Towards a ``Farm to Fork`` Model for Food and Nutrition Security in CARICOM Countries:
Home grown School feeding for children’s health through diet
quality and diet diversity, with menu cost efficiency
Leroy E. Phillip Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
McGill University, Montreal, Canada Presented at the Annual Review and Planning Forum
Department of Agriculture , Conference Room LaGuerite St. Kitts
Feb 26, 2014 da
• CARICOM Food Insecurity has taken the form of overweight & obesity
• Obesity is high risk factor in NCDs, costing CARICOM 5-8% of GDP
• Obesity , especially women, is rapidly increasing, and on the rise among children
• Obesity is linked to low consumption of fruits & vegetables, high intakes of fats, oils and sugar- Poor consumer food choices and lifestyles;
• High food import bill (US $5 bil/yr) – energy- dense food types
• Institutional and market constraints on domestic production of nutritious food
• Seasonality in crop and livestock productivity , heavy rains, floods and droughts
Problem Statement and Challenges : Food Insecurity in CARICOM
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
U$
Mill
ion
Year
TRENDS IN CARICOM AGRICULTURAL TRADE IN CROPS AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS 1990-2011
Total EXPORTS U$M Total IMPORTS U$M
Source: J. R. Deep Ford 2013; FAO
Food Availability in the Caribbean
FAO-CARICOM Food security Project Report 2007
Prevalence of Overwt / Obesity in the Caribbean in > 30 years old
23
16
25
7 8
2016 15 14 12 11 10 10
1
57 55 54
4643
3430 29 27 25 24 23 22
19
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Ba
rba
do
s
Trin
ida
d a
nd
To
ba
go
Do
min
ica
Jam
aic
a
Sa
int L
uci
a
Ba
ha
ma
s
Sa
int K
itts
an
d N
evi
s
An
tigu
a a
nd
Ba
rbu
da
Gre
na
da
Sa
int V
ince
nt a
nd
the
Gre
na
din
es Be
lize
Su
rina
me
Gu
yan
a
Ha
iti
Pre
vale
nce
of O
besi
ty
Males
Females
Source: J. R. Deep Ford 2013; FAO
0
5
10
15
Under Weight Over Weight
4
6
3
13
Per
cen
tage
Changes in Childhood (0-5yr) Underweight and
Overweight Status During a decade
20002010
Source: CFNI
• Improve nutrition & health outcomes of Children through school feeding to increase intake of
vegetables & fruits, control caloric intake, and increase micronutrient intake;
• Equip small holder farmers with sustainable technologies to improve agricultural productivity and diversity and water conservation
• Understand constraints to, and accelerate the rate of technology adoption by small farmers;
• Encourage market driven production system that improves food safety and post harvest quality along the supply chain;
• Build and test a Farm to Fork Model for CARICOM food and nutrition security;
• Expand and build human and institutional capacity to improve CARICOM food security
Project Goals
Agriculture Health
Policy instruments
Build partnerships
Knowledge generation
CHANGE
Framework for change
Effort
NCD’s
CIFSRF CARICOM Project: Contributions to Solutions
• Generate scientific and integrated knowledge and findings as a model to inform policy action
• Build regional, national and Canada- CARICOM partnerships for collective action
• Strengthen efforts in capacity building and ``research for development``
• Take a multi-sectoral approach to food and nutrition security linking agriculture, health and education
• Engage school feeding programs, small holder farmers and community actors as vehicles to effect change, market development & innovations for food security.
