Comments
Overall balance
I acknowledge that the introductory explanation of the challenges to agriculture and food systems (p.5) cannot encompass everything, but I think two headline issues should appear in the second paragraph:
- the dominant role of the food industry in the supply of nutrient-poor foods, and
- the consequent need for concerted and robust political and policy action to constrain the excesses of the food industries and to promote nutrition-enhancing food formulations.
These two issues are gaps in the FSN approach and documentation. Here you could cite:
- Monteiro, C.A., Cannon, G., Moubarac, J.-C., Levy, R.B., Louzada, M.L.C. and Jaime, P.C. (2018). The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing. Public Health Nutrition 21(1): 5-17.
Incorporating agency and sustainability
These are two important constructs.
It is not just a lack of information and education but also the lack of ‘agency’ among consumers, which the Report correctly identifies, that enables the global food processing, manufacturing and distribution industries to continue to supply and profit from noxious and/or nutrient-deficient food products. The adverse and ‘disproportionate agency or power’ (p.9) of the food industry is reminiscent of the tobacco industry.
The section 3.10 Growing concentration in agrifood supply chains does not capture all critical dimensions of agrifood industry market power. See later.
Sustainability
On sustainability of agrifood systems in challenging natural and political contexts, and with a particular focus on seasonality, see:
- Poole, N., Amiri, H., Amiri, S.M., Farhank, I. and Zanello, G. (2019). Food production and consumption in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan: the challenges of sustainability and seasonality for dietary diversity. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 17(6): 413-430.
Policy approaches
Production still matters. See comment below on 3.8 Continued coexistence of hunger and obesity.
It is not correct to say that we have reached the limits of increasing food production (p.12). There is much that can still be done to improve the quantity of food supplies and indeed, this will be necessary in the future. There is still scope for technological advances, but more importantly, there will be a need for sustainable intensification of production from smaller land areas: good agricultural land will be lost to climate change, resource abuse and degradation, and urban industrial development. Production capacity may also become constrained through lack of young farmers to replace the ageing population: see ‘A people perspective’, ch.1, pp.14-15 in:
- Poole, N. (2017). Smallholder Agriculture and Market Participation. Rugby, Warwickshire, UK and Rome, Practical Action and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Moreover, while the overwhelming challenge is to provide nutrient-rich foods to combat micronutrient malnutrition and obesity, the threat of hunger and energy deficiencies has not gone away. It is never good to feel hungry, that is the risk facing many communities, and it will be exacerbated as natural resource systems become increasingly stressed.
Staple foods and the square peg
Staple foods that are energy-rich are not the enemy of good nutrition. Whole-grain cereals are proven to be pro-health. In fact, many staples such as cereals have good nutrition that is stripped out through regular processing, not just ultra-processing. But it is important to note that the contribution of cereals and whole grain foods goes beyond good nutrition in respect of nutrients. A greater focus on health matters. Dietary fibre is not usually classified as a nutrient but does confer proven health benefits in respect of digestion and metabolism. The right types of dietary carbohydrates (cf the wrong carbohydrates such as in UPFs) can combat many non-communicable diseases. See:
Lafiandra, D., Riccardi, G. and Shewry, P.R. (2014). Improving cereal grain carbohydrates for diet and health. Journal of Cereal Science 59(3): 312-326.
Stephen, A.M., Champ, M.M.-J., Cloran, S.J., Fleith, M., van Lieshout, L., Mejborn, H. and Burley, V.J. (2017). Dietary fibre in Europe: current state of knowledge on definitions, sources, recommendations, intakes and relationships to health. Nutrition Research Reviews 30(2): 149-190.
Reynolds, A., Mann, J., Cummings, J., Winter, N., Mete, E. and Te Morenga, L. (2019). Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The Lancet 393(10170): 434-445.
It is in this context that focusing on food and nutrition falls short of the real challenges facing the global community, which are about health, and not just SDG2 but also SDG3.
We cannot neglect the production of staples which constitute more than half of global diets, and provide essential energy. We can improve the nutritional content through bio- and industrial fortification, both technologies with a proven ability to enhance nutrition and health, and we can improve nutritional content by enhancing food processing and manufacturing. The challenge here is to develop formulations of nutritious whole foods that are acceptable, indeed preferable, to consumers.
This needs more thought. In the context of the argument, the figure note to Figure 3 should not refer to a ‘hunger deficit, gap or hole’ but to a ‘nutrition hole’.
Therefore, the ‘square peg in a round hole’ is an important diagnosis of policy failure to address dietary deficiencies of nutrient-rich foods, but there is still two other holes at least:
- a square hole of hunger that the square peg of production fits
- a hole of food quality and broader health challenges that can be fitted by wholesome wholefoods
So in Table 1 I would prefer to see under New Thinking:
- We need to address malnutrition in all forms, including hunger, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies
Sectoral interactions
As noted above, there should be more explicit links to SDG3 with which SDG2 is very closely related. More awareness of the interrelationship of all SGDs would be helpful. This can be done without losing the primary focus. You could cite:
- Waage, J., Yap, C., Bell, S., Levy, C., Mace, G., Pegram, T., Unterhalter, E., Dasandi, N., Hudson, D., Kock, R., Mayhew, S., Marx, C. and Poole, N. (2015). Governing the UN Sustainable Development Goals: interactions, infrastructures, and institutions. The Lancet Global Health 3(5): PE251-E252.
Re the section: iii. The complex interactions between sectors. This discussion misses the opportunity to cite public sector policies as a part of the HLPE definition of food systems. ‘Institutions’ is too vague a term, too academic. This section is an opportunity to cite regulatory and legislative frameworks, fiscal policies, advertising and consumer engagement as factors which facilitate the direction of travel of the food system. It is also important to highlight to lobbying power of the agrifood industry, such as firms behind sugar, which test good regulations and legislation. Agency applies here in a forceful way, and more than industry social responsibility. Again, the tobacco industry and efforts to combat tobacco consumption are a useful comparator.
