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Thornton P, Mason D'Croz D, Kugler C, Remans R, Zornetzer H, Herrero M. Enabling food system innovation: accelerators for change. Glob Food Sec 2024; 40:100738. [PMID: 38567265 PMCID: PMC10983825 DOI: 10.1016/j.gfs.2023.100738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
It is widely accepted that current food systems are not on a trajectory for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by the end of the decade. Technological innovation will have a considerable role to play in different parts of the food system; many promising options exist or are in the pipeline, some of which may be highly disruptive to existing value chains. Scaling up the innovations required, at the same time as protecting those who may lose out in the short term, will require a strong enabling environment. Here we apply an existing framework of eight change accelerators to six case studies of historical agricultural innovation. We estimated the degree to which each accelerator had been addressed at some stage in the innovation process, as a measure of the gap between what was needed and what was achieved. For the innovations that are being taken to scale and widely utilized, these accelerator gaps are small. Uptake of other innovations is stalled, and for these we found large gaps for one or more of the eight accelerators. Impactful innovation processes address all eight change accelerators at some point, with different phasing of the accelerators depending on the nature of the technology and on the impact pathway being pursued. This simple framework, when used in combination with narratives of uptake based on theories of change and impact pathways, may provide an effective means of screening future innovation processes to help prioritize and guide investment that can lead to more resilient, sustainable and equitable food systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Thornton
- Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Daniel Mason D'Croz
- Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
- Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Cody Kugler
- Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Roseline Remans
- Bioversity International, Heverlee, Belgium
- Glocolearning, Genk, Belgium
| | | | - Mario Herrero
- Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
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2
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Schneider KR, Fanzo J, Haddad L, Herrero M, Moncayo JR, Herforth A, Remans R, Guarin A, Resnick D, Covic N, Béné C, Cattaneo A, Aburto N, Ambikapathi R, Aytekin D, Barquera S, Battersby J, Beal T, Molina PB, Cafiero C, Campeau C, Caron P, Conforti P, Damerau K, Di Girolamo M, DeClerck F, Dewi D, Elouafi I, Fabi C, Foley P, Frazier TJ, Gephart J, Golden C, Fischer CG, Hendriks S, Honorati M, Huang J, Kennedy G, Laar A, Lal R, Lidder P, Loken B, Marshall Q, Masuda YJ, McLaren R, Miachon L, Muñoz H, Nordhagen S, Qayyum N, Saisana M, Suhardiman D, Sumaila UR, Cullen MT, Tubiello FN, Vivero-Pol JL, Webb P, Wiebe K. The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030. Nat Food 2023; 4:1090-1110. [PMID: 38114693 PMCID: PMC10730405 DOI: 10.1038/s43016-023-00885-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
This Analysis presents a recently developed food system indicator framework and holistic monitoring architecture to track food system transformation towards global development, health and sustainability goals. Five themes are considered: (1) diets, nutrition and health; (2) environment, natural resources and production; (3) livelihoods, poverty and equity; (4) governance; and (5) resilience. Each theme is divided into three to five indicator domains, and indicators were selected to reflect each domain through a consultative process. In total, 50 indicators were selected, with at least one indicator available for every domain. Harmonized data of these 50 indicators provide a baseline assessment of the world's food systems. We show that every country can claim positive outcomes in some parts of food systems, but none are among the highest ranked across all domains. Furthermore, some indicators are independent of national income, and each highlights a specific aspiration for healthy, sustainable and just food systems. The Food Systems Countdown Initiative will track food systems annually to 2030, amending the framework as new indicators or better data emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate R Schneider
- School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA.
