Integrating climate change, food safety, nutrition, and health outcomes in food systems policies and programs in Africa

Abstract

Integrating climate change, food safety, nutrition, and health outcomes in food systems policies and programs is crucial for addressing the multifaceted challenges African countries encounter. Climate change significantly impacts food production, food safety, and the provision of nutritious and healthy diets. Existing interventionist policies in Africa have not taken a comprehensive approach to addressing the bidirectional relationships among climate change, food safety, nutrition, and health outcomes. This hinders the formulation of comprehensive policies and programs that effectively address these interconnected issues. Also, limited evidence supports understanding the interplay among climate change, food safety, nutrition, and health outcomes within the African context. Thus, the study explores the pathways of interlinkages and complementarities among these factors and identifies the barriers to their effective implementation. In achieving its objective, this study adopts a food systems approach to examine the interrelaionships among climate change, food safety, nutrition, and health programs and policies. The study uses a comprehensive analysis of existing literature and empirical data to better understand these interrelationships within the food system. By identifying the interdependencies, the study is relevant for the development of integrative policies and programs that address these interconnected issues.Á