Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says there is need for an increased effort to promote sustainable food systems that reduce malnutrition.
FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for Southern Africa representing Zimbabwe and Swaziland, Chimimba David Phiri also believes it is high time that the priorities for agricultural research and development become more nutrition sensitive to address the challenge of malnutrition.
“Governments and private stakeholders should continue as partners in ensuring that people understand the importance of adopting sustainable food systems to reduce cases of malnutrition,” says Phiri.
This means countries in the great African continent should enact enabling policies that prioritise sustainable food systems to address food security and malnutrition.
The term “food system” is used frequently in discussions about nutrition, food, health, community economic development and agriculture.
A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items.
It also includes the inputs needed and outputs generated at each of these steps.
More so, a food system is made up of the environment, people, institutions and processes by which agricultural products are produced, processed and brought to consumers.
“Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition” was the focus of this year’s World Food Day.
Key messages for this year were good nutrition depends on healthy diets; healthy diets require healthy food systems – along with education, health, sanitation and other factors; and healthy food systems are made possible by appropriate policies, incentives and governance.
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