| | - Jessica Fanzo
- Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| | | | - Mario Herrero
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | | | - Anna Herforth
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Roseline Remans
- Glocolearning, Genk, Belgium
- Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, Cali, Colombia
| | - Alejandro Guarin
- International Institute for Environment and Development, London, UK
| | - Danielle Resnick
- International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Namukolo Covic
- International Livestock Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- CGIAR, Montpellier, France
| | - Christophe Béné
- Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, Cali, Colombia
- Wageningen Economic Research Group, Wageningen University, Den Haag, the Netherlands
| | - Andrea Cattaneo
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
| | - Nancy Aburto
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
| | - Ramya Ambikapathi
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Destan Aytekin
- Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Simon Barquera
- Research Center of Nutrition and Health, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, México
| | | | - Ty Beal
- Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Carlo Cafiero
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Patrick Caron
- University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Cirad, Montpellier, France
- ART-DEV, Montpellier, France
| | - Piero Conforti
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
| | - Kerstin Damerau
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Michael Di Girolamo
- School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Fabrice DeClerck
- Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, Cali, Colombia
- EAT Forum, Montpellier, France
| | - Deviana Dewi
- School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Carola Fabi
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
| | - Pat Foley
- Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, World Food Programme, Panama City, Panama
| | | | | | | | - Carlos Gonzalez Fischer
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Sheryl Hendriks
- Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Kent, UK
| | | | - Jikun Huang
- School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | | | - Amos Laar
- School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Rattan Lal
- Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | | | | | - Quinn Marshall
- International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | | | - Lais Miachon
- Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hernán Muñoz
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
- University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Naina Qayyum
- Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Diana Suhardiman
- Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies/KITLV, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - U Rashid Sumaila
- School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | | | - Patrick Webb
- Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Keith Wiebe
- International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
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Jones SK, Sánchez AC, Beillouin D, Juventia SD, Mosnier A, Remans R, Carmona NE. Achieving win-win outcomes for biodiversity and yield through diversified farming. Basic Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2022.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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Herforth A, Bellows AL, Marshall Q, McLaren R, Beal T, Nordhagen S, Remans R, Estrada Carmona N, Fanzo J. Diagnosing the performance of food systems to increase accountability toward healthy diets and environmental sustainability. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0270712. [PMID: 35905046 PMCID: PMC9337654 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
To reorient food systems to ensure they deliver healthy diets that protect against multiple forms of malnutrition and diet-related disease and safeguard the environment, ecosystems, and natural resources, there is a need for better governance and accountability. However, decision-makers are often in the dark on how to navigate their food systems to achieve these multiple outcomes. Even where there is sufficient data to describe various elements, drivers, and outcomes of food systems, there is a lack of tools to assess how food systems are performing. This paper presents a diagnostic methodology for 39 indicators representing food supply, food environments, nutrition outcomes, and environmental outcomes that offer cutoffs to assess performance of national food systems. For each indicator, thresholds are presented for unlikely, potential, or likely challenge areas. This information can be used to generate actions and decisions on where and how to intervene in food systems to improve human and planetary health. A global assessment and two country case studies—Greece and Tanzania—illustrate how the diagnostics could spur decision options available to countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Herforth
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Alexandra L. Bellows
- Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Quinn Marshall
- Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Rebecca McLaren
- Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Ty Beal
- Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | | | - Roseline Remans
- The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Jessica Fanzo
- Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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5
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Hanley-Cook GT, Daly AJ, Remans R, Jones AD, Murray KA, Huybrechts I, De Baets B, Lachat C. Food biodiversity: Quantifying the unquantifiable in human diets. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2022; 63:7837-7851. [PMID: 35297716 DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2051163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
Dietary diversity is an established public health principle, and its measurement is essential for studies of diet quality and food security. However, conventional between food group scores fail to capture the nutritional variability and ecosystem services delivered by dietary richness and dissimilarity within food groups, or the relative distribution (i.e., evenness or moderation) of e.g., species or varieties across whole diets. Summarizing food biodiversity in an all-encompassing index is problematic. Therefore, various diversity indices have been proposed in ecology, yet these require methodological adaption for integration in dietary assessments. In this narrative review, we summarize the key conceptual issues underlying the measurement of food biodiversity at an edible species level, assess the ecological diversity indices previously applied to food consumption and food supply data, discuss their relative suitability, and potential amendments for use in (quantitative) dietary intake studies. Ecological diversity indices are often used without justification through the lens of nutrition. To illustrate: (i) dietary species richness fails to account for the distribution of foods across the diet or their functional traits; (ii) evenness indices, such as the Gini-Simpson index, require widely accepted relative abundance units (e.g., kcal, g, cups) and evidence-based moderation weighting factors; and (iii) functional dissimilarity indices are constructed based on an arbitrary selection of distance measures, cutoff criteria, and number of phylogenetic, nutritional, and morphological traits. Disregard for these limitations can lead to counterintuitive results and ambiguous or incorrect conclusions about the food biodiversity within diets or food systems. To ensure comparability and robustness of future research, we advocate food biodiversity indices that: (i) satisfy key axioms; (ii) can be extended to account for disparity between edible species; and (iii) are used in combination, rather than in isolation.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2051163 .
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Affiliation(s)
- Giles T Hanley-Cook
- Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Aisling J Daly
- Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Roseline Remans
- The Alliance of Bioversity International and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Andrew D Jones
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Kris A Murray
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
- School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, MRC Unit The Gambia at London, Banjul, The Gambia
| | - Inge Huybrechts
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
| | - Bernard De Baets
- Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Carl Lachat
- Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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6
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Manners R, Adewopo J, Niyibituronsa M, Remans R, Ghosh A, Schut M, Egoeh SG, Kilwenge R, Fraenzel A. Leveraging Digital Tools and Crowdsourcing Approaches to Generate High-Frequency Data for Diet Quality Monitoring at Population Scale in Rwanda. Front Sustain Food Syst 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.804821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Diet quality is a critical determinant of human health and increasingly serves as a key indicator for food system sustainability. However, data on diets are limited, scattered, often project-dependent, and current data collection systems do not support high-frequency or consistent data flows. We piloted in Rwanda a data collection system, powered by the principles of citizen science, to acquire high frequency data on diets. The system was deployed through an unstructured supplementary service data platform, where respondents were invited to answer questions regarding their dietary intake. By combining micro-incentives with a normative nudge, 9,726 responses have been crowdsourced over 8 weeks of data collection. The cost per respondent was < $1 (system set-up, maintenance, and a small payment to respondents), with interactions taking <15 min. Exploratory analyses show that >70% of respondents consume tubers and starchy vegetables, leafy vegetables, fruits, legumes, and wholegrains. Women consumed better quality diets than male respondents, revealing a sex-based disparity in diet quality. Similarly, younger respondents (age ≤ 24 years) consumed the lowest quality diets, which may pose significant risks to their health and mental well-being. Middle-income Rwandans were identified to have consumed the highest quality diets. Long-term tracking of diet quality metrics could help flag populations and locations with high probabilities of nutrition insecurity, in turn guiding relevant interventions to mitigate associated health and social risks.
