Open AccessAgriculture, Food Systems, and Nutrition: Meeting the Challenge
Author(s) -
Gillespie Stuart,
van den Bold Mara
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global challenges
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2056-6646
DOI - 10.1002/gch2.201600002
Subject(s) - malnutrition , food systems , agriculture , public health , urbanization , economic growth , business , double burden , corporate governance , overweight , development economics , public economics , political science , economics , food security , obesity , medicine , geography , nursing , archaeology , finance
Malnutrition is a global challenge with huge social and economic costs; nearly every country faces a public health challenge, whether from undernutrition, overweight/obesity, and/or micronutrient deficiencies. Malnutrition is a multisectoral, multi‐level problem that results from the complex interplay between household and individual decision‐making, agri‐food, health, and environmental systems that determine access to services and resources, and related policy processes. This paper reviews the theory and recent qualitative evidence (particularly from 2010 to 2016) in the public health and nutrition literature, on the role that agriculture plays in improving nutrition, how food systems are changing rapidly due to globalization, trade liberalization, and urbanization, and the implications this has for nutrition globally. The paper ends by summarizing recommendations that emerge from this research related to (i) knowledge, evidence, and communications, (ii) politics, governance, and policy, and (iii) capacity, leadership, and financing.