Nourishing the World by Fixing Food Systems Lawrence Haddad Executive Director Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
1 in 3 people worldwide are malnourished Overweight or Obese Deficient in in vitamins or minerals Chronic Hunger 2 billion 41m under 5 s over weight 159m stunted 50m wasted 1.9 billion Global Nutrition Report 2016 815 million
Most global burden of disease risk factors are linked to diet Child and maternal malnutrition Dietary risks High systolic blood pressure Air pollution High fasting plasma glucose High body mass index Alcohol and drug use Tobacco High total cholesterol Occupational risks DALYs Abajobir, Amanuel Alemu et al. The Lancet, Volume 390, Issue 10100, 1345 1422. 2017.
Africa and South Asia: the food supply has diversified very little over a 50 year period quality East Asia South Asia Africa quantity From data in Fig 6.3 Global Panel report
Africa and South Asia: the food supply has diversified very little over a 50 year period quality East Asia South Asia Africa quantity From data in Fig 6.3 Global Panel report
Africa and South Asia: the food supply has diversified very little over a 50 year period quality East Asia South Asia Africa quantity From data in Fig 6.3 Global Panel report
Healthy foods like fresh fruits & vegetables are unaffordable for large parts of the world Share of per capita household income to buy 5 fruits and vegetables /day/person 52% Bangladesh India Pakistan Zimbabwe Availability, affordability, and consumption of fruits and vegetables in 18 countries across income levels: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Miller, Victoria et al. The Lancet Global Health, Volume 4, Issue 10, e695 - e703
Food systems shape diet quality Global Panel report 2016
.. and they are broken Not enough focus on foods rich in minerals and vitamins Less desirable Less real choice Nutritious foods are Consumers have.. foods Poor Diet Less useful info Less available Too much food lost, especially fresh foods In store promotions and eye level placement for low nutrient foods Less affordable Less convenient Food transformations into foods with low fibre, high salt, fat, sugar Global Panel report 2016
As food chains lengthen, the opportunities for nutrition to move in (and out) increase More Nutrition in Less Nutrition out HLPE report 2017
How To Fix Food Systems?
1. Build demand for nutritious foods Use hybrids of public and private approaches Public sector relies on logical, linear, health messaging Private sector Uses powerful emotional and aspirational messaging
Using imagery well Lulun project in Ecuador: resulted in increased egg consumption for infants Eggs in Early Complementary Feeding and Child Growth: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Iannotti LL, et al. Pediatrics. 2017.
2. Make nutritious foods more available and affordable
Make nutritious foods more available and affordable Governments to allocate more R&D to vegetables, fruits, pulses, eggs, fish Businesses to reduce food loss on more nutritious foods Businesses to reformulate processed foods for a better nutrient profile Governments and business work together to develop easy to understand front of package labeling/certification
3. Enable governments and businesses to do positive things for nutrition and make it harder to do the wrong things
Create an enabling environment for governments and businesses to improve nutrition Governments and donors to support businesses to make investments in good nutrition o Support responsible public-private investible propositions to improve nutrition o Provide technical assistance and link to formal finance o Call out companies behaving irresponsibly Governments to use food-based dietary guidelines to guide decision making promote coherence o Example: tax policy on fortification premixes o Example: tariff regimes favoring certain foods o Example: infrastructure investment for cold chains Researchers to improve diagnostics of food systems: where is the weak link in the system? Tools and Metrics are needed
What needs to happen to nourish the world now? Build Demand for nutritious foods Make nutritious food more Available and Affordable Create an Enabling Environment for Businesses and Governments
Emerging economies do not have to follow the painful nutrition paths of high income economies Governments, Businesses and Civil Society have choices They need to act before it is too late
Thank You