"maintaining and improving nutritional value and food safety along the value chain marie t....
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Maintaining and Improving Nutritional Value and Food Safety along the Value Chain
Marie T. Ruel
International Food Policy Research Institute
Photo: A.de Brauw
The Challenges and Opportunities
• Persistent problems of malnutrition – 1 in 3 people affected: deficiencies in energy, micronutrients, overweight/obesity
• Ambitious SDGs– which require “business as un-usual”
• Recognition of need to work multisectorally, but HOW?
• Changing pressures on food systems: population and income growth, climate change, urbanization, globalization of diets, competition for natural resources
“Food systems are not delivering healthy diets” (Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition)
Income Can Help Reduce Stunting
10% increase in GDP leads
to 6% reduction in
stunting
Source: Ruel and Alderman; Lancet 2013
But it Also Increases Ovwt/Obesity
Source: Ruel and Alderman; Lancet 2013
10% increase in GDP leads to 7% increase in women’s ovwt/obesity
Food Systems and Diet Quality & Safety
Source: Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition (2014)
UrbanizationChanging age profiles
Migration
TechnologyInfrastructure
Social networks
TraditionsSocial norms
Religion & ritualsSocial stratification
Gender
LeadershipLivelihoods & Income
MarketsTrade
Natural resource capital Ecosystem services
Climate adaptation & resiliency
Food Environments
Food access (location within environments,physical proximity)
Food affordability(point of purchase, willingness to pay)
Food acceptability & preferences(branding, cultural and nationalistic
preference /standards)
Information & guidelines (education, messaging)
Composition, quality & safety
Nutrition & Health outcomes
Political, Programme, and Institutional Actions
Economic impacts
Social equity impacts
Consumer Behaviors
Choosing where and what food to
acquire, prepare, cook, store and eat
Diets
QuantityQuality
DiversitySafety
AVAILABILITY ACCESS UTILIZATION
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Environmental impacts
Food Systems, Diets and Nutrition
Biophysical & Environmental
Drivers
Innovation & Research Drivers
Sociocultural Drivers
Political & EconomicDrivers
Demographic Drivers
Retail, marketing & advertising
Processing & Packaging
Storage, Exchange & Distribution
Production Systems
Value Chain Processes/ Actors
Farmers, agribusiness, land & plantation owners, fisheries, financial
entities
Transporters, agribusiness, traders
Packing plants, food industry, SMEs
Retailers, markets, food outlets, distributors, restaurants,
wholesalers
Source: Jessica Fanzo
Value Chains Can Help Food Systems Deliver on Diets and Nutrition
Value chains refer to the full range of activities that are required to bring a food product from conception, through the different phases of production, to delivery to final consumers and disposal after use
They are designed to ADD VALUE (usually economic) and can address:
Production constraints: processing, storage, information, prices, markets, natural resources, yields
Consumption constraints: preferences, information, affordability/prices
They can also address nutrient losses, contamination: aflatoxin, contamination/ spoilage at different stages of VC; identify opportunities to restore/add nutrients /prevent losses
Why Value Chains for Nutrition?
• VCs require/promote coordination among multiple actors at all levels (multi-actor/multi-sectoral) - from farm to fork –
• VCs are solution-oriented: can be used to identify where changes are needed (e.g. select VC actors can be targeted to increase incentives and capacities for delivering improved nutrition & food safety
• VCs focus on adding “ value”: provide opportunities for adding not only economic value along the chain, but also other v for as nutrition, food safety, environmental sustainability
• VCs are versatile: can be tailed to address different problems (e.g. malnutrition in all its forms, diets, food safety), contexts, needs, in an integrated way
Inputs into production
Food production
Food storage and processing
Food distribution and transport
Food retail and labeling
MORE NUTRITIOUS & SAFER FOODS AVAILABLE
What Is a Nutrition-Sensitive VC?