I note the inclusion of ‘political and economic drivers’ in Figure 3, but the box itself in the diagram and the explanation fall short of specifying precise policy factors such as taxes and subsidies; and the specific notion of agribusiness is absent. You may get some more penetrating ideas from:
- Maestre, M., Poole, N. and Henson, S. (2017). Assessing food value chain pathways, linkages and impacts for better nutrition of vulnerable groups. Food Policy 68: 31-39.
Please see Figure 1. Agri-food pathways and policy linkages for improved nutrition.
Specific solutions for diverse contexts, cf upscaling
iv. Diverse situations, variable solutions, global challenges.
A good case for specific solutions to diverse problem environments is Poole et al, op cit:
- Poole, N., Amiri, H., Amiri, S.M., Farhank, I. and Zanello, G. (2019). Food production and consumption in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan: the challenges of sustainability and seasonality for dietary diversity. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 17(6): 413-430.
A cautious note about scaling up and diversity is in the concluding chapter 11 Postscript: ‘Going local’ with development policies (pp.183-191):
- Poole, N. (2017). Smallholder Agriculture and Market Participation. Rugby, Warwickshire, UK and Rome, Practical Action and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. DOI 10.3362/9781780449401.000 - 011
Policy
Section 2.3 The importance of implementing the right to food and other international guidelines usefully highlights the lack of progress with implementation of the obligations and voluntary guidelines (p.17). Once again, it is important to recognise and specify private sector responsibilities and well as the public sector responsibilities.
Section 3.1 should refer to the threat of declining agricultural populations and employment, and the likely scarcity of farmers as agriculture, particularly small-scale farming which provides the bulk of food is outcompeted by urban and non-farm employment; cf section 3.4 Smallholder farms play important roles. See Poole op cit, ‘A people perspective’, ch.1, pp.14-15 in:
- Poole, N. (2017). Smallholder Agriculture and Market Participation. Rugby, Warwickshire, UK and Rome, Practical Action and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
This chapter by Poole also draws attention to the role of women in agriculture.
In section 3.6 Expansion and disruption in food and agriculture markets, the paragraph on energy dense foods is important but I don’t think it fits under the heading. Find somewhere else for it, say, a section that focuses on industry? This would cover the agency power of the food industries.
Section 3.8 Continued coexistence of hunger and obesity cites Willett et al (2019) but it is important not to create the impression that simple redistribution of food energy can meet hunger – which is still growing despite the excess supply of calories at the global level. As you say: ‘the grim reality is that is one fourth of the world's population does not have regular access to a sufficient quantity of food (FAO et al. 2019)’. Redistribution of excess foods will not address that.
3.9 The digital revolution in food and agriculture – new technologies create more attractive opportunities for younger and better educated and entrepreneurial farmers. Make the link with the challenges cited earlier.
Again, regarding 3.10 Growing concentration in agrifood supply chains, Murphy et al. 2012 is a bit old and not exactly plausible. The loss of small retail outlets is significant, even if there are gains due to economic efficiency and food safety. Shaping and restricting consumer choice, like political agency, are important dimensions of market power.
Multiple impact pathways
It is well established that there are multiple pathways by which agriculture can influence nutrition and health, and these illustrate some of the interactions among SDGs. See:
- Kadiyala, S., Harris, J., Headey, D., Yosef, S. and Gillespie, S. (2014). Agriculture and nutrition in India: mapping evidence to pathways. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1331: 43-56.
- Poole, N., Echavez, C. and Rowland, D. (2018). Are agriculture and nutrition policies and practice coherent? Stakeholder evidence from Afghanistan. Food Security 10(6): 1577-1601.
Poole et al summarise these as follows, making explicit the links to the wider economy:
1. Agricultural production as a source of food for own consumption
2. Agricultural sales and employment as a source of income for household expenditures on food and non-food goods
3. Agricultural and food policies which influence food access and availability through relative prices and affordability of specific foods, and of foods in general
4. Women’s roles in agriculture, household decision making and resource allocation affecting intra-household allocations of, and expenditures on, food, health and care
5. Women’s employment in agriculture balanced with child care and feeding responsibilities
6. Women’s own nutrition and health status, affecting childcare and nutrition, which may be compromised by own agricultural labour
7. Competition and entrepreneurism in the scale and diversity of agricultural production, and changes in productivity, which affect food access and availability at market level, cf. household level
8. Changes in the agricultural sector and related industries as a whole which have a macro-level and medium-to-long term impact on gross domestic product and productivity
This has relevance to section 3.11 Fragile and uncertain global economic situation.
Poole et al (op cit) is a potentially useful case to illustrate civil strife and the lack of effective governance. Afghanistan is a good case of ineffective state governance and severe under nutrition, and a reminder that public services are not always delivered by the public sector. In Afghanistan, it is (I)NGOs principally which operate at field level to ensure food security under conditions of a) disaster relief, b) humanitarian operations and c) development activities:
- Poole, N., Echavez, C. and Rowland, D. (2018). Are agriculture and nutrition policies and practice coherent? Stakeholder evidence from Afghanistan. Food Security 10(6): 1577-1601.
Policy pathways
I don’t think that section 4. POTENTIAL POLICY PATHWAYS FORWARD lives up to the title and I don’t think that a selection of some rather old examples adds enough to the report to justify the chapter – does it? Eg 4.4 is rather old… There could be much more to say on 4.6.
Nigel Poole