Food Systems

1
Food Systems

• sets of dynamic interactions between and within
  the human and biogeophysical environments which
  result in the production, processing,
  distribution, preparation and consumption of
  food.
• (definition based on FAO viewpoint)
• are based on
• 3 major components, each comprising
• 3 key elements, each influenced by
• many determinants, which determine how the FS
  operates

2
Food System Components Key Elements
FOOD UTILISATION
FOOD ACCESS

• Affordability
• Allocation
• Preference

• Nutritional Value
• Social Value
• Food Safety

FOOD AVAILABILITY

• Production
• Distribution
• Exchange

3
Example Food System Determinants
Socioeconomic Biogeophysical
Advertising media Customs, tastes trends Food prices household budgets Food standard regulations Labour availability productivity Land policy land tenure Market polices (input prices, credit subsidies) Supply chain infrastructure Storage, processing food preparation technologies Trade policies (border controls, international agreements) Appearance of food produced Bioavailability bioefficacy Contamination and toxins Germplasm Natural resource base and productivity potential Nutrient content of food Plant and animal pests diseases Primary processing Quantity quality of food produced Seasonality of food produced Waste disposal and management
4
Food Systems

• operate through connections between related
  determinants operating in one or more major
  components.
• fail to deliver food security when determinants,
  and/or the links between them, are disrupted by
  GEC or other stresses.
• can be adapted to reduce their vulnerability to
  GEC by
• identifying which determinants are particularly
  sensitive to GEC
• enhancing effective determinants
• restoring disrupted determinants

5
Range of interactive stressors on Food Systems
Currency Fluctuations
Economic Recession
Water Pollution
FOOD UTILISATION
FOOD ACCESS
Floods, Droughts
Political Unrest
FOOD AVAILABILITY
HIV-AIDS
War
Climate Change
Change in Trading Agreements
6
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (GEC) Change in type,
frequency magnitude of environmental threats
Capacity to cope with /or recover from GEC
FOOD SYSTEM SECURITY / VULNERABILITY
Exposure to GEC
SOCIETAL CHANGE Change in institutions, resource
accessibility, economic conditions, etc.