How can we use markets to reach the poor with nutritious foods?
This briefing (PDF) by IDS shows findings from Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania on how and where value chains and markets could be made more nutrition sensitive and can improve access to nutritious foods for the poorest and most vulnerable communities. The briefing builds on the results of the three workshops incorporating key stakeholders in Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana. The findings show that there are many challenges to face in bringing nutritious foods through markets to the poorest and most vulnerable. Ensuring that nutritious food reaches the most vulnerable cannot be addressed by an individual business or value chain, but rather must be addressed through influencing the market system more broadly. The briefing shows the key factors to ensure nutrient-rich foods reaches the poorest are: affordability, acceptability, availability and appropriateness. The critical issues to tackle are to ensure demand creation including building consumer awareness and trust; create regulation and enforcement of standards around mandatory fortification; and a focus on the sustainability of projects and programs. The briefing concludes with four policy recommendations. It recommends to start from the consumer instead of the farmer and that there is a need for new models, next to markets, to reach poor, isolated populations.