CIAT Jan 11, 2018 by Madelline Romero

It is an irony in the developing world that those who produce food are most often the ones that are nutritionally-deprived themselves. There are many factors contributing to this status quo, and one that the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is currently investigating is the impact of agricultural biodiversity.

Agrobiodiversity is the variety of plants, animals and micro-organisms necessary for sustaining food production. At the farm level, does it influence the diet and nutrition of the very people working the there?

The research, funded by the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, studies farming households in Vietnam and Peru, two middle-income countries which increasingly see a shift from smallholder subsistence farming to industrial, export-oriented farming. It will attempt to clarify the relationships between agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity.

According to Stef De Haan, Food Systems researcher at CIAT, “How people are eating is changing dramatically. Intensification of food production leaves a ‘food print’ on the environment. We want to understand, on the one hand, food systems transitions – how diets are changing – and on the other hand, whether they are changing in a direction that is sustainable.”

It’s not just about healthy diets; it is also about the sustainability of the systems that deliver them

The study of food systems involves investigation of the different activities, processes, infrastructures, and institutions involved in the production, processing, distribution, and consumption of food, and the various links between multiple actors: food producers, food-chain actors, policymakers, and consumers.

See http://blog.ciat.cgiar.org/cooking-up-a-sustainable-diet-for-all/