving food and income security,” she says. It also “opened the opportunity for me to pursue further studies and undertake academic research.”

How can new technologies that prevent the loss of fruit after harvest make it from the lab to the market? Do researchers and marketing companies agree on what is needed?

These are the questions Laura Husak, a 2015  Research Award recipient, sought to answer while working with an IDRC team to ensure the research the Centre funds leads to “large-scale positive change” for smallholder farmers.

Using a business lens — “an approach not commonly used in the development sector” — she focused on a project to develop innovative technologies to prolong the shelf life of soft fruit in Sri Lanka.

While she found that the business approach could help streamline the process of scaling-up, “other important factors shape how research results are deployed,” says Husak. This research “really opened my eyes to the need for interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development.”

It also spurred an interest in how development institutions interact with funding partners and grantees. “The Research Award program offered the perfect balance between research and program management activities. It was a fantastic way for me to transition from being a graduate student to being a young professional,” says Husak.

If Parnali Chowdury’s research is any indication, children in Bangladesh are not going to give up their sugary drinks easily. The 2016 IDRC Research Award recipient found that although children in grades 5 to 8 were increasingly aware of the negative effects of sugary drinks, “children in higher grades are prone to consume more.” Chowdhury’s study was the first to examine why urban Bangladeshi children consume so many sugary drinks.

Although she found no difference in drink consumption between boys and girls, she did observe that their consumption is influenced in different ways. Boys, she says, have pocket money, so they buy drinks at local shops or in school vending machines. Girls, “don’t get pocket money in Bangladesh.” Nor are they allowed to play outside on the streets, so “they end up watching more TV and are more influenced by advertisements.” The strongest motivator for both were promotional gifts with beverage purchases, says Chowdhury.

Her experience at IDRC “made me strong enough to pursue things that I really want to pursue,” she says. “Now I’m very confident that I will be pursuing the health and development area all through my life.”