Nutritious & safe diets consumed
Producer – Value Chain
Develop, test, evaluate solutions to bottlenecks
to enhance nutrition and food safety along the
value chain
Characterize diets, market access, and constraints to consumption of nutritious
and safe foods
Develop and test, evaluate solutions to improve
knowledge, awareness, and demand for nutritious and
safe foods
Identify production and market constraints to
ensuring nutritious content and safety of food
Supply Side
Demand Side
Value Chains Come in Many Different Forms
Types of value chains
Actors
Traditional Traditional traders Smallholder farmers
Consumers
Modern Domestic & multinational
manufacturers
Commercial farms Modern supermarkets
And everything in between!
High demand, weak supply High demand, ample supply
Low demand , weak supply Low demand, ample supplyDe
man
d
Supply
+
- +
Possible interventions:• Improved business and regulatory
environment (food safety)•Upgrades in technologies• Improved mechanisms for coordination
between chain actors
Possible interventions:• Innovation in production technologies• Innovation in the formulation of inputs for
production (improved input access?)•Organization of producers to supply higher
volumes • Facilitate expansion of market outlets
Possible interventions:• Social marketing to stimulate demand• Subsidies for consumption •Adjustments in the regulatory
framework• Support for marketing by retailers• Public purchasing programs
Possible interventions:• Social marketing to stimulate demand• Subsidies for consumption •Building capacities for primary production • Producer organization• Incentives for risk taking by processers and
retailers
Typology of VC for Nutrition Interventions
Source: Gelli et al. IFPRI DP 2015
-
+-
Production Inputs Processing
• Seed subsidies• Investment in R&D• Gov’ incentives for diversifying
farm production• Scale-up of extension services• Crop insurance• Access to credit
• Improved storage facilities• Investment in technology• Improved testing for aflatoxin
exposure
• Investment in roads and infrstructure• Zoning laws to improve access to healthier foods• Farm-to-school programs• Subsidies for healthier food/taxes on sugar, fat• Improved Food labeling• Bans on advertising for children
• Social marketing and other Interventions to improve consumer knowledge and awareness about nutrition, health, food safety
• Training of actors along the VC on healthy diets
• Mandatory food fortification• Trans fat bans• Salt, sugar targets/standards• Private sector partnerships
to improve processed food quality
Examples of Points of Intervention along the VC to Address all Forms of Malnutrition
Maximize “nutrition entering”; Minimize “nutrition exiting”
Source: Downs & Fanzo, 2016
Post HarvestDistribution,
marketing, retailConsumption
Women: Key Leverage Point forImproving Nutrition through Agriculture
Source: Sundberg, Birx, Ruel; BMGF Learning Session; January 2014
Women’s empowerment, health, nutrition, and time
Progress So Far
• On-going work on VCs for nutritious (and safe) foods (e.g. dairy (milk, yogurt), chicken (eggs), vegetables, fruit, pulses); aflatoxin (post-harvest); homegrown school feeding programs, P4P: e.g. CGIAR and partners, FtF, Gender, Agriculture and Assets Project (GAAP), WFP, IFAD, FAO, many NGOs, others
• Biofortification: HarvestPlus now in delivery phase
• Public/private partnerships around VCs for nutrition: e.g., GAIN Market Place for Nutritious Foods, certification of complementary foods
• Policies: e.g., tax on sweetened beverages, fat; legislation to reduce salt, sugar, saturated fat in processed foods
Where do we Go from Here?
• Lots of conceptual work on food systems and nutrition, lots of big reports!
• Useful guidance documents, on-line courses on multisectoral work, value chains for nutrition/gender/food safety, how to make agriculture and food systems more nutrition-sensitive (FAO, WB, SPRING/USAID, NGOs, etc.)
• Emerging new communities of practice, partnerships, networks
• Too little credible research, shared learning, documentation and publication of lessons learned on implementation, impact and cost – Is it all worth it?
Key Messages
Value chain for nutrition and food safety offer a great opportunity to leverage food systems to reduce malnutrition in all its forms
Value chains can help address constraints to supply and intake of healthy foods and help create “an enabling environment for healthier choices”
A lot is happening, but learning is too slow and scattered; we need to focus more on strategic implementation, impact and cost-effectiveness research