Dear colleagues at FAO
I congradulate you on availing this very comprehensive doc….. Having reviewed it, I would like to reflect from the context of urban and peri-urban areas in developing countries of Africa… Below are some issues that can be emphasized more:
Street Vendors (p. 48….) are playing increasingly important role in ensuring food and nutrition security, affordable to low income earners…. Given the inflationary pressures in such areas, low (and even middle) income people, especially those salaried people and other dependent on fixed incomes, are increasingly resorting to utilizing such facilities. As such vendors are quite busy, morning to evening. … Yet, they also face challenges, as the regulators try to promote formalization. … Their informality also mean that they have little or no access to essential services like health standards, food safety, space for operation, access to finance, etc, which greatly limit their ability to meet the growing demand for their services.
This sector is dominantly run by women, and young people (including those school drop-outs) and inability to operate them means great loss of employment opportunity, and loss of income to feed themselves as well as their dependents.
Behaviour change (p. 98… ) matters greatly… While availability of food, and ability to afford to buy it has been often emphasized, knowledge and awareness about which food to take has meaningful impact on food and nutrition security. Indeed, the use to which income is put is as important in determining poverty and welfare as the level of income itself -- increased income can be (and often is) gambled away. The assumption of a "rational consumer" is often unattainable. There is ample evidence suggesting that a good deal of the problem related to malnutrition among women. children, etc can be substantially reduced through sheer education without even the household’s income increasing. An earlier World Bank study suggests that malnutrition among children in Ethiopia can be reduced by more than 43% simply by educating mothers on nutrition (See: Luc Christiansen and Harold Alderman (2001): Child Malnutrition in Ethiopia; Can Mternal Knowledge Augment The Role of Income?) (attached)
The challenge on awareness and knowledge could be more pronounced among poor people in developing countries. … Indeed advertising plays a pivotal role in informing consumers about food and shaping their choices, and efforts to transform food advertising could include promoting sustainable food in various public and private settings, ranging from public transport, schools, and healthcare facilities to television channels, events, advertisements, and social media. … However, these forums may not be easily accessible to majority engaged in the micro and small enterprise sector, and more suitable forums need to be explored. … The good news is that following the innovative group lending modality of Grameen Bank (Bangladesh) in early 1980s, there is a proliferation of such groups (whose members reportedly reached more than 200 million, according to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest) in many developing countries which adopted such modality, and such groups assemble people regularly (often monthly and even weekly), which provide a great cost-effective platform to creating knowledge and awareness to a congregation of (poor) people, which could otherwise be very difficult to reach in any other forums. … There are also savings and credit groups organized under Self Help Groups (e.g Village Savings and Loan Associations, V.S.L.As) of equivalent size to those in Grameen Bank style group lending…. The marginal cost of incorporating such awareness creation programmes is minimal ..…
I hope this helps
Regards
Getaneh ([email protected])
Mr. Getaneh Gobezie