Since most people get a large portion of their food from the private sector, private-sector companies can play a key role in improving nutrition by bringing more safe and nutritious products to market, in forms that are appealing and affordable to consumers. This is ever more important in Nigeria today, where annual food inflation in December 2023 reached 28% - putting healthy diets beyond the reach of many lower-income consumers.
In a joint article with One Acre Fund earlier this year, we called for greater attention to be paid to smallholder farmers, whose role is essential if we are to fulfil the needs of an ever-growing population – even in the face of climate change, economic turbulence, conflict, and the many other disruptions that lie ahead.
So how are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – which make up the bulk of the food system in low- and middle-income countries – coping with these challenges? A recent online survey by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network aimed to answer this question.
