A major challenge in the context of markets for nutrition is how to make the private sector agri-food players see addressing the problem of malnutrition as a corporate responsibility, as important as shareholder satisfaction and market share. The processed food industry for instance has immense potential to address specific micrinutrient deficiencies like iron and vitamin A. There are many examples of pilot initiatives that have worked. For instance, in India, there is the example of Britannia, GAIN and the Naandi Foundation coming together to promote high fortified iron biscuits under supervised consumptino to address iron deficiency anaemia. The company, Britannia Industries, also introduced a low iron fortified variant in its commercial line. The direction given by senior management is very important for the private sector to retain this kind of focus., unless it is ingrained in the corporate philosophy of the business entity and comes naturally. The other possibility is mandatory fortification, like iodisation of salt and vitamin A fortification of edible oils, both of which are current in India. But then there are also a large number of players in developing countries who are in the informal unorganised sector. For poor and vulnerable low income households, it is the latter that is more accessible. There are issues of accessibility and affordability that come up. Packaging in small quantities priced affordably is one of the aspects to be taken care of in consciously addressing low income households.
The state becomes a major player in the value chain for nutrition in developing countries with a large population that is malnourished. In India for instance, the supplementary nutrition programme under the ICDS targets 0-6 years children, and pregnant and lactating women in a focussed manner. There is scope for the private sector to partner with the state in these food value chains as a businesss proposition and many such instances exist.
Dr. Bhavani R Vaidyanathan