RESUMO
Objectives: This study analyzes the potential for high-value peanut production, processing and marketing in Ghana, identifying opportunities for new investment and interventions to improve nutrition and livelihoods on a commercial scale. Methods: Our research combined an extensive desk review of the available data from 75 project reports and articles, followed by 40 key informant interviews in Ghana during July and August of 2013. Our focus is on the nutritional content of peanut-based products, particularly regarding the extent of aflatoxin contamination and opportunities for aflatoxin control. Results: Our central finding is that new investments to produce micronutrient-fortified, aflatoxin-free peanut products can be commercially viable, helping to improve livelihoods and nutritional status among farm households in northern Ghana, and contributing to improved nutrition among consumers. The most robust new supply chain for aflatoxin-free peanuts is likely to involve aggregators' spot and contract purchases from rainfed smallholder producers, including particularly women farmers, potentially supplemented by other sources such as imports and contracts for production under irrigation. Conclusions: Ghana is a promising site for new peanut-based products, offering both sufficient scale of production in the north, and sufficient demand in the south, with adequate infrastructure as well as institutional frameworks for development. Building supply for this new value chain will require equipping farmers and aggregators with select new technologies to which they do not yet have access, including improved seed varieties and techniques for aflatoxin control, but the result could be commercially viable and offer potentially large gains in livelihoods and nutritional status especially for women and children.
RESUMO
Objectives: This study identifies the micronutrient and macronutrient density of composite foods produced and marketed in Africa for infants aged 6 to 24 months. These are typically dry mixtures of cereals, legumes and sometimes other ingredients, produced by small and medium enterprises in peri-urban settings. Methods: We purchased random samples of products sold in a variety of small shops and supermarkets in Uganda and Ghana, and subjected them to laboratory tests for nutrient density in terms of total protein, fats and carbohydrates as macronutrients, iron and zinc as micronutrients, and also phosphorus as an antinutrients marker of phytic acid levels. We also conducted extensive interviews with manufacturers and stakeholders involved in complementary feeding, so as to identify the likely contributors to differences in nutritional composition. Results: Our central finding is that many locally-made products are of high quality, with nutritional profiles comparable to international standards such as CSB 13 or the heavily-advertised multinational brand names, but other products have much lower density of both macro- and micro-nutrients. Products' nutritional density is only weakly correlated with packaging quality, price or labeled ingredients. Conclusions: Africa has a large and growing market for pre-packaged complementary foods, but meeting infant needs and building consumer confidence will require more consistent nutritional profiles, including new systems for systematic quality assurance.