Ensuring economic access to healthy diets during times of crisis

FAO

Ensuring economic access to healthy diets during times of crisis

Year of publication 2021

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 2p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Policy brief

ISBN 978-92-5-135331-8

Series title FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Brief

Series number 43

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. In 2019, nearly 3 billion people could not afford a healthy diet that protects against malnutrition in all its forms. While low-income countries are the ones most unlikely to be able to afford it, middle-income countries are also at risk. Indeed, on top of the 3 billion people who cannot afford a healthy diet, an additional 1 billion people are at risk of not being able to afford it if a shock reduces their incomes by one-third. The burden of this additional challenge would fall mostly on lower- and upper-middle-income countries. Pathways to address accessibility issues will thus differ by countries’ challenges: low-income countries in dire need of improving the affordability of healthy diets should focus on adopting long-term approaches that improve income levels and lower the cost of nutritious foods. In middle-income countries with many at risk, building resilience through the stabilization of incomes and diversification of agrifood systems should be the focus instead. Social protection programmes can also be effective policy tools during times of crisis but should be designed with the key challenges in mind.

The findings in this brief have been adapted from the FAO report The State of Food and Agriculture 2021. Making agri-food systems more resilient to shocks and stresses.

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2021. Ensuring economic access to healthy diets during times of crisis. FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy briefs, No. 43. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7661en

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Book (stand-alone)

Promoting Healthy Diets through Nutrition Education and Changes in the Food Environment: an International Review of Actions and their Effectiveness
Background Paper for the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)
2013

Also available in:

No results found.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), of the 57 million global deaths in 2008, 36 million, or 63%, were due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), principally ca rdiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases (WHO, 2011a). Nearly 80% of these deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries. Deaths from NCDs are projected to continue to rise worldwide, with the greatest increases expected in low- and middle-income regions. An unhealthy diet i s one of the key risk factors for NCDs. For example, inadequate consumption of fruit and vegetables increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases and several cancers; high salt consumption is an important determinant of high blood pressure and cardiovascular risk and increases the risk of stomach cancer; high consumption of saturated fats and trans-fatty acids is linked to heart disease; a range of dietary factors have been linked with diabetes; red and processed meat consumption is linked with some cancers (WHO, 2003; Steyn et al., 2004; WCRF, 2007). In addition, excessive energy intake leads to overweight and obesity, which is linked with a range of health problems, including NCDs (WHO, 2000). Diabetes has particularly strong associations with obesity (Steyn et al., 2004), and evidence shows associations between body fatness and some leading cancers (WCRF, 2007). The WHO estimates that 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese (WHO, 2011a). The prevalence of overweight is highest in upper-middle-income countries but very high levels are also reported from some lower-middle income countries in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, and it is reported to be rising throughout low- and middle-income countries.Since the FAO/WHO International Conference of Nutrition in 1992, unhealthy eating patterns have been increasing around the world. For example, fat intake has been rising rapidly in lower -middle-income countries since the 1980s (WHO, 2011a). Between 1992 and 2007, a disproportionate amount of the per capita increase in calorie availability1 came from sugar and meat (Mazzocchi et al., 2012). Patterns of eating have also changed, with an increase in snacking, skipping meals, eating meals out of a family setting, and eating out of the home.
Policy brief

Private sector and healthy diets: highlights from 2020 multi-stakeholder roundtables
aug/21
2021

Also available in:

No results found.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition Report 2020 indicates how misaligned our current food systems are, with some 3 billion people around the world who cannot afford the cheapest healthy diet (FAO et al., 2020). Several other key statistics support the consensus that food systems must be transformed. The private sector, in particular micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), have a key role to play in providing the bulk of the food that people in low- and middle-income countries eat, particularly poorer households – and the great potential that exists for stakeholders from different groups to work together to improve the availability, affordability, and desirability of healthy diets. In this regard, in 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) convened a series of virtual roundtables titled “Private Sector on Healthy Diets: Everyone Around the Table. This briefing paper shares an overview of the type of policy recommendations arising from the discussions and background papers prepared for the FAO-GAIN virtual roundtables – with a focus on policy of governments as well as policy of institutions and organisations, including businesses and development partners.
Book (stand-alone)

Promoting sustainable and inclusive value chains for fruits and vegetables - Policy review
Background paper for the FAO/WHO International Workshop on Fruits and Vegetables 2020
2021

Also available in:

No results found.

The persistence of undernutrition and the increasing levels of overweight and obesity worldwide (with their associated societal costs) are calling for a transformation of food systems towards healthier diets. Fruits and vegetables are key components of a healthy diet; however, their consumption is considerably below the minimal levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This underconsumption is particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income countries and among low-income socio-economic groups in all countries. This paper uses the value chain approach to analyze the factors that affect the availability and affordability of fruits and vegetables. It examines major challenges across the value chain and identifies opportunities for improvement as seen through a nutrition-sensitive lens. Factors that negatively affect the availability and affordability of fruits and vegetables discussed in this paper include low production and productivity, the loss of agrobiodiversity, inadequate technology, logistics and infrastructure, weak organizational, business, and technical skills, and inefficient market linkages across the supply chain. The paper proposes a number of policy recommendations based on insights from documented cases of good practices and on lessons learned in domestic and export-oriented value chains. The paper makes a case for reviving native, underutilized, and neglected fruit and vegetable varieties to improve nutrition and increase agrobiodiversity. In addition, short value chains delivering to local markets are recommended as a resilience strategy for smallscale producers and low-income consumers in the face of climatic and economic shocks.