Thank you to the HPLE Steering Committee for providing this opportunity for comment.
I think it is important to explicitly explore the importance of agricultural biodiversity in health diets. A diversity of food systems is one component of agricultural biodiversity, but is not sufficient; the terms of reference for the HPLE paper should also explicitly assess the importance of agricultural biodiversity (genetic and species, not only agro-ecosystems) to healthy diets and nutrition.
We know that the predominant agricultural production practices today lead to continued genetic erosion and therefore, increased levels of genetic vulnerability of specialized crops and livestock. The move away from diversity within crops, the move away from the diversity of crops and the move away from diversified cropping systems including an integration of livestock towards simplified, mainly cereal-based systems may provide sufficient caloric intake (for some) but it has contributed to imbalanced diets. We also know that cereals cannot provide the necessary micronutrients and quality protein needed for a healthy diet. The food system as it is working today is responsible for the twin problems of obesity and hunger and both are related to dietary simplification and this in turn starts from the simplification of what we grow. The analysis needs to start there, but it is not the end point of looking through the biodiversity lens.
The note should look the relationship between the erosion of biodiversity and its impact on diets and nutrition. In particular, it should explore the driving forces – including legal, political, institutional, and economic – behind the erosion and how these can be modified or mitigated. These forces should be explored all along the chain from production to consumption because at each point availability and access to diversity can be affected by a variety of factors. We need to look at how we design a supportive economic, political, social and legal environment that ensures that diversity is kept throughout the food chain and what are the current dynamics and trajectories that either support or challenge doing so.
Finally, in looking at through this diversity lens, in understanding the importance agricultural biological diversity at all levels plays in nutrition, we need to explore what this means for public policy in ensuring rural livelihoods, reducing poverty, improving nutrition and the resilience of the food system in rural areas. It will need to move beyond the public sector as providing a buffer for risk for the private sector and explore what the nature and role of the public sector must be if we are to the biodiverse systems that are needed from food to fork to ensure healthy diets and nutrition for all.
Susan Bragdon