141st APHA Annual Meeting

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280691
Can value chain analysis support public heath nutrition? a case study of the fruit and vegetable sector in Fiji

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 : 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM

Emily Morgan, MS, MPH , Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research in Agriculture and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Alan Dangour, PhD , Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research in Agriculture and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Wendy Snowdon, PhD , WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Deakin University and the Fiji School of Medicine, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji
Penina Vatucawaqa , National Food and Nutrition Centre, Suva, Fiji
Karen Lock, PhD , Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research in Agriculture and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Background: For the poor, a diverse, locally acceptable, nutrient-rich food supply is often inaccessible, leading to the consumption of low quality diets. Value chain analysis (VCA) has been proposed to support the identification of solutions to food supply problems, however little evidence of its usefulness for this purpose exists. This case study aimed to determine how fruit and vegetable value chains in Fiji – where poor diets and high rates of diet-related disease have been identified – contribute to product accessibility and acceptability in urban areas and to assess the benefit of VCA in identifying opportunities for intervention. Methods: Focus groups were used to establish the fruit and vegetable attributes acceptable to and valued by consumers. Following this, a series of workshops, interviews, and observations with chain actors and stakeholders were used to map three exemplar fruit and vegetable chains and assess their ability to make acceptable and valued fresh products accessible to the urban population. Results: Urban Fijians are motivated to consume fresh, local produce, but often find the supply to be inconsistent, low quality, and unaffordable. Value chain characteristics that contribute to these supply challenges include poor infrastructure (e.g. roads and water supplies), limited access to agricultural inputs, sub-optimal post-harvest care and handling, and strained relationships between chain actors. Discussion: Several points in the exemplar chains where targeted intervention could lead to improved accessibility and acceptability were identified. These findings suggest a benefit to the use of VCA as a tool for identifying promising solutions to nutrition problems.

Learning Areas:
Program planning
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe how fruit and vegetable value chains in Fiji contribute to product accessibility and acceptability in urban areas. Assess the benefit of value chain analysis in identifying opportunities for public health nutrition intervention.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: My PhD dissertation focuses on the applicability of value chain analysis for nutrition and health. Among my scientific interests are the role of agriculture and food systems in diet and diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.