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Moges T, Brouwer ID, Delbiso TD, Remans R, Baudron F, Belachew T, Groot JCJ. Spatial farming systems diversity and micronutrient intakes of rural children in Ethiopia. Matern Child Nutr 2022; 18:e13242. [PMID: 34223711 PMCID: PMC8710117 DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Own production contributes much of the food supply in smallholder production systems in low- and middle-income countries like Ethiopia. Understanding the potential as well as constraints of these production systems in terms of nutrient supplies is thus a critical step to design interventions to improve nutrient intakes. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the usual total intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children and (2) to investigate whether the intakes these nutrients are associated with differences in the dominant farming systems between spatial clusters. Using nationally representative intake data of 4,902 children 6-35 months of age, usual intake and the proportion of inadequate intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc were calculated. A multi-level model was used to examine the association between individual-level and cluster-level variables with the usual total dietary intakes of these nutrients. The diet was dominated by starchy foods. Consumption of animal source foods, vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables was low. We found a high prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A and zinc (85.4% and 49.5%, respectively). Relatively, low prevalence of inadequate intake of iron (8.4%) was reported. The spatial farming systems diversity across the rural clusters explained 48.2%, 57.2% and 26.7% of the observed variation in the usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc, respectively. Our findings indicated the importance of farming system diversity at the landscape level as one of the determinant factors for individual usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tibebu Moges
- Farming Systems EcologyWageningen UniversityWageningenNetherlands
- Food Science and Nutrition Research DirectorateEthiopian Public Health InstituteAddis AbabaEthiopia
- Human Nutrition UnitJimma UniversityJimmaEthiopia
| | - Inge D. Brouwer
- Division of Human Nutrition and HealthWageningen UniversityWageningenNetherlands
| | | | | | - Frédéric Baudron
- Southern Africa Regional OfficeInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)HarareZimbabwe
| | | | - Jeroen C. J. Groot
- Farming Systems EcologyWageningen UniversityWageningenNetherlands
- Bioversity InternationalMaccareseItaly
- Sustainable Intensification ProgramInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)TexcocoMexico
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8
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Bromage S, Zhang Y, Holmes MD, Sachs SE, Fanzo J, Remans R, Sachs JD, Batis C, Bhupathiraju SN, Fung TT, Li Y, Stampfer MJ, Deitchler M, Willett WC, Fawzi WW. The Global Diet Quality Score Is Inversely Associated with Nutrient Inadequacy, Low Midupper Arm Circumference, and Anemia in Rural Adults in Ten Sub-Saharan African Countries. J Nutr 2021; 151:119S-129S. [PMID: 34689197 PMCID: PMC8542095 DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxab161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Key nutrient deficits remain widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) whereas noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) now cause one-third of deaths. Easy-to-use metrics are needed to track contributions of diet quality to this double burden. OBJECTIVES We evaluated comparative performance of a novel food-based Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS) against other diet metrics in capturing nutrient adequacy and undernutrition in rural SSA adults. METHODS We scored the GDQS, Minimum Dietary Diversity-Women (MDD-W), and Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010) using FFQ data from rural men and nonpregnant, nonlactating women of reproductive age (15-49 y) in 10 SSA countries. We evaluated Spearman correlations between metrics and energy-adjusted nutrient intakes, and age-adjusted associations with BMI, midupper arm circumference (MUAC), and hemoglobin in regression models. RESULTS Correlations between the GDQS and an energy-adjusted aggregate measure of dietary protein, fiber, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A, folate, and vitamin B-12 adequacy were 0.34 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.38) in men and 0.37 (95% CI: 0.32, 0.41) in women. The GDQS was associated (P < 0.05) with lower odds of low MUAC [GDQS quintile (Q) 5 compared with Q1 OR in men: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.85; women: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.31, 1.03] and anemia (Q5/Q1 OR in men: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.98; women: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.35, 1.01). The MDD-W correlated better with some nutrient intakes, though associated marginally with low MUAC in men (P = 0.07). The AHEI-2010 correlated better with fatty acid intakes, though associated marginally with low MUAC (P = 0.06) and anemia (P = 0.14) in women. Overweight/obesity prevalence was low, and neither the GDQS, MDD-W, nor AHEI-2010 were predictive. CONCLUSIONS The GDQS performed comparably with the MDD-W in capturing nutrient adequacy-related outcomes in rural SSA. Given limited data on NCD outcomes and the cross-sectional study design, prospective studies are warranted to assess GDQS performance in capturing NCD outcomes in SSA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabri Bromage
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yiwen Zhang
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michelle D Holmes
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sonia E Sachs
- The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jessica Fanzo
- Berman Institute of Bioethics, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Roseline Remans
- The Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Carolina Batis
- CONACYT—Health and Nutrition Research Center, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Shilpa N Bhupathiraju
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Teresa T Fung
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Simmons University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yanping Li
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Meir J Stampfer
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Megan Deitchler
- Intake – Center for Dietary Assessment, FHI Solutions, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Walter C Willett
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Wafaie W Fawzi
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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9
