Understanding the role of value chains in enhancing diets in low-income settings Diagnostics to support the identification, design and evaluation of interventions. Aulo Gelli and Noora Aberman, IFPRI. Based on ongoing work with Jason Donovan, Amy Margolies, Marco Santacroce, and others… IMMANA webinar, May 2017 .
Agenda • Rationale - Recap: Conceptual framework, pathways and typology for interventions - Improving the sustainability of WFP programmes • Diagnostics - Objectives - Methods - Results - Discussion - Conclusions
Value chains and nutrition • How to leverage market-based interventions to improve diets of low- income populations? • Value chain (VC) framework can provide a useful lens to examine role of markets in food systems and potential to improve diets (Hawkes & Ruel, 2011, Gelli et al. 2015) • However… ‐ A VC is by nature commodity specific ‐ Focus in VCs to date has been on efficiency and economic returns, with little explicit focus on consumers and “nutrition” ‐ Understanding links between VCs, overall business environment, and “nutrition” is complex, very little rigorous evidence exists on these links
How can VC interventions improve nutrition? • 3 generalised pathways through which VC interventions can influence nutrition outcomes, based on leveraging (i) demand, and (ii) supply of nutritious foods, and (iii) enhancing value chain performance ‐ 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 interventions appropriate for different contexts of supply and demand
Target Group Age, gender, etc. Location Income, nutrition & health status Nutritional knowledge and practices Number Legend Income to consumption Nutrition and health status Income Production to consumption Quality of Diet Under/over-consumption Sales and profits Changing food consumption Food environment Food availability Demand Supply Food production Food affordability Food from purchases Food acceptability Food value chain A Food from safety net transfers Nutrient density Food consumed from own production Food value chain B Food safety risk Food value chain C Value Chain Capacity & Incentives Product, Market & Institutional Context Credence issues Value Chain Characteristics Perishability • Structure Level & modes of market competition • Capabilities of value chain actors Information access & asymmetries • Linkages & governance structures Level & nature of regulatory systems • Nature and magnitude of constraints Costs of entry & exit • Access to resources Level & nature of market dynamics
Food environment as the interface between supply and demand • 5 properties of the food environment provide link between quality of diets and value chain performance 1. Food availability 2. Food affordability 3. Food acceptability 4. Nutrient content Food value chain C 5. Food safety risk Value Chain Capacity & Incentives Product, Market & Institutional Context Credence issues Value Chain Characteristics Perishability • Structure Level & modes of market competition • Capabilities of value chain actors Information access & asymmetries • Linkages & governance structures Level & nature of regulatory systems • Nature and magnitude of constraints Costs of entry & exit • Access to resources Level & nature of market dynamics
Identifying, designing and evaluating interventions to tackle constraints in value chains • Range of possible interventions to tackle constraints in VC is very broad • Use a typology based on demand and supply profile to characterise food environment context and examine VC constraints
B) High demand and inadequate supply A) High demand and adequate supply Bean and legumes Intervention options: Dairy & meat products Intervention options: • Innovation in production Steady increase in demand • Improved business and Existing ample base of suppliers. not followed by supply side technologies Potential problems may relate to regulatory environment + • Innovation in the investments; problems high costs, inconsistent quality, (food safety) related to low production formulation of inputs for • Upgrades in technologies limited attention to food safety capacity, inefficient production (and improved • Improved mechanisms for etc. or overconsumption of aggregation and other post- access to inputs) unhealthy foods. coordination between • Organization of producers to harvest processes. chain actors supply higher volumes • Taxation of unhealthy foods • Facilitation for the expansion of market outlets Demand D) Low demand and inadequate supply C) Low demand and adequate supply (Consumption levels by target Interventions options: Intervention options: Locally grown vegetables Nutritious tree fruits Population) • Social marketing to • Building capacities for Low diversity of offer, strong Consumption is not stimulate demand primary production seasonality effects, inadequate prioritized by local • Adjustments in the • Producer organization shortage and marketing consumers; potential regulatory framework • Social marketing to facilities, or bio-fortified crops , problems related to limited • Subsidies for - stimulate demand awareness of health with good nutritional qualities, consumption • Subsidies for consumption but with limited production for benefits, costs, competition • Support for marketing by • Incentives for risk taking by markets, coupled with limited from unhealthy snacks. retailers processers and retailers awareness of health benefits • Public purchasing and overall low demand programs (relative to other food types). + - Supply (Year-round availability in markets)
Improving the sustainability of WFP operations • WFP is seeking strategic and operational linkages between smallholder agricultural production, private sector processors, social protection and nutrition across its programme portfolio • In Malawi, WFP transfers targets beneficiaries across lifecycle (“demand side”): - PLW, infants and young children: Stunting prevention project (RUTFs, BCC, strengthened health services), targeted supplementary feeding - School age children: School meals and take-home rations - Households: General food distribution, cash/vouchers, food for assets • In addition, WFP provides “supply side” programming through P4P - Technical skills and inputs to selected FOs to improve farming practices and increase production output, through supply side partners • Programmes like HGSF link supply and demand side of WFP operations - Can these linkages be strengthened to improve the sustainability of WFP activities?
Diagnostics • Aim: Link a set of nutrition problems of target populations to possible constraints in the supply and demand of specific foods, that can then be addressed by interventions • 5 key objectives/steps: (building on (Timmer & Falcon., 1983) and more recently (WHO, 2013) 1. Understanding the nutrition problem 2. Examining macro-level food systems context (& enabling environment ) 3. Characterizing diet patterns and relative contribution of different crops/missing foods, contaminated foods, etc. 4. Identify value chain constraints and opportunities related to nutrition and food security 5. Prioritising intervention options
Country context • Malawi is a low-income food-deficit country, with high rates of child stunting (37% in 2015), low rate of wasting (3%) (DHS 2015-16) - 8% of children 6-23 months have minimum acceptable diets (DHS 2015-16) - 36% of children anemic (greater among poor and rural populations); 33% of women aged 15-49 years are anemic - Malaria is endemic (33% of children under 5, DHS-MIS, 2014) - HIV prevalence is high (9% in 15-49 year olds, peaking at 20% for women 15-19 years and at 21% for men aged 50-54 years) - Recurrent severe seasonal food shortages Source: Malawi Orphan Care Project
Study setting • Data was collected from 60 communities randomly selected among a set of food-insecure villages in Zomba district in southern Malawi • Ongoing RCT
Seasonality and prices during study period Source: FEWSNET Baseline Follow-up Source: WFP.
Methods • Mixed-methods descriptive study based on two rounds of data collection - Panel of 1200 households, including 7-day recall food consumption module - In-depth individual interviews: 56 in-depth interviews and 27 structured direct household observations - Market surveys in 5 main markets in Zomba district • In-depth market study: - Structured interviews with 47 traders located in the 5 main markets, semi- structured interviews with government agencies, businesses and traders - Lean season only
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