CIFSRF CARICOM project: contributions to Solutions
From Farm
To Fork
Socio-Economic Studies Consumer and Farmer Household Surveys Focus groups on innovation & technology adoption Environmental
Management
Gender Consideration
…and beyond
Water and Land Resources Drip Irrigation, Water and Soil Conservation Protected Agriculture Open Field Crop Diversification Silage conservation for Small Ruminants
Market access Post-Harvest Loss Management Food Safety and Quality
Community Nutrition and Health Improving the quality of School Meals Nutrition Education Consumer food choices
Policy Changes for Sustained Food Security in CARICOM
Farm to Fork: Impact pathway
Children, Caregivers, Women, School Meals staff, Small holders farmers, Policy makers
Project Targets: “Community Change Agents”
Socio-economics & Behavior
-Innovations in farming systems -Social capital/Social learning
-Technology adoption -Market development
Agriculture Technology
-Productivity/availability -Diversity
-Sustainability
Community Nutrition & Health
-Obesity -Child nutrition & health
-School feeding -Food safety
Community & Market Development
Improved Livelihood
Policy & Institutions
Community
Actions
-Small farmers -Children -Women
Towards CARICOM Food & Nutrition Security
-Water & Land Resources
-Postharvest -Protected Agriculture
-Small Ruminant
Model Elements
School Feeding &
Market Development
Agricultural technology
Food procurement
Consumer Food choices
Improved farmer livelihood
Community food & nutrition security
CONCEPTUAL FRAME FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOOD & NUTRITION SECURITY
Community health & development
Policy Impact
• Equipping small holder farmers with sustainable agricultural technologies; technology adoption by farmers
• Strengthening markets & mechanisms for produce procurement
• Investments in and strengthening School Feeding Programmes
• Institutions, Knowledge flows, Social capital & policy incidence
• Acceleration of technical and institutional capacity
Preconditions for successful farm to fork model
Populating the model with experimental data:
• agricultural technology for crop productivity and diversity on small holder farms • Produce Procurement • School Lunch Feeding
• Institutions, Knowledge flows, Social capital & policy impact
• Capacity Building/gender equity /environmental sustainability
Research data collection for farm to fork model
Drip + mulching
Mulato grass conservation for small ruminants
Drip irrigation
Protected agriculture
Post-harvest loss measurement (Penetrometer)
Innovations: Technologies for diet diversity and quality
17.1
1.8
18.5
2.4
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
18.0
20.0
Tomato Red beans
tonn
e/ha
2012 Crop yield at Black Bush Polder (Guyana) project site
Not irrigated Irrigated
2.80
0.81 1.04
5.87
6.88
1.81
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
String Beans(Mansion)
Pumpkin(Stapleton)
Watermelon (Stapleton)
tonn
e/ha
2012/2013 Crop yield at St.Kitts project sites
Not Irrigated Irrigated
String beans
Tomatoes
Red beans
Bora
Eggplant
Cucumbers
Cabbage
Melons
Pumpkin
Watermelon
Achievement: Increased crop availability and diversity
Silage production for small ruminants
Small ruminant performance with Mulato grass silage on farms in St. Kitts
49
57
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Control (natural pasture) Natural pasture + Mulato grass silage
ADG
(g/d
ay)
Daily gain (96 d after weaning) of sheep supplemented with Mulato grass silage in St. Kitts.
Achievement: Post-harvest Losses Mapping for process control
Water sampling Water sampling
Laboratory analysis
Training and field measurements
Soil sampling
Environmental quality and food safety
Food Safety training
Populating the model with experimental data:
• Local produce procurement
Preconditions for successful farm to fork model
Extent of produce supplied by Local Farmers (Project and Non Project Farmer) in St. Kitts relative to School Meal Centre Needs -
2013 school year
Extent of supplied (%) 0-25 26-50 51-70 76-100 Surplus
Product January February March April May June September October November December
Tomato 26 19%
surplus 83%
surplus 0 0 17 57 43 53 36
Pumpkin 19 0 23 45 62 88 25 72 97 22
Cucumber 63 33%
surplus 25 0 30 73 14%
surplus 0 38 67
String Beans 43 33 41 8 33 20 15 0 53 70
Carrots 8 25 5% surplus 33 14%
surplus 92 0 0 0 86
Sweet Potato 73 0 33 0 19 35 19 58 59 0
