Mapping value chains for nutrient-dense foods in Tanzania
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Date
2014-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute of Development Studies
Abstract
This report details the findings of an analysis of value chains for several nutrient-dense foods
in Tanzania. It rapidly assesses the potential of ten commodities to contribute to reducing
undernutrition and identifies three with particularly high potential. It then systematically
examines issues at the various stages of these value chains, in order to identify barriers that
inhibit the extent to which the product is likely to mitigate micronutrient undernutrition. The
report recommends options for development agencies, governments, public–private
partnerships and other development actors seeking to strengthen the linkage between
agricultural activities and nutrition outcomes. It is accompanied by two other reports on
Tanzania: a case study of a particular food processing business and an analysis of policy
options.
Chronic undernutrition is a critical problem in Tanzania, with alarmingly high rates of stunting
and micronutrient deficiencies leading to cumulative losses of US$3.7bn over five years
according to one estimate. Particular problems include low consumption of iron-rich foods by
women, poor infant feeding practices and widespread use of inadequate complementary
foods. Food-based approaches, especially those that deliver key micronutrients to the ‘1,000
days group’, appear to have a key role in reducing rates of undernutrition in the country.
An expert stakeholders’ workshop was convened to rapidly review experiences with ten
commodities considered to have potential for nutrition. Of these, three were chosen for more
in-depth study: cowpea, orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) and complementary foods. The
report provides an overview of these three value chains. Considerable numbers of
businesses, especially small enterprises, are involved, particularly at the stages of food
processing and retail. The report maps the value chains for these focal products,
concentrating on whether they meet five key criteria necessary for foods to be able to
mitigate micronutrient undernutrition: availability, affordability, acceptability, nutritional quality,
and effective signalling of this quality to purchasers. The report then examines issues at each
stage of the value chains for the focal products: production, storage/transport, processing
and distribution/retail. It identifies key barriers facing these foods and assesses a set of
potential responses to the barriers. The main findings are as follows:
Cowpeas are primarily a subsistence crop, although in some areas they are sold and eaten
as a protein source or snack food. Cowpeas have the advantage of being a very low-cost
source of protein, iron and folates. Further, there is potential to leverage consumers’
familiarity with other types of pulses to increase consumption. Yet important barriers remain:
demand is low and the crop is still not widespread in commercial markets. It has largely been
neglected by public agricultural support programmes. Cowpea is also highly susceptible to
post-harvest losses; traders use dangerous chemicals to prevent pest damage, but this
creates health risks for consumers. To address these problems, interventions can seek to
promote the use of low-cost and safe storage techniques. Social marketing campaigns can
also increase awareness of the benefits of eating cowpeas and create greater consumer
demand. Support can also be provided to foster business models that deliver new, nutrient-
dense cowpea foods to a wide group of consumers.
Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is exceptionally rich in vitamin A and can be
produced at low cost in many regions of Tanzania. It is well suited for use as a
complementary food for young children. However, at present, both producers and consumers
prefer white-fleshed varieties of sweet potato – which contain few micronutrients – to the
orange varieties. Furthermore, markets for OFSP are poorly developed and availability is low.
Several donor-funded initiatives have aimed to increase production of improved varieties of
OFSP, but they have not addressed marketing and demand issues. Future interventions
should support new products in order to make OFSP appeal to consumer tastes, while social
4marketing should be used to increase consumer awareness and to encourage traders to
promote and market OFSP to their customers. Finally, supporting processors to scale up new
products could make OFSP more acceptable to urban consumers. The orange colour of
OFSP tubers is a key advantage for this crop: it allows consumers to easily distinguish it from
white varieties, creating a potential for businesses to specialise in OFSP. The key to
strengthening OFSP is to increase consumer demand through social marketing and by
working with traders and retailers.
Complementary food products. Complementary foods made from mixes of cereals and
legumes already have a positive impact on nutrition in Tanzania. There is robust demand
and a large number of enterprises involved in making these products. However, many do not
contain sufficient nutrients to support infant growth and development, and products can be
contaminated with pathogens or aflatoxins. Meanwhile larger firms’ products are not
affordable for poor consumers. Interventions need to address market constraints so that
businesses can sell safe and nutritionally adequate products at an affordable price. Policy
actors can choose from a number of approaches; in-depth assessments will be needed to
evaluate the risks and benefits of each. If policymakers aim to introduce quality controls in
the complementary food market, they will need to organise the small enterprises into clusters
so that it is easier to engage with and monitor them. This could be accompanied by a
voluntary certification system that would distinguish nutritionally adequate products from
those that are not. However, experience in Tanzania and elsewhere indicates that both of
these interventions require substantial resources and long-term support, as well as entailing
considerable uncertainty. Alternative options include procurement and distribution funded by
donors or government, which can circumvent some of the key constraints faced by private
markets while also targeting the most vulnerable groups. Public distribution, however,
requires long-term funding commitments. A final option is to use behaviour change
communications to promote home fortification using locally available ingredients. This
strategy may be lower risk but does not address supply constraints.
Finally, the report highlights a set of overarching constraints that inhibit markets for nutrient-
dense foods more broadly. These issues include low public nutrition awareness and demand,
the difficulty of distributing to poor populations, the absence of mechanisms to signal
nutritional quality, and the cost of working with value chains made up of small and medium
enterprises (SMEs). These challenges, and policy options for addressing them, are
examined in more detail in the accompanying policy report.
Description
Report
Keywords
Food products, Tanzania, Undernutrition