Land o Lakes

2. The Future of Food: Innovation in food
commodities and partnering with the private
sector
Lauren Ruth
Country Director, Land O’Lakes Zambia
Thursday, February 23, 2012

3. Session Goals
1. Identify better ways to integrate NACS with commodity reporting
and requisition, to ensure that the correct quantities of prescribed food
are delivered, avoiding stock outs and food wastage.
2. Review the current trends and innovations in local food
commodity production and alternative food formats; examining
whether these options are cost effective, increase food accessibility, and
meet patients’ needs.
3. Explore and brainstorm options for engaging the private sector,
creating a pathway for sustainable retail food commodity production,
while appealing to the end consumer.

4. Land O’Lakes
Local Food Procurement and
Distribution
• USDA/Zambia Local and Regional Procurement
Program (food baskets/HEPS)
• USDA/Bangladesh Local and Regional Procurement
Program (locally produced cereal bars)
• USAID/PEPFAR/FFP – Zambia – specialized food
formats w/ private sector
• School Feeding Programs (milk and other)

5. “Going Local”
 Many programs are trending towards local
production/procurement
 US Department of Agriculture invested in a year long series of
“Local Regional Procurement” programs, several in Africa
 Demonstrated: it is possible to procure safe, timely, cost-
effective, locally produced food
 Engaging local producers, ensuring food safety, packaging, and
timely production.

6. What is being produced locally?

7. Assess the local
processing sector Key Elements of
(is there adequate
capacity/safety/QC?) Local Production
Identify a local quality
control/inspections
firm
(Engaging a 3rd party
firm )
Develop product
formulation
(Standards? CODEX/local
bureau of standards)
Developing tight
product specifications
(packaging, quantity,
delivery, parameters)
Issue a competitive
tender, using specs
(local newspaper,
commodity exchange,
blind volume)
Select processor,
engage processor
(Develop tight default
clauses))

8. Supply Chain and Demand…
• Existing supply chain systems (public/private) – MSL/CHAZ
• Integrating food commodities into public systems (essential
medicine? Public system requirements)
• “Push” vs. “Pull Systems”
• Leveraging support of existing USAID programs, working to
deliver ARVs, and supporting delivery of other essential
medicines

9. Getting it Right, Integration &
Communication
Goals of an integrated supply chain:
• Avoiding stock outs and wastage
• Ensuring just in time delivery
• Coordinating NACS data and commodity procurement
• Clear roles and responsibilities for all players

10. Msereke Health Clinic - Zambia

11. Report and Requisition

12. Commodity Management

14. Old Food, New Food
• What are the traditional supplemental and therapeutic
food formats - why do they work?
• USAID – “Delivering Improved Nutrition” –
Recommendations for Changes to U.S. Food Aid Products
and Programs
• Modifying existing formats to include other local
ingredients
• Exploring new food formats

15. Traditional Supplemental Food Format
•Corn Soya Blend (CSB)
•High Energy Protein
Supplement (HEPS)
•Typically corn-based
•Utilizing other local staple
foods as blended product-
base

16. 4 Key Components of a Nutritionally Suitable RUTF
1. A staple as the main ingredient - preferably a cereal.
2. A protein supplement from a plant or animal food - beans,
groundnuts, milks, meats, chicken, fish, eggs, etc. To be practical
such foods must be low-cost, and this requirement has pushed
development towards legumes and oilseed as these are cheaper
than products containing milk or other animal products.
3. A vitamin and mineral supplement - a vegetable and/or fruit.
4. An energy supplement - fat, oil or sugar to increase the energy
concentration of the mix.
http://fex.ennonline.net/102/4-3-2.aspx, Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN), Field Exchange
(FEX), Steve Collins and Jeya Henry, FEX issue 102

17. Alternative RUTF Formulations
RICE –SESAME RUTF 1
BARLEY –SESAME RUTF 1
MAIZE –SESAME RUTF 1
http://fex.ennonline.net/102/4-3-2.aspx, Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN), Field Exchange (FEX), Steve
Collins and Jeya Henry, FEX Issue 102

18. Attributes of an Ideal Formulation
In addition, an ideal RUTF formulation must have the
following attributes:
• Good nutritional quality (i.e. protein, energy and micronutrient
content)
• Long shelf life
• Highly palatable with a good taste
• A consistency and texture suitable for feeding to children
• Require no additional processing prior to feeding
• Amino acid complementation for maximum protein quality
• Product stability
• Ingredients should be easily available in developing countries
http://fex.ennonline.net/102/4-3-2.aspx, Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN), Field Exchange (FEX), Steve Collins and
Jeya Henry, FEX Issue 102

19. Will You be My Partner?...engaging the
private sector
• Exploring how food processors and retailers can play an
ongoing role in developing, promoting, and supplying
fortified foods on the retail market ;
• Retail supply chains and social marketing
• looking at retail supply chains and social marketing.

20. Commercial cereal bar,
Energy
School feeding program cereal bar
Figure : Olympic Industries has branded their
new commercial cereal bar (product on top) with
the name of their most popular biscuit (product
on bottom), Energy

21. COMACO – connecting local producers with local
production

22. Social Marketing – acceptance and market share

23. Fortified

24. Vouchers, the way of the future?
• New and old systems – what is appropriate for your
program?
 Laying the foundation – what systems need to be in
place before exploring new options?
 How can they be integrated into FBP programming?

25. Traditional voucher program
Paper vouchers

26. Innovations in voucher systems
WFP “SPLASH” voucher program • WFP uses scratch cards and cell phones
Zambia 2010 to allow beneficiaries to choose when and
where to pick up their food
• Beneficiaries are given a SPLASH card
containing two codes. When the first one
is entered into the shopkeeper’s mobile
phone, it shows him or her how much
food to hand over
• WFP partnered with local vendors who
already carried existing food products
(e.g. maize meal) to serve as outlets
• The mobile delivery and tracking (MDT)
system reduces the overheads of
traditional food delivery and gives local
markets business
http://www.wfp.org/stories/zambia-cellphones-and-scratch-cards-
streamline-rations-flow

27. Innovations in voucher systems cont’d
WFP “SPLASH” voucher program • Difficult to implement for a
Zambia 2010 food by prescription program
• Private-sector vendors must be
stock adequate quantities of
prescribed food in appropriate
sizes in rural areas
• Prior to establishing such a
program, would need to ensure
product availability and efficacy
• More difficult to track
adherence
http://www.wfp.org/stories/zambia-cellphones-and-scratch-cards-
streamline-rations-flow

28. Can this be applied to NACS?
- It is a staged process, which requires private-sector
participation
- The difference between the food aid that SPLASH
enabled, was that vendors were already stocking
these readily available food products (e.g. maize
meal, beans, oil) – in standard quantities.
- If/when patients go to redeem
- Food by Prescription requires specific daily dosages,
which

29. Thank you
Thank you!