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Hanley-Cook GT, Huybrechts I, Biessy C, Remans R, Kennedy G, Deschasaux-Tanguy M, Murray KA, Touvier M, Skeie G, Kesse-Guyot E, Argaw A, Casagrande C, Nicolas G, Vineis P, Millett CJ, Weiderpass E, Ferrari P, Dahm CC, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Sandanger TM, Ibsen DB, Freisling H, Ramne S, Jannasch F, van der Schouw YT, Schulze MB, Tsilidis KK, Tjønneland A, Ardanaz E, Bodén S, Cirera L, Gargano G, Halkjær J, Jakszyn P, Johansson I, Katzke V, Masala G, Panico S, Rodriguez-Barranco M, Sacerdote C, Srour B, Tumino R, Riboli E, Gunter MJ, Jones AD, Lachat C. Food biodiversity and total and cause-specific mortality in 9 European countries: An analysis of a prospective cohort study. PLoS Med 2021; 18:e1003834. [PMID: 34662340 PMCID: PMC8559947 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Revised: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Food biodiversity, encompassing the variety of plants, animals, and other organisms consumed as food and drink, has intrinsic potential to underpin diverse, nutritious diets and improve Earth system resilience. Dietary species richness (DSR), which is recommended as a crosscutting measure of food biodiversity, has been positively associated with the micronutrient adequacy of diets in women and young children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, the relationships between DSR and major health outcomes have yet to be assessed in any population. METHODS AND FINDINGS We examined the associations between DSR and subsequent total and cause-specific mortality among 451,390 adults enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study (1992 to 2014, median follow-up: 17 years), free of cancer, diabetes, heart attack, or stroke at baseline. Usual dietary intakes were assessed at recruitment with country-specific dietary questionnaires (DQs). DSR of an individual's yearly diet was calculated based on the absolute number of unique biological species in each (composite) food and drink. Associations were assessed by fitting multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models. In the EPIC cohort, 2 crops (common wheat and potato) and 2 animal species (cow and pig) accounted for approximately 45% of self-reported total dietary energy intake [median (P10-P90): 68 (40 to 83) species consumed per year]. Overall, higher DSR was inversely associated with all-cause mortality rate. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing total mortality in the second, third, fourth, and fifth (highest) quintiles (Qs) of DSR to the first (lowest) Q indicate significant inverse associations, after stratification by sex, age, and study center and adjustment for smoking status, educational level, marital status, physical activity, alcohol intake, and total energy intake, Mediterranean diet score, red and processed meat intake, and fiber intake [HR (95% CI): 0.91 (0.88 to 0.94), 0.80 (0.76 to 0.83), 0.69 (0.66 to 0.72), and 0.63 (0.59 to 0.66), respectively; PWald < 0.001 for trend]. Absolute death rates among participants in the highest and lowest fifth of DSR were 65.4 and 69.3 cases/10,000 person-years, respectively. Significant inverse associations were also observed between DSR and deaths due to cancer, heart disease, digestive disease, and respiratory disease. An important study limitation is that our findings were based on an observational cohort using self-reported dietary data obtained through single baseline food frequency questionnaires (FFQs); thus, exposure misclassification and residual confounding cannot be ruled out. CONCLUSIONS In this large Pan-European cohort, higher DSR was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality, independent of sociodemographic, lifestyle, and other known dietary risk factors. Our findings support the potential of food (species) biodiversity as a guiding principle of sustainable dietary recommendations and food-based dietary guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giles T. Hanley-Cook
- Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Inge Huybrechts
- Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Carine Biessy
- Nutritional Methodology and Biostatistics Group, Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Roseline Remans
- Bioversity International, Heverlee, Belgium
- Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Gina Kennedy
- Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Mélanie Deschasaux-Tanguy
- Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center—University of Paris (CRESS), Bobigny, France
| | - Kris A. Murray
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, Banjul, The Gambia
| | - Mathilde Touvier
- Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center—University of Paris (CRESS), Bobigny, France
| | - Guri Skeie
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot
- Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center—University of Paris (CRESS), Bobigny, France
| | - Alemayehu Argaw
- Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Population and Family Health, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Corinne Casagrande
- Nutritional Methodology and Biostatistics Group, Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Geneviève Nicolas
- Biomarkers Group, Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Paolo Vineis
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher J. Millett
- Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Elisabete Weiderpass
- International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Pietro Ferrari
- Nutritional Methodology and Biostatistics Group, Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | | | - H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita
- Department for Determinants of Chronic Diseases (DCD), National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Torkjel M. Sandanger
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Daniel B. Ibsen
- Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Heinz Freisling
- Nutritional Methodology and Biostatistics Group, Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Stina Ramne
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Franziska Jannasch
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), München-Neuherberg, Germany
- NutriAct—Competence Cluster Nutrition Research Berlin-Potsdam, Nuthetal, Germany
| | - Yvonne T. van der Schouw
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Matthias B. Schulze
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany
- Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Potsdam, Nuthetal, Germany
| | - Konstantinos K. Tsilidis
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece
| | - Anne Tjønneland
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Eva Ardanaz
- Navarra Public Health Institute, Pamplona, Spain
- IdiSNA, Navarra Institute for Health Research, Pamplona, Spain
- Biomedical Research Networking Center for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Stina Bodén
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Oncology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Lluís Cirera
- Biomedical Research Networking Center for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Council—IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain
