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Food system outcomes and drivers

What are the connections between food and nutrition security (FNS) outcomes, price volatility, agriculture and socioeconomic drivers?

The FAO defined food and nutrition security as a situation “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2006). This definition of FNS highlights four dimensions of food security: food availability, access to food, the utilization of food, and the stability of these three dimensions.

FNS is clearly an individual-specific outcome, but many of its indicators and of its drivers (causes) are measured at macro level and can only serve as proxies for FNS (individual) outcomes. FNS outcomes are related to various time-scales: depending on their impact, the indicators for assessing FNS are measured over several days, months and years up to decades (left panel). This means that the drivers of FNS must also be mapped on both the short run (centre panel) and the long run (right panel).

Long-term and policy drivers of FNS 
Conceptual framework for the analysis of the determinants of food and nutrition security
Short term drivers of FNS 
Conceptual framework on price volatility and its impact on food and nutrition security in the short term
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Drivers of FNS. Catalogue of long-term drivers and causes of FNS

How do the drivers in the food system and beyond drive food and nutrition security (FNS) in the long run? At the household level FNS is compounded out of two factors, food quantity and quality. Both factors depend on a set of drivers at the individual and household level, and at the macro level (Laborde et al. 2013). The catalogue of long-term drivers of FNS is presented below with a summary of the impact, diagnostics and future outlook of these drivers. The volatility of agricultural markets entails other, short-term drivers of FNS (Kalkuhl et al. 2013). These are explained in the accompanying brief.

Driver
Impact on FNS
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 Income
Improves FNS, if income growth is matched by a better distribution of income
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 Food prices

Improves FNS, if purchasing power improves with lower prices.

Weakens FNS, if household is a food producer in a lower price environment.

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 Sanitary conditions

Improves FNS: through reduced disease pressure and absorption of nutrients in the body, and labour productivity

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 Education

Improves FNS: better nutrition increases cognitive capacities and increases the returns to investments in education and schooling.

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 Transaction and markets access costs

Improves FNS, if lower costs reduce price distortions.

Weakens FNS, as easier access to ultra-processed food increases risk of overnutrition and unbalanced diets.

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Driver
Impact on FNS
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  Global vs domestic prices
Trade policy liberalization would improve FNS for consumers, and reduce FNS for producers. If terms of trade improves for a food net importer, FNS improves; undervalued exchange rate for a net food importer would reduce FNS
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 Aggregate food demand
Population growth increases mouths to feed and reduces overall FNS. Income growth leads to changes in diets towards protein rich goods and improves overall FNS. Income growth leads to higher prices and lower food price elasticity which reduces FNS.
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 Aggregate food supply

Lower food waste improves FNS; Increase in the overall amount of agricultural land will shift agricultural supply, reduce food prices, and ease the FNS constraint. Higher yields will shift agricultural supply, reduce food prices, and ease the FNS constraint.

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 Governance and Institutions

Macroeconomic stability, public expenditure, and governance as well as quality of institutions are among the crucial “basic causes” of malnutrition and can improve FNS

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