Value chain interventions and NCDs

insight into the impact of agriculture on the advance of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in lowand middleincome countries (LMICs). The linked demographic and dietary transitions, away from rural areas and traditional foods and towards urban centres and more processed and energy-dense foods, are seen to precipitate rises in NCDs such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But the complex political, social, economic and physiological processes at work require more research if we are to better understand and intervene. The recent Chicago Council report Bringing Agriculture to the Table: How Agriculture and Food Can Play a Role in Preventing Chronic Disease identified a need for further research to help fill knowledge gaps and aid decision-makers in formulating policies and programs. The aims of this workshop were to look critically at agriculture’s contribution to chronic disease in LMICs as a development problem; to identify an interdisciplinary research agenda which will increase our understanding of how changing agricultural and food systems might influence NCD risk; and to explore interventions at various levels which might alter this risk, in poor communities in LMICs.