- Department of Health and Social Sciences, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Giuliana Gargano
- Epidemiology and Prevention Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
| | - Jytte Halkjær
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Paula Jakszyn
- Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Program, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO-IDIBELL), L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ingegerd Johansson
- School of Dentistry, Cariology, Department of Odontology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Verena Katzke
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Giovanna Masala
- Cancer Risk Factors and Life-Style Epidemiology Unit, Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network (ISPRO), Florence, Italy
| | - Salvatore Panico
- Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
| | - Miguel Rodriguez-Barranco
- Biomedical Research Networking Center for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (ibs.GRANADA), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Carlotta Sacerdote
- Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, Città della Salute e della Scienza University-Hospital and Centre for Cancer Prevention (CPO), Turin, Italy
| | - Bernard Srour
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rosario Tumino
- Cancer Registry and Histopathology Department, Azienda Sanitaria Provinciale Ragusa (ASP 7), Ragusa, Italy
| | - Elio Riboli
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marc J. Gunter
- Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Andrew D. Jones
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Carl Lachat
- Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Jones SK, Estrada-Carmona N, Juventia SD, Dulloo ME, Laporte MA, Villani C, Remans R. Agrobiodiversity Index scores show agrobiodiversity is underutilized in national food systems. Nat Food 2021; 2:712-723. [PMID: 37117466 DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00344-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
The diversity of plants, animals and microorganisms that directly or indirectly support food and agriculture is critical to achieving healthy diets and agroecosystems. Here we present the Agrobiodiversity Index (based on 22 indicators), which provides a monitoring framework and informs food systems policy. Agrobiodiversity Index calculations for 80 countries reveal a moderate mean agrobiodiversity status score (56.0 out of 100), a moderate mean agrobiodiversity action score (47.8 out of 100) and a low mean agrobiodiversity commitment score (21.4 out of 100), indicating that much stronger commitments and concrete actions are needed to enhance agrobiodiversity across the food system. Mean agrobiodiversity status scores in consumption and conservation are 14-82% higher in developed countries than in developing countries, while scores in production are consistently low across least developed, developing and developed countries. We also found an absence of globally consistent data for several important components of agrobiodiversity, including varietal, functional and underutilized species diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Stella D Juventia
- Bioversity International, Montpellier, France
- Farming Systems Ecology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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11
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Gambart C, Swennen R, Blomme G, Groot JCJ, Remans R, Ocimati W. Impact and Opportunities of Agroecological Intensification Strategies on Farm Performance: A Case Study of Banana-Based Systems in Central and South-Western Uganda. Front Sustain Food Syst 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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12
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McGonigle DF, Rota Nodari G, Phillips RL, Aynekulu E, Estrada-Carmona N, Jones SK, Koziell I, Luedeling E, Remans R, Shepherd K, Wiberg D, Whitney C, Zhang W. A Knowledge Brokering Framework for Integrated Landscape Management. Front Sustain Food Syst 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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13
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Estrada-Carmona N, Raneri JE, Alvarez S, Timler C, Chatterjee SA, Ditzler L, Kennedy G, Remans R, Brouwer I, den Berg KBV, Talsma EF, Groot JCJ. A model-based exploration of farm-household livelihood and nutrition indicators to guide nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions. Food Secur 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12571-019-00985-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
AbstractAssessing progress towards healthier people, farms and landscapes through nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) requires transdisciplinary methods with robust models and metrics. Farm-household models could facilitate disentangling the complex agriculture-nutrition nexus, by jointly assessing performance indicators on different farm system components such as farm productivity, farm environmental performance, household nutrition, and livelihoods. We, therefore, applied a farm-household model, FarmDESIGN, expanded to more comprehensively capture household nutrition and production diversity, diet diversity, and nutrient adequacy metrics. We estimated the potential contribution of an NSA intervention targeting the diversification of home gardens, aimed at reducing nutritional gaps and improving livelihoods in rural Vietnam. We addressed three central questions: (1) Do ‘Selected Crops’ (i.e. crops identified in a participatory process) in the intervention contribute to satisfying household dietary requirements?; (2) Does the adoption of Selected Crops contribute to improving household livelihoods (i.e. does it increase leisure time for non-earning activities as well as the dispensable budget)?; and (3) Do the proposed nutrition-related metrics estimate the contribution of home-garden diversification towards satisfying household dietary requirements? Results indicate trade-offs between nutrition and dispensable budget, with limited farm-household configurations leading to jointly improved nutrition and livelihoods. FarmDESIGN facilitated testing the robustness and limitations of commonly used metrics to monitor progress towards NSA. Results indicate that most of the production diversity metrics performed poorly at predicting desirable nutritional outcomes in this modelling study. This study demonstrates that farm-household models can facilitate anticipating the effect (positive or negative) of agricultural interventions on nutrition and the environment, identifying complementary interventions for significant and positive results and helping to foresee the trade-offs that farm-households could face. Furthermore, FarmDESIGN could contribute to identifying agreed-upon and robust metrics for measuring nutritional outcomes at the farm-household level, to allow comparability between contexts and NSA interventions.
