sofa executive summary english

7/28/2019 SOFA Executive Summary English

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EXE

CUTIVES

UMMARY

FOOD SYSTEMS

FOR BETTER NUTRITION

Malnutrition in all its orms undernutrition,

micronutrient defciencies, and overweight and

obesity imposes unacceptably high economic

and social costs on countries at all income levels.

The State of Food and Agriculture 2013: Food

systems for better nutrition argues that improving

nutrition and reducing these costs must begin

with ood and agriculture. The traditional role

o agriculture in producing ood and generatingincome is undamental, but agriculture and the

entire ood system rom inputs and production,

through processing, storage, transport and

retailing, to consumption can contribute much

more to the eradication o malnutrition.

Malnutrition imposes high costs on society

FAOs most recent estimates indicate that

12.5 percent o the worlds population (868 million

people) are undernourished in terms o energy

intake, yet these fgures represent only a raction

o the global burden o malnutrition. Anestimated 26 percent o the worlds children are

stunted, 2 billion people suer rom one or more

micronutrient defciencies and 1.4 billion people

are overweight, o whom 500 million are obese.

Most countries are burdened by multiple types o

malnutrition, which may coexist within the same

country, household or individual.

2013

THE STATEOF FOODANDAGRICULTURE


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THE STATE OF FOOD

AND AGRICULTURE

2013

The social cost o malnutrition, measured by the

disability-adjusted lie years lost to child and

maternal malnutrition and to overweight and

obesity, are very high. Beyond the social cost, the

cost to the global economy caused by malnutrition,

as a result o lost productivity and direct health

care costs, could account or as much as 5 percent

o global gross domestic product (GDP), equivalent

to US$3.5 trillion per year or US$500 per person.

The costs o undernutrition and micronutrient

deciencies are estimated at 23 percent o global

GDP, equivalent to US$1.42.1 trillion per year.

Although no global estimates o the economic costso overweight and obesity exist, the cumulative

cost o all non-communicable diseases, or which

overweight and obesity are leading risk actors,

were estimated to be about US$1.4 trillion in 2010.

Child and maternal malnutrition in particular

child underweight, child micronutrient

deciencies and poor breasteeding practices

impose by ar the largest nutrition-related

health burden at the global level, responsible or

almost twice the social costs o adult overweight

and obesity. The social burden due to child and

maternal malnutrition has declined almost by halduring the last two decades, while that due to

overweight and obesity has almost doubled, yet

the ormer remains by ar the greater problem,

especially in low-income countries. Undernutrition

and micronutrient deciencies must thereore

continue to be the highest nutrition priority or

the global community in the immediate uture.

The challenge or policy-makers is how to address

these problems while at the same time avoiding

or reversing the emergence o overweight and

obesity. This challenge is signicant, but the

returns are high: investing in the reduction o

micronutrient deciencies, or example, wouldresult in better health, ewer child deaths and

increased uture earnings, with a benet-to-cost

ratio o almost 13 to 1.

Addressing manutrition requires integratedaction across sectors

The immediate causes o malnutrition are complex

and multidimensional. They include inadequate

availability o and access to sae, diverse, nutritious

ood; lack o access to clean water, sanitation

and health care; and inappropriate child eedingand adult dietary choices. The root causes

o malnutrition are even more complex and

encompass the broader economic, social, political,

cultural and physical environment. Addressing

malnutrition, thereore, requires integrated action

and complementary interventions in agriculture

and the ood system in general, public health and

education, as well as in broader policy domains.

Because the necessary interventions cut across the

portolios o several government institutions, high-

level political support is required to motivate the

necessary coordination across sectors.

Better nutrition deends on every asect of

the food system

Food systems encompass all the people, institutions

and processes by which agricultural products are

produced, processed and brought to consumers.

They also include the public ocials, civil society

organizations, researchers and development

practitioners who design the policies, regulations,

programmes and projects that shape ood and

agriculture.

Every aspect o the ood system infuences

the availability and accessibility o diverse,

nutritious oods and thus the ability o consumersto choose healthy diets. But the linkages rom

the ood system to nutritional outcomes are

oten indirect mediated through incomes,

prices, knowledge and other actors. What is

more, ood system policies and interventions are

rarely designed with nutrition as their primary

objective, so impacts can be dicult to trace

and researchers sometimes conclude that ood

system interventions are ineective in reducing

malnutrition. In contrast, medical interventions

such as vitamin supplements can address specic

nutrient deciencies and their impacts are more

easily observed, but they cannot ully substituteor the broader nutritional benets oered by a

well-unctioning ood system. Every aspect o the

ood system must align to support good nutrition;

any single intervention in isolation is thereore

unlikely to have a signicant impact within such a

complex system. Interventions that consider ood

systems as a whole are more likely to achieve

positive nutritional outcomes.

