Value chains and nutrition

Meeting on “Mapping the linkages between agriculture, food security and nutrition in Malawi”

April 28th 2015, Ufulu Gardens, Lilongwe

Aulo Gelli

Research Pellow, Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, IFPRI

Value chains and nutrition

• Value chain approaches can provide useful frameworks to examine the food system and the potential to achieve improved nutritional outcomes by leveraging market-based systems

• However, understanding links between value chains, overall business environment, and “nutrition” among targeted populations is complex

- Involving actors and activities working across agriculture, health and nutrition

- Very little evidence exists on the potential effects or the trade-offs involved

• How can value chains to bring about increased consumption of nutritious food?

Value chains for nutrition

• Define a “value chain for nutrition (VCN) approach” as process of developing a strategy to address nutrition problems through interventions that alleviate constraints in demand and supply in specific value chains

- High-level goals centre on the health and nutrition of consumers, reflecting the end result that is intended

- Specific objectives relate to the constraints that are involved in terms of supply and demand

• Structure of the strategy is based on the pathways through which VCN interventions can be expected to improve nutrition, including three main channels linking demand and supply for nutritious foods

Context is critical

• 5 key steps to improve design & evaluation of interventions:1. Identifying the nutrition problem to be addressed

2. Analysis of the macro-level food systems context

3. Characterising diets, identifying constraints and relative contributions of key foods

4. Value chain analyses also examining nutrition and food safety value addition

5. Prioritising intervention options

B) High demand and inconsistent supply A) High demand and consistent supply

D) Low demand and inconsistent supply C) Low demand and consistent supply

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Demand

Supply

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- +

Example:Dairy & meat products, where demand grows with income, and where there is an existing ample base of suppliers.

Potential problems may relate to high costs, inconsistent quality, and limited attention to food safety…etc

Possible interventions:• Improved business and

regulatory environment (food safety)

• Upgrades in technologies• Improved mechanisms for

coordination between chain actors

Example:Beans and legumes in India, steady increase in demand not followed by supply side investments

Potential problems may relate to low production capacity, inefficient aggregation and other post-harvest processes...etc.

Possible interventions:• Innovation in production

technologies• Innovation in the formulation

of inputs for production (and improved access to inputs)

• Organization of producers to supply higher volumes

• Facilitation for the expansion of market outlets

Example:Value chains for fruits and vegetables in areas where fruit and vegetable consumption is not prioritized by local consumers

Potential problems may relate to limited awareness of health benefits, costs, competition from unhealthy snacks…etc.

Possible interventions:• Social marketing to stimulate

demand• Adjustments in the regulatory

framework• Subsidies for consumption • Support for marketing by

retailers• Public purchasing programs

Example:Value chains for lesser-know fruits & vegetables, or bio-fortified crops,with exceptional nutritional qualities, but with limited production for markets

Potential problems may relate to production capacity, inefficient aggregation and other post-harvest coupled with limited awareness of health benefits, costs…etc.

Possible interventions:• Building capacities for

primary production • Producer organization• Social marketing to stimulate

demand• Subsidies for consumption • Incentives for risk taking by

processers and retailers

Some reflections on trade-offs and pro-poor considerations• Impact pathways on consumers, producers and other chain actors

involve complex direct and in-direct effects- Are win-win outcomes for smallholders and consumers possible?

• Pathways highlight other important trade-offs at household level- e.g. Women’s role, decision making and time use

• On the demand side: how to promote consumption of nutritious foods to target populations that may or may not be able to afford a healthy diet?

• On the supply-side: is it feasible to target the poorest small-holders and informal enterprises for intervention along the value chain?

Thank you!

The materials presented in these slides are based on Gelli, A., Hawkes, C., Donovan, J., Harris, H., Allen, S., de Brauw, A., Henson, S., Johnson, N., Garrett, J., and Ryckembusch, D. 2015. Value Chains and Nutrition: A Framework to Support the Identification, Design, and Evaluation of Interventions. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01413. IFPRI. Washington, DC.