Principles, practice, and the private sector’s role in malnutrition: time to review red lines?

This short article, written by Stuart Gillespie and Nick Nisbett on the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) website and published on 29 May 2019, proposes a new, traffic-light type of rating of private sector companies on malnutrition, based on the development of a clear set of practical processes and indicators. Although it is important to engage with the private sector, some private sectors actors are already recognised as being 'no go companies', such as the tobacco companies. The article considers that working with particular private sector actors, such as serial Breast-milk Substitute Code offenders and large unreformed transnationals that derive the greatest share of their profits from products and practices associated with obesity, might become unpalatable for malnutrition researchers and advocates. 

The traffic-light rating system could be linked to existing indices like the Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) which assesses companies' performance against international guidelines, norms and accepted good practices, except when such guidance was not available. In ATNI, companies tend to score better on stated commitment and governance than on product healthiness. Implementation lags behind commitments, and ATNI has been criticized for focusing too much on the latter. However, the blog argues for a more dynamic approach which would that companies need to show pro-nutrition actions (not just words) over a reasonable length of time before discussions on engagement or partnerships start. To this end, there would need consensus on what this would look like, including what metrics, indicators and targets are sufficient to demonstrate institutional commitment to better nutrition. At the current time, most most companies assessed by ATNI would be red or amber. Such a system (which would need to be grounded in a consensus on appropriate metrics) could improve clarity, and better incentivize the reds and the ambers to reform.