White Potato 0 29 31 60 14 0 0 16 0 0
Cabbage 0 0 0 0 92 0 0 23 93 0
Watermelon 0 0 21 14 79 26 25 0 9 0
Cantaloupe 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 0 0 0
Banana 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 25 0
Other fruits 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 53 25
Mutton 0 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Roots – White potato, Sweet potato and Carrots; Vegetables – Tomato, Pumpkin, Cucumber, and Cabbage; Pulses – String beans; Fruits – Watermelon, Banana, Cantaloupe, Banana, Oranges, and Star fruit; Mutton
Proportion (%) of produce supplied to St. Kitts School Meals Centre (SMC) by local farmers ("project" and non-project farmers ) in relation to SMC needs- 2013 school
year
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
ALL YEAR
11
43
29
45
2
% o
f Pro
duce
supp
lied
Fruits Vegetables Pulses Roots Mutton
Total quantity of all produce (Fruits, Vegetables, Pulses, Roots and Mutton) received by St. Kitts School Meals Centre from local farmers (“project” and non project farmers) – 2013 school year
Diversity (number ) of Fruits, Vegetables, Pulses and Roots
received by St. Kitts School Meals Centre from local farmers ("Project" and Non Project Farmers) - school year 2013
School Feeding data Collected in St. Kitts
• Total cost of the lunch menu ( two-2 week sampling in April and September 2013)
• Food item procurement: – % of food items (F&V) needs at the School Meals Centre supplied locally by local Farmers (project vs Non
Project farmers) – % of food items (F&V) needs at the School Meals Centre supplied by supermarkets
• Diet Diversity :
– Number of different fruits and vegetables procured weekly – Quantity of different fruits and vegetables procured weekly
• Diet Quality :
– Nutrient composition of meals as offered – Acceptability of food items by school children ( plate waste :0-25% ; 25-50%; 50-75%; 75-100)
• Nutrition outcomes of children
– 24 h recall dietary intake – Fruit and vegetable intake – Anthropometry (BMI; height) – Iron status (blood haemoglobin)
1.34
0.6
1.03
0.8
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
Fruits (Caribbean food group) Vegetables (Caribbean food group)
Serv
ings
per
day
SKN TT
The Challenge: Fruits & vegetables
BMI of subjects in St. Kitts
Before Rice and beans, turkey wings,
Noodles/ground meat Hot dogs Chicken soup with pumpkin
and dumplings Cheese sandwich Sugar drink
After String beans, carrots Tomatoes, cucumbers Sweet potato, pumpkin Melon, green banana Mutton
31
Innovation: Menu changes in St Kitts
Number of children impacted by menu change
Number of meals served daily (national level) 3,200 (17 schools)
Number of modified meals served daily (project level) 800 (4 test schools)
Number of children evaluated 188 (4 + 3 control)
319 391
0
200
400
600
Calories (Kcal)
Calorie intake (Kcal/child/d/lunch meal) by school children in St.
Kitts
Control Schools Intervention Schools
15
47
2 7
27
44
3 11
01020304050
Protein (g) Carbohydrates(g)
Fiber (g) Fat (g)
Nutrient intake (g/child/d/lunch meal) by school children in St. Kitts
Control Schools Intervention Schools
1078
4
2307
12
1
10
100
1000
10000
Vitamin A (IU) Vitamin C (mg)
Vitamin intake ( per child/d/lunch meal) by school children in St. Kitts
Control Schools
Intervention Schools
• School feeding programs are underutilized vehicles for
reversing the obesity trends in CARICOM while providing market opportunity for small holder farmers ;
• Findings from the Project could serve as a useful farm to fork model for regional application in finding solutions to CARICOM food and nutrition insecurity
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Funding for this project was provided by The Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) a program of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD).
We acknowledge the Project Partners, researchers, students, research assistants and field
staff for their support and contribution to the research conducted under the CIFSRF CARICOM Project. We also express, on behalf of the Project Team, deep appreciation to our IDRC Officers, Drs. Renaud De Plaen and Susan Robertson, for their unwavering support and encouragement during the conduct of the project.
Special appreciation is expressed to Patrick Cortbaoui and Raffaella Carvalho for their
assistance and dedication during the preparation of the presentation.
Acknowledgments
THANK YOU