Welthungerhilfe welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Issue Note prepared for the HLPE report on Nutrition and Food Systems. Please find below our comments on the draft:
- The assessment of “the influence of various types of food systems on diets, nutrition and health” should be informed by human rights standards and principles, particularly the right to adequate food. Also, the question if a particular food system responds to the needs and aspirations of the people should be considered.
- Regarding the Sustainable Development Goals the report should not only refer to Goals 2 and 13, but take into account the crucial interlinkages of goals such as Goal 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12 with nutrition.
- The analysis of the root causes of malnutrition, apart from its social, environmental and cultural determinants, should also include its political determinants, particularly power imbalances between different actors. At the global level, this would mean to analyze e.g. the influence of international trade rules on food systems.
- In its aim to build “upon multiple sources of evidence, not only academic but also experiential knowledge” the report should particularly take into account traditional knowledge from food production to consumption. It should also assess trends in research on Nutrition and Food Systems (e.g. regarding focus, funding and gaps).
- A cost-benefit analysis of effective food system interventions need to factor in the environmental and social impacts of the different types of food systems which is crucial in terms of their sustainability in the future. The analysis should also cover different policy interventions (e.g. incentives or regulations to foster healthy diets).
- The report should also analyze the evolution of the current global nutrition governance and roles of the different actors who are involved.
- When it says in the Issue note “The report should […] elaborate on concrete solutions to ensure that food systems deliver better nutritional outcomes, in order to propose concrete actions elicited from all stakeholder groups – farmers, processors, retailers, consumers, governments and other public actors – to reduce the triple burden of malnutrition” it should not exclude the powerful role of those at the very first stage who provide inputs for food production (e.g. seeds, fertilizer, pesticides).
- Although the interlinkages between food systems and nutrition are at the focus of the report, the report should acknowledge that health systems are another important determinant for nutrition.
Andrea Sonntag