Food fortification is a popular strategy for addressing 'hidden hunger', and staple foods are seen as promising, if unproven, vehicles for the delivery of essential micronutrients to poor people in developing countries. This article examines wheat flour fortification with iron in Pakistan as a case of technocratic optimism in the face of institutional constraints. An evaluative framework based on the analysis of entire value chains can provide a reality check on technocratic optimism. We find that poor people based their preferences for different types of flour on price as well as perceptions of nutritional value. Many of these flour types are not covered by fortification programmes. Fortification interventions, meanwhile, have attempted to leverage public-private partnerships in a segment of the wheat flour value chain which is beset with regulatory weakness. This article illustrates why technical interventions should support rather than ignore a broader agenda of reforms in food policy.
Interventions in agri-food value chains are thought to potentially make important contributions towards enhancing agriculture's role in nutrition. Some frameworks have begun to identify sets of requirements for pro-nutrition value chains. Pakistan's dairy sector has been the focus of a business-driven innovation which introduced ultra-high temperature (UHT)-treated milk in aseptic packaging. This was expected to relieve existing constraints in production and distribution, raise incomes for producers, and increase the supply of an affordable nutrient-dense food to consumers. While this innovation appeared to fulfil most requirements of a pro-nutrition value chain, it ultimately failed to act as a bridge between farmers and consumers. Instead, it led to the introduction of non-dairy products and imported raw materials. This case study shows that while existing frameworks take a relatively static view of whether an innovation prospectively fulfils certain requirements, businesses can quickly alter entire value chains in response to market conditions.
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