Putting the lens on the consumer in nutrition-sensitive agriculture and Food Systems in South Asia

On June 25-26, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, more than 160 government representatives, civil society organizations, private sector members, international donors, practitioners, and stakeholders from around South Asia convened at a regional roundtable sponsored by the South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiative (SAFANSI). The event featured latest evidence and experiences from nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific programs focusing on putting the lens on the consumer in nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems in South Asia.

The SUN Movement Secretariat together with the SUN Global Business Network presented and facilitated a session on “Finding Entry Points to Engage with the Private Sector”. By presenting the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) System, a few key elements were raised on how the SUN Movement can strengthen enabling environments for nutrition, for example: Building political commitment and integrating nutrition into development policies; Strengthening individual, organizational and systemic capacities through SUN networks; Reinforcing intra and multi-sectoral coordination through multi-stakeholder platforms; Designing relevant nutrition action plans; Continuously monitoring and evaluating nutrition interventions and programmes.; and, by ensuring more and better spending for nutrition.

The SUN Business Network presented their pathway to impact, as well as their experience developing homegrown networks and strategies in some SUN countries such as Indonesia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia.

Finally, a very rich interactive session took place in which participants were very eager to discuss, exchange, create linkages, and share knowledge with one another using the MEAL Country Dashboards as baseline for finding entry points with the private sector to reshape the food systems. SUN Countries led by different stakeholders presented opportunities to find scalable and effective ways to work together by addressing consumer demand in the value chain.

The SUN Movement is looking forward to the third SAFANSI Roundtable event for 2019.