Leveraging dedicated supply chains: A discussion

A4NH Workshop June 6-7, 2013: Enhancing Nutrition in Value Chains

Berber Kramer, Tinbergen Institute

A value chain approach to raise farmer income and vegetable availability

PRODUCTION PROCESSING / MARKETS

DRYING VEGETABLES CONSUMPTION

Background: BoP consumers lack consumption of vegetables; high prices and scarcity in dry season. Question: How to leverage the supply chain to make vegetables available year-round?

1: Production Theory: High prices are due to low production Hypothesis: Access to quality seeds improves yield Suboptimal adoption? • Access to the technology? • Financial constraints? • Knowledge? • These channels are being addressed in the proposed intervention. • Other channels not, like self-control problems, social networks,

household decision-making, political economy in e.g. cooperatives • Think about ways to control for, to understand adoption rates

2: From harvest to consumption Higher farmer income & better access to affordable vegetables

– Improved access to local and regional markets – Less waste of produce

From increased yield to impact • Effect of increased yield on vegetable supply

(quantity/prices) • Effect on supply other products • Impact for farmer income

What is really the bottleneck in this market?

3: Drying of vegetables

• Applying solar vegetable drying for 2000 farmers: Under what conditions can this be scaled up?

• Potential collaboration with the Food and Bio-based Research Department of WUR

• More fundamental: Why are farmers not drying

their vegetables at the moment? – What in the solar technology is `the missing link’? – Or is access to the technology not the problem? (e.g.

taste and acceptibility)

4: Demand creation activities • GAIN: Awareness raising & behavior change campaigns • Reach approximately 1,500,000 household members • Question 1: Why do people not eat vegetables?

– High prices / low supply – Awareness – Social norms – Because it is not the default?

• Question 2: The impact of a vegetable-rich diet? – Child health – Adult health: NCD risk factors – Disentangle from income effects (reduced prices)

Back to the value chain

PRODUCTION ACCESS TO MARKETS

DRYING VEGETABLES CONSUMPTION

Supply: Low because there is no demand? Demand: Low because there is no supply? How do the interventions to different actors in the value chain interact? From perfect substitutes to perfect complements

External validity: - What is the role of women, the social network, cooperatives? - To what extent are consumers also producers?

Why are prices high and is supply so seasonal?

• Is this really a lack of quality seeds? • Critical: Consumer demand for vegetables

Fundamental questions: