GECAFS understanding of “Food Systems”

P. Ericksen

December 2005

Kathmandu, Nepal

GECAFS Approach to Food Systems

• Comprehensive and broad definition• Facilitates examination of links to Global

Environmental Change (GEC)– Water stress and management in particular

(access and availability)

• Interdisciplinary approach: food systems as social-ecological systems (SES)– (cf. Berkes and Folke 1998): social

mechanisms behind system management

Food Systems Conceptsquestions defined

1. What parameters describe food systems so as to facilitate GECAFS research?

2. Within given food systems, which parameters are most sensitive to GEC?

3. Who are the agents within each major food system, what are their roles, and how do they interact?

A Food System

• is a set 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)• should involve interactions designed to provide food

security. • 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.

• Includes social AND environmental components

Generally food systems comprise a number of human activities involved in…..

• Producing food

• Processing & packaging food

• Distribution & retailing food

• Consuming food

Food Security

• is the principal objective of food systems

• exists 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.

(definition from the World Food Summit)

• emphasizes access for individuals, households, communities to food.

• is an integrated concept.

FOOD UTILISATION

Components of Food Security& Key Elements

FOOD ACCESS

• Affordability• Allocation• Preference

• Nutritional Value• Social Value• Food Safety

FOOD AVAILABILITY

• Production• Distribution• Exchange

Food System ACTIVITIES • Producing food: resource inputs, farmers, raw materials• Processing & packaging food• Distribution & retailing food: marketing, advertising, trade• Consuming food: acquisition, preparation, consumption

Other societal goals

•Income•Employment •Wealth•Social & political capital•Human capital•Infrastructure•Peace•Insurance

Environmental Security / Natural

Capital

•Ecosystems stocks, flows

•Ecosystem services

•Access to NC assured

Food System OUTCOMES Contributing to

FOOD UTILISATION

FOOD ACCESS

• Affordability• Allocation• Preference

• Nutritional Value• Social Value• Food Safety

FOOD AVAILABILITY

• Production• Distribution• Exchange

Food Security

Food Availability

Amount, type, and quality of food a unit (household, village, region) has at its

disposal to consume

Availability - Production

• How much and what kind of food is available to the household from local production.

• Determinants include:– land holding sizes, tenancy arrangements– irrigation availability, – etc.

Availability - Distribution

• How food is made available (ie physically moved), in what form, when and to whom.

• Determinants may include:– Transportation and infrastructure– Public safety nets– Post harvest processing, storage

Availability- Exchange

• A given unit’s ability to obtain food via exchange mechanisms such as barter, trade, loans, purchase.

• Determinants include:– Income levels, remittances– Purchasing power– Local customs– Social networks

Access to Food

The strategies households, communities, regions employ to obtain the type, quality, and quantity of food they

require.

Access - Affordability

• The purchasing power of households or communities relative to the price of food.

• Determinants:– Pricing policies– Season and geographic variability in price– Form in which households are paid

Access – Allocation

• The mechanisms governing when, where and how food can be accessed.

• Determinants:– Markets!– Government policies

Access - preference

• Social or cultural norms and values that influence demand for certain types of food.

• Determinants:– Religion– Season– Advertising– Preparation requirements

Food Utilization

Household or community capacity (incl. Strategies) to consume food.

Has traditionally been the entry point for analysis of food security from a

nutritional standpoint

Utilization – Nutritional value

• How much of daily requirements of calories, vitamins, protein and micronutrients are provided by food consumed?

• Determinants:– Diversity of diet– Type of primary protein– Disease incidence

Utilization – Social Value

• All social and cultural aspects of consumption.

• Understanding the determinants requires insight into community and household relations– Kinship customs– Holidays

Utilization – food safety

• Can households process and prepare food without risk of contamination or decrease in nutritional value

• Determinants– Facilities for cooking– Access and availability of safe drinking

water– Hygiene practices

Food system activities (examples)

• Producing food: land preparation, input acquisition, planting

• Processing & packaging food: transformation into secondary product (content and profit modified/ enhanced), packaging

• Distribution & retailing food: transport, sale in market, advertising

• Consuming food: purchase, preparation, eating

Forests

Rivers

Town

Town

Natlgovt

District

TownGovt

Food processing

Food wholesalemarket

Large City

Localmarket

Example of links between activities

Outputs from FS descriptions

• Key activities and ACTORS

• Key outcomes and determinants– Policy and institutional links

• Linkages among activities

Food System ACTIVITIES • Producing food: resource inputs, farmers, raw materials• Processing & packaging food• Distribution & retailing food: marketing, advertising, trade• Consuming food: acquisition, preparation, consumption

Other societal goals

•Income•Employment •Wealth•Social & political capital•Human capital•Infrastructure•Peace•Insurance

Environmental Security / Natural

Capital

•Ecosystems stocks, flows

•Ecosystem services

•Access to NC assured

Food System OUTCOMES Contributing to

FOOD UTILISATION

FOOD ACCESS

• Affordability• Allocation• Preference

• Nutritional Value• Social Value• Food Safety

FOOD AVAILABILITY

• Production• Distribution• Exchange

Food Security

In Break-out Groups

• Which gaps are most important to fill (refer to matrix)?

• Which areas are most uncertain?

• How to add in activities?– Another matrix?– Draw links to outcomes?