Value chains and nutrition:A framework to support the identification, design,

and evaluation of interventions

5th Annual LCIRAH Conference Agri-health research: “What have we learned and where to next?”

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 3-4 June 2015.

Aulo Gelli, Research Fellow, Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, IFPRI.

Contents*

• Rationale, objectives and research approach

• Pathways linking value chains and nutrition through changes in food demand & supply, and through changes in value chain organization and performance

- “Nutrition” value-addition

• Identifying and designing value chain interventions to improve nutrition - Diagnostics to enable identification of appropriate value chain interventions

- Designing relevant value chain interventions

• Discussion and way forward

*Slides based on Gelli A, Hawkes C, Donovan J, Harris J, Allen S, de Brauw A, Henson S, Johnson N, Garrett J, andRyckembusch D. 2015. Value Chains and Nutrition: A Framework to Support the Identification, Design, andEvaluation of Interventions. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01413. IFPRI. Washington, DC.

Rationale

• Cross-country evidence indicates that income growth is associated with decreasing maternal and child undernutrition and with increase in overweight and obesity

- Economic growth alone cannot resolve problem of undernutrition and it may create other problems such as overweight, obesity, and increased risks of associated chronic diseases

• A major question from the nutrition perspective is how to sustainably improve the quality of diets, as well as other health-nutrition related behaviours, across different low-income population groups?

• One emerging framework within which to identify interventions for improved nutrition involves value chains

Value chains and nutrition?

• Value chain framework can be useful to examine food system and potential to achieve improved nutritional outcomes by leveraging market-based systems

• However…- To date, focus in value chains has been on efficiency and economic

returns, consumers and “nutrition” largely been ignored

- Understanding links between value chains, overall business environment, and “nutrition” among targeted populations is complex

- Important evidence gaps limit understanding on feasibility of this approach

A formative research project under A4NH

• Aim: Develop a theory-based framework based to support identification, design, and evaluation of interventions in value chains to improve nutrition

• Approach: Literature review, mapping of intervention design, in-depth interviews, multidisciplinary scoping workshop, synthesis and validation

- Involved stakeholders across research, policy, programme and (a little) private sector (…including IFPRI, SLU, ICRAF, USAID, Cornell, ILRI, AVDRC, LCIRAH, FAO, SPRING, Bioversity, NEPAD/AU, ACDI/VOCA, Imperial College, Tufts, WFP, NRI, GAIN, EMBRAPA, DSM, Fintrac, Ide, HarvestPlus….etc.)

- Multidisciplinary from the start

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

Understanding complexity involved

• Identified 3 generalised pathways through which value chain interventions can influence nutrition, based on leveraging (i) demand, and (ii) supply of nutritious foods, and (iii) increasing value chain efficiency

- Recognise that food-related nutritional impacts derive from changes in quality of overall diet, not just nutrient content of an individual food

- Provide a basis on which to theorize impact pathways of specific interventions in specific contexts and to collect evidence of impact

- Also used as a basis of a typology of value chain intervention appropriate for different contexts of supply and demand

Food environment & interface between supply & demand

Changes in income and economic

status

Changes in sales and profits

Changes in production systems

Training on production, post-harvest and marketing practices

Changes in market opportunities and risk

Organising producer groups for better supply side management

Expansion of market opportunities

Access to improved inputs and credit

Changes in production and post-harvest practices

ImpactOutcomesActivities

Changes in nutrition status

Changes in diets in feeding practices

Changes in burden of disease

Changes in health and hygiene practices

Distal

Changes in quantities of single (VC specific) nutritious food consumed

Changes in nutrition, health and care knowledge

Proximal

Behaviour change communication campaigns

Institutional feeding

Social marketing campaigns

Subsidies for consumption

[…]

-nutrition content-food safety risk-price-quantity

Interventions to enhance nutrition value

[…]

[…]

[…]

[…]

[…]

Examples of interventions to influence demand

Examples of interventions to influence supply

Food chainChanges in women's time allocation and decision-making

[a]

[d]

[c]

[b]

[f]

[g]

[h]

[i]

Note:[c] = Production to consumption[d] = Income to consumption

[c]

Enhancing “nutrition” value along the chain

• Requires transmission along chain of reliable information on nutrition content and safety risk … often not the case in low-income settings…

- Nutrition value includes properties of credence goods: no incentives to pay for quality unless there is some form of visible, third-part activity which may be undertaken publicly (e.g. information campaigns) or privately (e.g. consumer reporting) (Minot, 2014).

• Measurements of “nutrition- value” added at key points in the chain can be used to identify bottlenecks and opportunities to enhance potential for nutrition effects

- Recent relevant activities include development of nutrient profiles for processed foods, and development of benchmarks on cost-efficiency of interventions

• Examples of interventions to enhance nutrition value along the chain include- Fortification/enrichment, processing multiple foods into a new more nutritious product, no “over-

processing”, food safety and detoxification, labelling and sensitisation…etc…

Identifying and designing value chain interventions to improve nutrition • Diagnostics to enable identification of appropriate value chain

interventions include 5 key steps:

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

Designing relevant value chain interventions

• Range of possible interventions is broad, including research to address critical knowledge gaps, direct public and/or private investment to build capacity of value chain actors or to influence consumption patterns, and government policy and regulation

• Variation in intensity of investments on the supply and demand sides can be used to characterise a set of typologies for specific value chain interventions

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

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

-

Demand

Supply

+

- +

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

Way forward: Key research themes

• 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?

• Focus is on interventions that enhance the nutrition added-value along the chain

- How to provide credible, effective and affordable means of certification for nutrition value and food safetyin low-income settings?

Key research themes (II)

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

- Pathways are also not static…

• Develop new methods and metrics to suit breadth and complexity involved

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. IFPRIDiscussion Paper 01413. IFPRI. Washington, DC.

(Photos: Roschnik, 2015)