Reaching last mile consumers: how mobile traders facilitate stable access to nutritious foods

Food and nutrition security has grown from just the availability, accessibility, and utilization of food, to include the stability of access, the agency of people, and the sustainability of the food system overall. However, advancements in production alone have been insufficient, and stable access to nutritious foods, such as fish, remains an issue in many low and middle-income countries. Fluctuations and disruptions to food supply chains disproportionately impact rural low-income people who have limited purchasing power. While Indonesia is a top fish producer globally, with many Indonesians preferring it culturally and dependent upon it, undernutrition and stunting remain stubborn concerns. This research is based on ethnographic fieldwork following mobile fish traders who supply rural communities in North Sumatra, Indonesia. These mobile traders are essential to the food and nutrition security of consumers with few if any alternatives. However, this food system is subject to fluctuations and disturbances, whether predictable or unexpected, that traders must navigate. I argue that flexibility and physical mobility are key factors to facilitate stable access. Embodying these qualities, mobile traders are crucial actors in the food system, facilitating stable access to fish and other nutritious foods for rural low-income consumers. Thus, understanding how these traders manage the fluctuations they encounter along the chain is critical to food and nutrition security.