On June 28, 2023, the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), hosted a Watch Party for #ANH2023 – the international conference covering pertinent topics of food security and food-related policies organised by ANH Academy. All sessions were broadcasted live at the Sambasivan Auditorium, Chennai, from 12 noon till 5.30 pm.

The side event on ‘Joining the dots towards action on healthy, sustainable & equitable food systems’, was conversation-styled with Joe Yates from ANH Academy leading the group. In attendance were Thin Lei Win, Independent food systems and climate change journalist, Dee Woods, Food Ethics Council & Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Mechanism of CFS, Scott Drimie, Southern Africa Food Lab, Purnima Menon, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), South Asia, Sangeetha Rajeesh, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, India, and Francis Zotor from Africa Catalyzing Action for Nutrition (AfriCAN).

The disconnect between journalists and researchers as well as the disconnections between the production and translation, transfer and use of knowledge were discussed. The spotlight was placed on the need for researchers to develop relationships with journalists and media, the need for researchers to engage in the decision-making process, and finally to translate research into simple-to-digest nuggets for ordinary people and policymakers to facilitate action on agriculture, nutrition, and health.

Sangeetha Rajeesh, Director of Communications, MSSRF, spoke of how journalists and researchers often speak ‘different languages’, and yet the building of science-media relationships does lead up to a form of co-produced articles. She added that this strategy of bringing science to the common man proved successful at MSSRF. Dee Woods closed the session saying, “I hope we find a common language that is simple and easy for everyone to understand, but is also powerful within the advocacy space.”

The evening Plenary session for the day for viewers in India was on the theme of Food system programmes: Impacts, processes and economics and included specialised topics of the speakers.

The first speaker was Thalia Sparling from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine presenting her paper on Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Programme Impacts Mental Health Via Food Security And Dietary Improvement In Rural Bangladesh; followed by Abdoulaye Pedehombga, AfricSante on The Costs Of A Multisectoral Nutrition Program Implemented Through A Poultry Value Chain Platform: The Selever Intervention In Burkina Faso.

Enrico Mazzoli from the Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organizations, Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy on Investigating The Agriculture-Nutrition Nexus: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Nutrition-Sensitive Agricultural Interventions In Burundi; Jackline Odhiambo from Maseno University presented on Comparison Of The Effect Of A Multisectoral Agricultural Intervention On HIV-Related Health Outcomes Between Widowed And Married Women; Charlotte Lane from International Initiative for Impact Evaluation presented on Continuous Monitoring Of The Evidence On Food Systems And Nutrition: Learnings And Use/Rapid Evidence Assessment Of The Long-Term Effects Of Agricultural Systems Interventions: A Meta-Analysis and finally by Edward Joy from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine on Low Participant Retention In An Agriculture-Nutrition Trial: Experiences From The Ahha Ethiopia Tria.