Nutrition transition is driven by food systemtransformation

Economic and social development lead to the

gradual transormation o agriculture, characterized


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by rising labour productivity, declining shares o population

working in agriculture and rising urbanization. New modes

o transportation, leisure, employment and work within the

home cause people to lead more sedentary liestyles and to

demand more convenient oods. These changes in activity

and dietary patterns are part o a nutrition transition in

which households and countries may simultaneously ace

the emerging challenge o overweight, obesity and related

non-communicable diseases while continuing to deal with

undernutrition and micronutrient deciencies. The complexity

and rapidly changing nature o both the malnutrition situation

and ood systems in individual countries mean that policies

and interventions need to be context-specic.

Agricutura roductivity growth contributes tonutrition but must do more

Agricultural productivity growth contributes to better

nutrition through raising incomes, especially in countries

where the sector accounts or a large share o the economy

and employment, and by reducing the cost o ood or all

consumers. It is, however, important to realize that the impact

o agricultural growth is slow and may not be sucient to

cause a rapid reduction in malnutrition.

Maintaining the momentum o growth in agriculturalproductivity will remain crucial in the coming decades

as production o basic staple oods needs to increase

by 60 percent i it is to meet expected demand growth.

Beyond staple oods, healthy diets are diverse, containing

a balanced and adequate combination o energy, at and

protein, as well as micronutrients. Agricultural research

and development priorities must be made more nutrition-

sensitive, with a stronger ocus on nutrient-dense oods

such as ruits, vegetables, legumes and animal-source oods.

Greater eorts must be directed towards interventions that

diversiy smallholder production, such as integrated arming

systems. Eorts to raise the micronutrient content o staples

directly through bioortication are particularly promising.Agricultural interventions are generally more eective when

combined with nutrition education and implemented with

sensitivity to gender roles.

Suy chains offer risks and oortunitiesfor better nutrition

Traditional and modern ood systems coexist and evolve as

economies grow and urbanization increases. Modern supply

chains entail vertical integration o storage, distribution

and retailing and oer eciency gains that can yield lower

prices or consumers and higher incomes or armers. Theytypically carry a wide variety o nutritious oods year-round,

but also sell more highly processed packaged oods, which

can contribute to overweight and obesity when consumed

in excess. Modern ood processing and distribution also oer

new opportunities or the use o ortied oods, which can

make important contributions to nutrition.

Although supermarkets are spreading rapidly in low-

income countries, most poor consumers in rural and urban

areas still purchase most o their ood through traditional

ood distribution networks. These traditional outlets

are the primary channel or nutrient-rich oods such as

ruits, vegetables and livestock products, although they

increasingly carry processed and packaged oods. The use

o traditional retail outlets or distributing ortied oods

such as iodized salt is another proven strategy or improvingnutritional outcomes.

Improved sanitation, ood handling, and storage

technologies in traditional ood systems could boost

eciency and improve the saety and nutritional

quality o oods. Reducing ood and nutrient losses and

waste throughout ood systems could make important

contributions to better nutrition and relieve pressure on

productive resources.

Consumer choices determine nutritiona outcomesand sustainabiity

Making systems more nutrition-enhancing so that ood

is available, accessible, diverse and nutritious is key, but

so is the need to help consumers make healthy dietary

choices. Promoting behaviour change through nutrition

education and inormation campaigns within a supportive

environment that also addresses household sanitation and

appropriate complementary oods has proved eective.

Even in locations where undernutrition and micronutrient

deciencies persist as the primary problems, a orward-

looking approach that can prevent a rise in overweight and

obesity is necessary, especially in the long run. Behaviour

change can also reduce waste and contribute to the

sustainable use o resources.

Institutiona and oicy environment for nutrition

Progress has been made: in some countries malnutrition has

been signicantly reduced over recent decades. But progress

has been uneven and there is a pressing need to make better

use o the ood system or better nutrition. The complexity

o malnutrition and its underlying causes means that a

multistakeholder and multisectoral approach will be most

eective.

Such an approach requires better governance, based on

sound data, a common vision and political leadership to beable to plan, coordinate and oster the necessary collaboration

across and within sectors.


