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