Evaluation synthesis and food security
Howard White and Gavin Stewart
CEO, Campbell Collaboration and co-Chair of proposed
Campbell Food Security Group
@campbellreviews @HowardNWhite
The global food security challenge
Science 327, 812 (2010);
Solutions
• Enhanced productivity
– Yields
– Nutritional content (biofortification)
• Smart consumption
– Avoid waste
– Cook and eat more smartly
Is there any
evidence on
food waste in
Africa and
other
developing
regions?
And what
policies are
effective in
reducing
waste?
Eating smartly
But how to promote smart eating?
• People aren’t eating fruit and vegetables anyway
• Public health messaging doesn’t work
• People slow to adopt changes in benefits not readily
apparent
• Dietary preferences are sticky
• Need to bring about culture shift e.g. sugar as the new
tobacco
• Need evidence of what works
Increasing yields
and nutritional
content
Why projects fail
The funnel of attrition
Far fewer people, know about, participate in, and
benefit from projects than project planners expect
(and they don’t seem to learn!)
The funnelOnly
of these
attrition
people
may experience
improved outcomes
Factors in the funnel for
biofortified crops 1: adoption
Lack of awareness
Risk averse:
Don’t suit local ecological conditions / Varieties not
drought resistant
– Need to buy inputs (extra costs not offset by extra
revenue) and what will happen to price / availability
–
More demanding crop management
No market (see consumption slide)
Factors in the funnel for
biofortified crops 2: consumption
• No or poor marketing channels
• Dietary preferences are sticky (colour, taste, texture
etc.)
• Don’t know how to prepare
Factors in the funnel for
biofortified crops 3: technical
• Mineral content of crops
– Zinc in wheat, maize and rice: in Africa prevalence zinc
deficiency around 50%, increases risk diarrhoea,
pneumonia and malaria. But by how much does
application zinc to crops increase their zinc content?
• Bioavailability of minerals
– Any what is bio-availability of zinc in fortified crops (ranges
0.2-0.6)
– Affected by storage and preparation
• This evidence needs to be sifted to help produce
country specific guidelines on what crops and
production practices to promote and how to best do
it, and best practice on promoting good dietary habits.
• Campbell is starting a Food Security Group and
welcomes the participation of ICED and others in
achieving this goal
Thank you
Visit www.campbellcollaboration.org
Sign up for our newsletter
Photos courtesy of Getty Images