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FOOD SYSTEM INTERVENTIONS FOR BETTER NUTRITION

Policy environment and development priorities

Genderrolesand

environmentalsustainability

FOOD SYSTEM ElEMENTS NUTRITION OppORTUNITIES pOlICY TOOlS

Production up to the arm

gate (R&D, inputs, production,

arm management)

Sustainable intensication o

production

Nutrition-promoting arming systems,agronomic practices and crops

- Micronutrient ertilizers

- Bioortied crops

- Integrated arming systems,

including sheries and orestry

- Crop and livestock diversication

Stability or ood security and

nutrition

- Grain reserves and storage

- Crop and livestock insurance

Nutrition education

- School and home gardens

Nutrient preserving on-arm storage

Food and agricultural policies to

promote availability, aordability,

diversity and quality Nutrition-oriented agricultural

research on crops, livestock and

production systems

Promotion o school and home

gardens

Post-harvest supply chain

rom the arm gate to retailer

(marketing, storage, trade,

processing, retailing)

Nutrient-preserving processing,

packaging, transport and storage

Reduced waste and increased

technical and economic eciency

Food ortication

Reormulation or better nutrition

(e.g. elimination o trans ats)

Food saety

Regulation and taxation to

promote eciency, saety, quality,

diversity

Research and promotion o

innovation in product ormulation,

processing and transport

Consumers (advertising,

labelling, education,

saety nets)

Nutrition inormation and health

claims

Product labelling

Consumer education Social protection or ood security

and nutrition

- General ood assistance

programmes and subsidies

- Targeted ood assistance (prenatal,

children, elderly, etc.)

Food assistance programmes

Food price incentives

Nutrition regulations

Nutrition education andinormation campaigns

AVAIlABlE, ACCESSIBlE, DIVERSE, NUTRITIOUS FOODS

Health, food safety, education, sanitation and infrastructure

e: FAO.


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Key messages of the report

Malnutrition in all its forms imposes

unacceptably high costs on society in human

and economic terms. The costs associated with

undernutrition and micronutrient defciencies

are higher than those associated with

overweight and obesity, although the latter are

rising rapidly even in low- and middle-income

countries.

Addressing malnutrition requires a

multisectoral approach that includes

complementary interventions in food systems,

public health and education. This approach

also acilitates the pursuit o multiple

objectives, including better nutrition, gender

equality and environmental sustainability.

Within a multisectoral approach, food systems

offer many opportunities for interventions

leading to improved diets and better

nutrition. Some o these interventions have

the primary purpose o enhancing nutrition.

Other interventions in ood systems, and

in the general economic, social or political

environment, may aect nutrition even thoughthis is not their primary objective.

Agricultural production and productivity

growth remain essential for better nutrition,

but more can be done. Agricultural research

must continue to enhance productivity, while

paying greater attention to nutrient-dense

oods such as ruits, vegetables, legumes and

animal products and to more sustainable

production systems. Production interventions

are more eective when they are sensitive

to gender roles and combined with nutrition

education. Both traditional and modern supply chains

offer risks and opportunities for achieving

better nutrition and more sustainable food

systems. Improvements in traditional supply

chains can help reduce losses, lower prices and

increase diversity o choice or lower-income

households. The growth o modern retailing

and ood processing can acilitate the use o

ortifcation to combat malnutrition, but the

increased availability o highly-processed,

packaged goods may contribute to overweight

and obesity.

Consumers ultimately determine what they

eat and therefore what the food system

produces. But governments, international

organizations, the private sector and civil

society can all help consumers make healthier

decisions, reduce waste and contribute to the

sustainable use o resources, by providing clear,

accurate inormation and ensuring access to

diverse and nutritious oods.

Better governance of food systems at all

levels, facilitated by high-level political

support, is needed to build a common

vision, to support evidence-based policies,

and to promote effective coordination and

collaboration through integrated, multisectoral

action.


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2013THE

STATEOF

FOOD

ANDAGRIC

ULTURE

EXECUT

IVESUMMARY

I0000E/1/05.13

F U R T H E R I N F O R M A T I O N

The State of Food and Agriculture, FAOs major annual

agship publication, aims at bringing to a wider audience

balanced science-based assessments o important issues

in the feld o ood and agriculture. Each edition o the

report contains a comprehensive, yet easily accessible,

overview o a selected topic o major relevance or rural

and agricultural development and or global ood security.

Also available in:

Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish

FURTHER INFORMATION: [email protected]

MEDIA RELATIONS: [email protected]

FAO PUBLICATIONS CATALOGUE: www.fao.org/icatalog/inter-e.htm

WEB SITE: www.fao.org

www.fao.org/publications/sofa/en/

sofa executive summary english

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