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14
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Baye K, Hirvonen K, Dereje M, Remans R. Energy and nutrient production in Ethiopia, 2011-2015: Implications to supporting healthy diets and food systems. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0213182. [PMID: 30861012 PMCID: PMC6413914 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2018] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Agricultural sector plays a key role towards achieving healthier diets that are deemed critical for improving health and nutritional outcomes. To what extent the current food supply systems support healthy diets remains unknown. Using annual and nationally representative data on crop and livestock production in Ethiopia, we assess the national agricultural sector from a nutrition lens and its role in supporting healthy diets in the country. We do so by converting the agricultural production into energy and nutrients for the period of 2011–2015. These data show that the national food production has increased dramatically over the 5-year period to supply more than 3,000 calories per capita in 2015. Moreover, nutrient production gaps have substantially decreased (2011–15), but deficits in energy (5%), vitamin C (16%), and calcium (9%) production remained in 2015. However, this production growth–coming primarily from the cereal sector and at the expense of other food groups–led to a decrease in production diversity as reflected by a drop in the Shannon index between 2011 and 2015. Together these findings imply that the production increases in Ethiopia would need to be sustained to feed the rapidly growing population but more emphasis should be given to diversification to support healthy and nutritionally diversified diets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaleab Baye
- Center for Food Science and Nutrition, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Bioversity International, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Kalle Hirvonen
- Development Strategy and Governance Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- * E-mail:
| | - Mekdim Dereje
- Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Roseline Remans
- Bioversity International, Heverlee, Belgium
- Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
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15
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Lachat C, Raneri JE, Smith KW, Kolsteren P, Van Damme P, Verzelen K, Penafiel D, Vanhove W, Kennedy G, Hunter D, Odhiambo FO, Ntandou-Bouzitou G, De Baets B, Ratnasekera D, Ky HT, Remans R, Termote C. Dietary species richness as a measure of food biodiversity and nutritional quality of diets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:127-132. [PMID: 29255049 PMCID: PMC5776793 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1709194115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Biodiversity is key for human and environmental health. Available dietary and ecological indicators are not designed to assess the intricate relationship between food biodiversity and diet quality. We applied biodiversity indicators to dietary intake data from and assessed associations with diet quality of women and young children. Data from 24-hour diet recalls (55% in the wet season) of n = 6,226 participants (34% women) in rural areas from seven low- and middle-income countries were analyzed. Mean adequacies of vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, calcium, iron, and zinc and diet diversity score (DDS) were used to assess diet quality. Associations of biodiversity indicators with nutrient adequacy were quantified using multilevel models, receiver operating characteristic curves, and test sensitivity and specificity. A total of 234 different species were consumed, of which <30% were consumed in more than one country. Nine species were consumed in all countries and provided, on average, 61% of total energy intake and a significant contribution of micronutrients in the wet season. Compared with Simpson's index of diversity and functional diversity, species richness (SR) showed stronger associations and better diagnostic properties with micronutrient adequacy. For every additional species consumed, dietary nutrient adequacy increased by 0.03 (P < 0.001). Diets with higher nutrient adequacy were mostly obtained when both SR and DDS were maximal. Adding SR to the minimum cutoff for minimum diet diversity improved the ability to detect diets with higher micronutrient adequacy in women but not in children. Dietary SR is recommended as the most appropriate measure of food biodiversity in diets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl Lachat
- Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;
| | - Jessica E Raneri
- Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, Bioversity International, 00057 Maccarese (Rome), Italy
| | - Katherine Walker Smith
- Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Patrick Kolsteren
- Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Patrick Van Damme
- Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agronomy and Ethnobotany, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Crop Sciences and Agroforestry, Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 165 21 Prague 6, Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Kaat Verzelen
- Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agronomy and Ethnobotany, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Daniela Penafiel
- Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agronomy and Ethnobotany, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Rural Research Center, Faculty of Life Sciences, Nutrition, Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral, Guayaquil, 090608 Ecuador
| | - Wouter Vanhove
- Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agronomy and Ethnobotany, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Gina Kennedy
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, Bioversity International, 00057 Maccarese (Rome), Italy
| | - Danny Hunter
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, Bioversity International, 00057 Maccarese (Rome), Italy
| | - Francis Oduor Odhiambo
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, Bioversity International, 00057 Maccarese (Rome), Italy
