Food systems and human health and nutrition: An economic policy perspective with a focus on Africa

Food systems and human health and nutrition are closely linked in Africa and elsewhere. Changes in food systems caused by policy interventions and other drivers of food systems may result in positive or negative health and nutrition effects and changes in health and nutrition may influence food systems. These two-way causal relationships offer important opportunities for improving health and nutrition through policy interventions in food systems. Unfortunately, such opportunities have not been exploited. While policies and projects aimed at the food system may be justified by the existence of hunger, malnutrition and poor health, they are not usually designed in such a way as to seek the greatest possible positive health and nutrition effects. Food systems and health are treated as two isolated sectors and the need for broad-based integration called for by many remains an illusion. Clearly identified pathways between the two sectors are essential to help design food and health policies with mutual benefits. This paper addresses such pathways from food systems to health and nutrition. While increased availability of food, clean water, good sanitation and health care are essential, they are not sufficient to assure positive health and nutrition effects. Lack of money and gender-specific lack of time as well as prices of these basic necessities may preclude access. Furthermore, the behavior of the various agents in the food and health systems, including but not limited to consumers, may stand in the way of capturing potential positive health and nutrition effects. Health-sensitive policy interventions in the food system should include not only the producers of food and health care but the complete value system from producers to the final consumer. This paper suggests a set of such policies and discusses how a set of key drivers of food systems affect health and nutrition.