About this Research Topic
There are multiple determinants of malnutrition and there is a wide range of participants and actors along the agri-food value chain who eventually influence diets. In addition, we are experiencing rapidly changing diets. It is therefore important that a calculated approach to addressing nutrition that provides a framework for accurate determination, designing, and implementation of food-based interventions for better nutrition outcomes is considered. This calls for putting significant effort and resources into understanding, mapping, and characterizing the different sector actors and external drivers, how they influence each other and how they converge.
The key elements to consider when thinking about the different actors are seed systems, production, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, utilization, and other social, economic, and cultural dynamics that cut across these elements. The sectors that seem crucial include the agricultural sector, health sector, gender and social protection/inclusion sector, education and information sector, mass media and communication sector, infrastructure and transport sector, finance sector, local government, governance and policy sector, and other sectors not mentioned here that could impact on nutrition depending upon the context.
This multi-sectoral collaboration involves both government and non-governmental entities with an emphasis not only on development initiatives but also on research and academia to generate evidence and the private sector to scale good technologies. This approach also considers players at different levels such as the global, regional, national, and community levels. The multi-stakeholder, multi-sector model is based on the principles of a win-win situation, long term relations among the partners to share risks and rewards, exchange skills, converge in social, human and financial capital, and technologies for enhancing the delivery of nutrition outcomes.
According to the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement which seeks to capture the ambition of SUN countries and guide the work of all actors at all levels – national and sub-national, regional and global – it is crucial to engage, inspire and invest in all carefully identified and mapped actors. In addition, based on experience, SUN indicates that the health, agricultural and social protection sectors are important service delivery providers, the planning and finance sectors provide the systems and investment for nutrition, local government is critical for scaling up nutrition in different areas and communities, the offices of prime ministers and presidents give political leadership and commitment to improving nutrition, and other key players may be identified based on the context.
The good news is that there is a growing awareness within government, academic and development organizations on the need to better understand the effectiveness of the multi-stakeholder trans-sector approach to address malnutrition, which was highlighted in the past UN Food System Summit late in 2021.
This Research Topic provides an opportunity for the academic, research, development and private sector community to share specific approaches, findings and lessons learned following the design, implementation, and evaluation of multi-stakeholder multi-sector research and development interventions focused on supporting and promoting healthier diets.
This Research Topic aims to provide a deeper understanding of how multi-sectoral approaches (systems thinking approaches) contribute to healthier diets. We encourage research that takes a multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary approach. The focus will be on current efforts, progress, barriers, opportunities, and expectations targeting the latest research and development intervention and initiatives that are taking a multi-sectoral approach towards improving diets. We invite original research, systematic reviews, perspective, and opinion articles. We encourage the use of robust qualitative and/or quantitative methods.
The key elements to consider when thinking about the different actors are seed systems, production, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, utilization, and other social, economic, and cultural dynamics that cut across these elements. The sectors that seem crucial include the agricultural sector, health sector, gender and social protection/inclusion sector, education and information sector, mass media and communication sector, infrastructure and transport sector, finance sector, local government, governance and policy sector, and other sectors not mentioned here that could impact on nutrition depending upon the context.
This multi-sectoral collaboration involves both government and non-governmental entities with an emphasis not only on development initiatives but also on research and academia to generate evidence and the private sector to scale good technologies. This approach also considers players at different levels such as the global, regional, national, and community levels. The multi-stakeholder, multi-sector model is based on the principles of a win-win situation, long term relations among the partners to share risks and rewards, exchange skills, converge in social, human and financial capital, and technologies for enhancing the delivery of nutrition outcomes.
According to the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement which seeks to capture the ambition of SUN countries and guide the work of all actors at all levels – national and sub-national, regional and global – it is crucial to engage, inspire and invest in all carefully identified and mapped actors. In addition, based on experience, SUN indicates that the health, agricultural and social protection sectors are important service delivery providers, the planning and finance sectors provide the systems and investment for nutrition, local government is critical for scaling up nutrition in different areas and communities, the offices of prime ministers and presidents give political leadership and commitment to improving nutrition, and other key players may be identified based on the context.
The good news is that there is a growing awareness within government, academic and development organizations on the need to better understand the effectiveness of the multi-stakeholder trans-sector approach to address malnutrition, which was highlighted in the past UN Food System Summit late in 2021.
This Research Topic provides an opportunity for the academic, research, development and private sector community to share specific approaches, findings and lessons learned following the design, implementation, and evaluation of multi-stakeholder multi-sector research and development interventions focused on supporting and promoting healthier diets.
This Research Topic aims to provide a deeper understanding of how multi-sectoral approaches (systems thinking approaches) contribute to healthier diets. We encourage research that takes a multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary approach. The focus will be on current efforts, progress, barriers, opportunities, and expectations targeting the latest research and development intervention and initiatives that are taking a multi-sectoral approach towards improving diets. We invite original research, systematic reviews, perspective, and opinion articles. We encourage the use of robust qualitative and/or quantitative methods.
Keywords: Multi-sectoral research, Multi-sector development, Healthier diets, Sustainable diets
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