| | - Gervais Ntandou-Bouzitou
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, Bioversity International, 00057 Maccarese (Rome), Italy
| | - Bernard De Baets
- KERMIT, Department of Mathematical Modeling, Statistics, and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Disna Ratnasekera
- Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, 81100 Matara, Sri Lanka
| | - Hoang The Ky
- HealthBridge Foundation of Canada, 10000 Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Roseline Remans
- Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, Bioversity International, 00057 Maccarese (Rome), Italy
| | - Céline Termote
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, Bioversity International, 00057 Maccarese (Rome), Italy
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16
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Herrero M, Thornton PK, Power B, Bogard JR, Remans R, Fritz S, Gerber JS, Nelson G, See L, Waha K, Watson RA, West PC, Samberg LH, van de Steeg J, Stephenson E, van Wijk M, Havlík P. Farming and the geography of nutrient production for human use: a transdisciplinary analysis. Lancet Planet Health 2017; 1:e33-e42. [PMID: 28670647 PMCID: PMC5483486 DOI: 10.1016/s2542-5196(17)30007-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Information about the global structure of agriculture and nutrient production and its diversity is essential to improve present understanding of national food production patterns, agricultural livelihoods, and food chains, and their linkages to land use and their associated ecosystems services. Here we provide a plausible breakdown of global agricultural and nutrient production by farm size, and also study the associations between farm size, agricultural diversity, and nutrient production. This analysis is crucial to design interventions that might be appropriately targeted to promote healthy diets and ecosystems in the face of population growth, urbanisation, and climate change. METHODS We used existing spatially-explicit global datasets to estimate the production levels of 41 major crops, seven livestock, and 14 aquaculture and fish products. From overall production estimates, we estimated the production of vitamin A, vitamin B12, folate, iron, zinc, calcium, calories, and protein. We also estimated the relative contribution of farms of different sizes to the production of different agricultural commodities and associated nutrients, as well as how the diversity of food production based on the number of different products grown per geographic pixel and distribution of products within this pixel (Shannon diversity index [H]) changes with different farm sizes. FINDINGS Globally, small and medium farms (≤50 ha) produce 51-77% of nearly all commodities and nutrients examined here. However, important regional differences exist. Large farms (>50 ha) dominate production in North America, South America, and Australia and New Zealand. In these regions, large farms contribute between 75% and 100% of all cereal, livestock, and fruit production, and the pattern is similar for other commodity groups. By contrast, small farms (≤20 ha) produce more than 75% of most food commodities in sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, south Asia, and China. In Europe, west Asia and north Africa, and central America, medium-size farms (20-50 ha) also contribute substantially to the production of most food commodities. Very small farms (≤2 ha) are important and have local significance in sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, and south Asia, where they contribute to about 30% of most food commodities. The majority of vegetables (81%), roots and tubers (72%), pulses (67%), fruits (66%), fish and livestock products (60%), and cereals (56%) are produced in diverse landscapes (H>1·5). Similarly, the majority of global micronutrients (53-81%) and protein (57%) are also produced in more diverse agricultural landscapes (H>1·5). By contrast, the majority of sugar (73%) and oil crops (57%) are produced in less diverse ones (H≤1·5), which also account for the majority of global calorie production (56%). The diversity of agricultural and nutrient production diminishes as farm size increases. However, areas of the world with higher agricultural diversity produce more nutrients, irrespective of farm size. INTERPRETATION Our results show that farm size and diversity of agricultural production vary substantially across regions and are key structural determinants of food and nutrient production that need to be considered in plans to meet social, economic, and environmental targets. At the global level, both small and large farms have key roles in food and nutrition security. Efforts to maintain production diversity as farm sizes increase seem to be necessary to maintain the production of diverse nutrients and viable, multifunctional, sustainable landscapes. FUNDING Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CGIAR Research Programs on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health funded by the CGIAR Fund Council, Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, European Union, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Australian Research Council, National Science Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change-Belmont Forum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Herrero
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- Correspondence to: Prof Mario Herrero, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD 4067, AustraliaCorrespondence to: Prof Mario HerreroCommonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationSt LuciaQLD4067Australia
| | - Philip K Thornton
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Brendan Power
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Jessica R Bogard
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia
| | - Roseline Remans
- Bioversity International, Heverlee, Belgium
- Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Steffen Fritz
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria
| | - James S Gerber
- Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | | | - Linda See
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Katharina Waha
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Reg A Watson
