Making food systems work for complementary feeding

While breastfeeding provides a critical foundation, it alone cannot meet the high nutrient needs of children aged beyond six months. Nearly half of all children globally are not fed enough of the right complementary foods at the right time. Limited national supply, high levels of food loss and waste, high prices relative to household incomes, low appeal, and safety concerns are leaving nutritious, complementary foods for children aged 6–23 months unavailable, inaccessible, unaffordable, and unappealing. These barriers not only jeopardise children’s immediate health but can also have a profound impact on long-term health and well-being. 

In response to this issue, the Micronutrient Forum convened an expert meeting in December 2023 to discuss the question: “how can we make food systems work for complementary feeding?” The experts made recommendations in four core areas that currently limit the availability, affordability, accessibility, and appeal of safe and nutritious complementary foods: 1) knowledge and evidence gaps; 2) limited local capability and capacity; 3) implementation barriers due to business constraints and supply chain inefficiencies; and 4) an unfavourable enabling environment. These recommendations serve as a roadmap for action to transform food systems and ensure access to nutritious complementary foods for young children.

The recommendations cover a wide range of topics, including reducing food loss and waste, using native, underutilised, and biofortified crops, and adopting complementary food composition standards. Adopting a “research and development as a service” model was also highlighted to support small- and medium-sized enterprises. This model, typically offered by suppliers, aims to lessen research and development expenses and facilitate market entry by providing technical assistance and capacity strengthening. Developing an investment pipeline for these enterprises to produce safe, high-quality complementary foods, is also necessary. To realise this vision, a systems approach must be taken by governments, food producers, suppliers, businesses, researchers, investors, and technical agencies.

Importantly, bold initiatives are already underway. The World Health Organization and UNICEF have established the Global Complementary Feeding Collective to foster global and regional cooperation. Technical organisations are providing support to improve the technical and business capacity of small- and medium-sized enterprises, enabling local food production and fostering sustainable business models. For example, in Cambodia and Zambia local initiatives are in place to produce fish powder, which can be used in homemade porridges. Egg production hubs have also been established in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and India, as another example. 

Ultimately, transforming food systems to deliver safe and nutritious complementary foods through sustainable business models requires collaborative efforts and innovative solutions from both public and private sector actors. Networks and coalitions are set up to create an ecosystem that supports operational efficiencies, growth, innovation, and sustainability for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network and the Alliance for Inclusive and Nutritious Food Processing are examples of this. Local food system actors also need access to patient capital and innovative financing mechanisms that will ‘de-risk’ their own investments.

The detailed findings of this report are beyond the scope of this summary. However, we encourage readers to explore the 51-page report and case studies found within.