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Review
. 2017 Mar 3;1(3):1600002.
doi: 10.1002/gch2.201600002. eCollection 2017 Apr 17.

Agriculture, Food Systems, and Nutrition: Meeting the Challenge

Stuart Gillespie  1 , Mara van den Bold  1
Affiliations
Review

Agriculture, Food Systems, and Nutrition: Meeting the Challenge

Stuart Gillespie et al. Glob Chall. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: South Asia; agriculture; food systems; nutrition; sub‐Saharan Africa.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Framework for actions to achieve optimum fetal and child nutrition and development.21
Figure 2
Figure 2
The TANDI framework conceptualizing pathways and links between agricultural livelihoods and nutrition outcomes.31, 32
Figure 3
Figure 3
How agricultural and food system policies link to diet quality as a measure of good nutrition, including policy options.100
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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