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Taroona, TAS, Australia
| | - Paul C West
- Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - Leah H Samberg
- Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - Jeannette van de Steeg
- HAS University of Applied Sciences, International Food and Agribusiness, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
| | - Eloise Stephenson
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Mark van Wijk
- International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Petr Havlík
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria
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DeFries R, Mondal P, Singh D, Agrawal I, Fanzo J, Remans R, Wood S. Synergies and trade-offs for sustainable agriculture: Nutritional yields and climate-resilience for cereal crops in Central India. Global Food Security 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gfs.2016.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Anderman TL, DeFries RS, Wood SA, Remans R, Ahuja R, Ulla SE. Biogas Cook Stoves for Healthy and Sustainable Diets? A Case Study in Southern India. Front Nutr 2015; 2:28. [PMID: 26442274 PMCID: PMC4584993 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2015.00028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 08/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Alternative cook stoves that replace solid fuels with cleaner energy sources, such as biogas, are gaining popularity in low-income settings across Asia, Africa, and South America. Published research on these technologies focuses on their potential to reduce indoor air pollution and improve respiratory health. Effects on other cooking-related aspects, such as diets and women's time management, are less understood. In this study, in southern India, we investigate if using biogas cook stoves alters household diets and women's time management. We compare treatment households who are supplied with a biogas cook stove with comparison households who do not have access to these stoves, while controlling for several socio-economic factors. We find that diets of treatment households are more diverse than diets of comparison households. In addition, women from treatment households spend on average 40 min less cooking and 70 min less collecting firewood per day than women in comparison households. This study illustrates that alongside known benefits for respiratory health, using alternative cook stoves may benefit household diets and free up women's time. To inform development investments and ensure these co-benefits, we argue that multiple dimensions of sustainability should be considered in evaluating the impact of alternative cook stoves.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ruth S DeFries
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University , New York, NY , USA
| | - Stephen A Wood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University , New York, NY , USA ; Agriculture and Food Security Center, The Earth Institute, Columbia University , New York, NY , USA
| | - Roseline Remans
- Agriculture and Food Security Center, The Earth Institute, Columbia University , New York, NY , USA ; Bioversity International , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia
| | - Richie Ahuja
- Environmental Defense Fund , San Francisco, CA , USA
| | - Shujayath E Ulla
- Department of Social Work, St. Joseph's College , Bangalore , India
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth DeFries
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Jessica Fanzo
- Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Roseline Remans
- Agriculture and Food Security Center, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Bioversity International, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Cheryl Palm
- Agriculture and Food Security Center, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stephen Wood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Agriculture and Food Security Center, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Herforth A, Frongillo EA, Sassi F, Mclean MS, Arabi M, Tirado C, Remans R, Mantilla G, Thomson M, Pingali P. Toward an integrated approach to nutritional quality, environmental sustainability, and economic viability: research and measurement gaps. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2014; 1332:1-21. [DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Edward A. Frongillo
- Department of Health Promotion; Education, and Behavior; University of South Carolina; Columbia South Carolina
| | - Franco Sassi
- Health Division; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Paris France
| | | | - Mandana Arabi
- The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science, The New York Academy of Sciences; New York New York
| | - Cristina Tirado
- Fielding School of Public Health; University of California Los Angeles; Los Angeles California
| | - Roseline Remans
- The Earth Institute; Columbia University; Palisades New York
| | - Gilma Mantilla
- The Earth Institute; Columbia University; Palisades New York
| | | | - Prabhu Pingali
- The Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management; Cornell University; Ithaca New York
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Remans R, Somers MA, Nemser B, Pronyk PM. Reply to MA Clemens and G Demombynes. Am J Clin Nutr 2012. [DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.111.031310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Roseline Remans
- The Earth Institute at Columbia University Lamont Hall 61 Route 9W Palisades, NY 10964 E-mail:
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Sachs JD, Remans R, Smukler SM, Winowiecki L, Andelman SJ, Cassman KG, Castle D, DeFries R, Denning G, Fanzo J, Jackson LE, Leemans R, Lehmann J, Milder JC, Naeem S, Nziguheba G, Palm CA, Pingali PL, Reganold JP, Richter DD, Scherr SJ, Sircely J, Sullivan C, Tomich TP, Sanchez PA. Effective monitoring of agriculture: a response. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012; 14:738-42. [DOI: 10.1039/c2em10584e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Remans R, Pronyk PM, Fanzo JC, Chen J, Palm CA, Nemser B, Muniz M, Radunsky A, Abay AH, Coulibaly M, Mensah-Homiah J, Wagah M, An X, Mwaura C, Quintana E, Somers MA, Sanchez PA, Sachs SE, McArthur JW, