The Influence of Agro-Food Policies and Programmes on the Availability, Affordability, Safety and
Acceptability of Food
Spencer Henson and John HumphreyInstitute of Development Studies,
Brighton, UK
PREPARATORY TECHNICAL MEETINGFAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy
13-15 November 2013
Our choices
• Focus on micronutrient undernourishment – hidden hunger
• Food-based approaches• Post-farmgate, not on-farm consumption
Urban households; non-farm rural households; farm households that buy food in markets, seasonally or year-round, etc.
• Market-based approaches. Businesses of all types and sizes Enhancing the nutritional functioning of agri-food value chains
Is there is unrealised potential to mobilise
business for combating micronutrient
deficiencies amongst the poor?
Food-based options for improving micronutrient intake
Fortification of Staple Foods – oil, flour, etc.
Biofortification – orange fleshed sweet potato
Agronomic biofortification – zinc-enhanced fertiliser
Targeted fortified foods:Foods with added nutrient packages – Shokti doiComplementary foods for childrenLipid-based supplements for regular consumption
Increasing dietary diversity
Essential outcomes for food-based approaches to nutrition
Food is safe
Food maintains nutritional quality and benefits up to the point of consumption
Food is consumed by the populations whose nutritional deficits are being targeted by the intervention
Requirements for successfuly selling foods rich in micronutrientsNutrition awareness – buyers understand importance of foods
Signalling – people believe foods have the claimed benefits. Nutrient content is often a credence characteristicʺ ʺ
Acceptability – people are willing to prepare and eat the product
Availability –physically availability in places where the target populations can purchase it
Affordability – target populations must be able to purchase it
Adapted from, Hawkes, C. and Ruel, M.T. 'Value Chains for Nutrition', paper presented at Conference ‘Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health’, New Delhi, February 2011
Business challenges for selling nutritious foods
Meet the five requirements
Capturing value:Credence good issuesRisks and uncertainties of innovation
Value chain integrity: food safety and quality issues
Minimise the challenges
• Sidestep the acceptability challenge• Use existing distribution channels wherever possible, and
avoid products that require careful handling and preservation
• Avoid the signalling problem altogether – for example, compulsory fortification – or focusing on foods whose characteristics are more evident: fresh fruit and vegetables
• Combat fraudulent claims through branding and certification and certification
Dietary diversityStaples fortificationSupplementary foodsBiofortificationAgronomic biofortification
Policy initiatives: offset costs or defray risks
• Nutrition awareness programmes and demand promotion
• Use of public distribution: feeding programmes
• Advance commitments to enable companies to get to scale
• Support for value chain integrity, particularly for food safety at the farm level
Concluding remarkss
• What role for the informal sector
Consider more focus on improving quality and safety of informal sector provision of nutrient-rich food
• Keep it simple. Minimise the challenges• Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of business-promoting
interventions is varied and requires more impact assessment