The members of RBAs would like to thank all the contributors who provided their comments so far. Some of them provoke reflections on challenges and opportunities for value chains in contributing to improvement of nutrition. As stated in the topic note and by some of you, value chains must be considered, analyzed and facilitated as one of the core components of a food system.
A couple of you stated a trade-off of a nutrition-sensitive value chain. Value chains should be not only nutrition sensitive, but also economically viable, especially for producers/farmers. We would appreciate it if you could share with us any supportive policies, institutions, and programmes that are coherent and successfully manage this trade-off.
Some of you emphasized that value chains are market-driven and sustainable interventions require private-public partnerships in improving nutrition, be it a supportive tax policy to back a viable business case. One member mentioned that staple crops are part of cost-effective value chains as he believes nutrition-sensitive value chains must be effective and cost-efficient. It would be useful to learn more about these cost-effective value chains.
We can not agree more with you regarding many challenges which exist for nutrition-sensitive value chains: for example, perishability and seasonality of some nutritious food. We are glad to see that a solution was suggested to this challenge. A short value chain / local food is very important to meet nutritional needs of local population. Some of you concurred with some recommendations of the framework: multi-sectoral approach is required by going beyond the traditional value approach (commodity and market focused) and traditional approach to nutrition programming (public sector driven). The wholeness was another main point raised: shifting from a commodity focus that addresses one value chain at a time to an approach which addresses various value chains with the aim of improving diets in a holistic way.
All in all, the consultation started-off well. We look forward to hearing from many more of you and exploring further the role of value chains for nutrition.
We strongly encourage you to use this opportunity to share your experience and lessons learnt. Your contribution is very important to us.
Members of the Working Group on Nutrition-Sensitive Value Chains of Rome-based Agencies
Working Group on Nutrition-Sensitive Value Chains of Rome-based Agencies