Review of Agri-Food Value Chain Interventions Aimed at Enhancing Consumption of Nutritious Food by the Poor: Pakistan

Abstract

How can agriculture play a more effective role in improving nutrition in countries with a high burden of hidden hunger and where an increasing proportion of the poor sources its food from the market? There is a need to understand how linkages between the farm and the consumer can be made to work for nutrition goals. This review paper examines the case of Pakistan, which has a relatively productive agricultural sector but which has experienced high and persistent rates of undernutrition. A promising analytical and research perspective in this regard is the concept of value chains, which highlights the multiple ways in which producers and consumers are linked through a variety of processes, interactions and stakeholders. Moreover, value chain-based approaches have been popular development interventions in agricultural and food systems. This review has compiled 24 agri-food value chain interventions which aim to increase the consumption of nutrient-dense foods or increase their supply to post-farm gate poor populations. This paper provides a descriptive overview of the actors and activities involved in these interventions, and an analysis of the characteristics and challenges of the various agri-food value chain approaches, with the objective of providing insight into the potential of food-based value chain approaches in tackling undernutrition. The review sets out the basis for an empirical analysis which will examine the ability of three of these interventions to address undernutrition. The rationale for the selection of these three case studies and a broad overview of them has also been set out. Further analysis on how the selected agri-food value chain interventions may influence nutritional outcomes will be provided in the forthcoming case studies. This research is part of the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) programme