Nutrition programmes within commodity value chains provide a unique opportunity to improve health outcomes for workers, farmers, their households and communities. They bring benefits to communities, businesses, governments and markets. In order for these programmes to be viable in the long term, we need to understand the business case for them. Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and NewForesight undertook research to understand the business case for worker nutrition programmes in companies’ value chains, working with Touton and Ferrero in Ghana, Lenny’s Apparels Ltd and garment buyers in Bangladesh, and APPL Plantations and Unilever in India.
Main findings
Across all three studies, companies producing cocoa, garments and tea saw a strong business case for nutrition programmes in their value chains. The motivation for implementing the programmes changed over time, and ranged from a financial return on investment, to brand differentiation and reputation, to the sustainability of the sector. Worker nutrition programmes in value chains were most sustainable where they linked to existing sustainability initiatives or company objectives. For more detailed insights, please refer to the individual case study briefs that we have developed:
- Making the business case: Garment worker nutrition programmes
- Making the business case: Cocoa farmer nutrition programmes
- Making the business case: Tea worker nutrition programmes
GAIN has also published a briefing paper to pull together learnings from these three case studies: GAIN Briefing Paper Series 3 - Nutrition programmes for workers in commodity value chains
