A healthy diet is key to preventing malnutrition in all its forms. However, diverse nutritious foods are not always available and affordable for all, especially in low-income settings. Furthermore, rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns, partly due to changes in the food systems. Value chains (VC) are one of the core elements of a food system. In addition to including all food value chains required to feed a population, food systems include a diverse set of political, economic, socio-cultural and environmental drivers that affect all VC actors, including consumers. Nutrition-sensitive approaches to value chain development have emerged as a promising way to shape food systems for improved food security and nutrition outcomes.
The Nutrition Working Group of the Rome-based Agencies, including FAO, IFAD and WFP, along with Bioversity International and IFPRI, have launched an online consultation through the FSN Forum as a way to seek a more in-depth exploration of the role of value chains as a useful framework to unpack the complexity of food systems.