CIAT’s strategic initiative on Sustainable Food systems ISPC asking A4NH for more action-oriented technical research regarding VCN beyond theoretical frameworks CIAT now part of A4NH’s Flagship on Value Chains for Nutrition (VCN). Budget allocation of 470k of W1/2 budget for 2015, implemented in Kenya, Uganda.

1. Value chains for
Nutrition & Food Security (VCN)
APR
Palmira, 23 June 2015
Matthias Jäger
www.ciat.cgiar.org
Since 1967 / Science to cultivate change

2. CIAT’s strategic initiative on Sustainable Food systems
ISPC asking A4NH for more action-oriented technical
research regarding VCN beyond theoretical frameworks
CIAT now part of A4NH’s Flagship on Value Chains for
Nutrition (VCN). Budget allocation of 470k of W1/2
budget for 2015, implemented in Kenya, Uganda
Strong donor interest to test “interventions along the
entire agricultural value chain to increase the availability
and access of more affordable, safe and nutritious foods
for vulnerable consumers by linking smallholder farmers
and their associations to markets through inclusive
business models and reducing postharvest losses”.
Background

3. Sustainable Food Systems - APR14

4. Food system
map
Source: Food in an Urbanized World. 2015

5. Methodological steps of the VCN
approach
Methodological steps of the VCN approach (based on IFPRI, 2015)

6. Impact pathway of the VCN approach
Impact pathway of the VCN approach (based on IFPRI, 2015)

7. Institutional setting
Value Chains for Nutrition

8. Ongoing projects related to
VCN analysis (step 1)
• “Understanding value chains that supply
nutrient dense foods to urban and peri-urban
consumers in Kenya and Uganda through
informal markets” (A4NH)
• “Informal markets for poverty reduction and
food security: Exploring policy options in
Nicaragua and Honduras” (Ford Foundation)
• “Cali – Better Food” (Ford Foundation)
• Total: 1M USD

9. Projects in the pipeline related to
VCN interventions (step 2)
• “Making value chains work for food and nutrition security
of vulnerable populations in East Africa” (BMZ large grant,
Germany)
• “Securing nutrients along the bean-based value chains in
Zambia and Malawi” (IDRC Canada, led by McGill)
• “Optimizing nutrition outcomes through agricultural
investments in beans value chain in Burundi, Ghana,
Zimbabwe” (IFAD)
• “Food system policies and market innovations for non-
communicable disease prevention in Colombia” (IDRC
Canada, led by Universidad Javeriana)
• “How can informal food value chains ensure sustainability
of Territorial Food Systems in Vietnam?”(Carasso Found.)
• TOTAL pipeline: aprox. 7M USD (5M CIAT share)

10. • The goal of our nutrition sensitive value chain work at CIAT is to
improve the diets of vulnerable rural and urban consumers,
• This will be achieved through increased consumption of more
diverse, safe, and nutrient-dense foods sourced from multiple
crops and delivered through market-based solutions
• Current VC concepts and frameworks will be enriched by a stronger
consumer focus, particularly on nutrition and health.
• CIAT’s work on VCs for Nutrition provides a framework that will
leverage PABRA’s work by generating and documenting solid
evidence of how interventions along the target value chains (food
basket approach) impact on income generation and nutrition
security.
• Challenges: Communication, clarification of roles and
responsibilities, high transaction costs
Take Home Messages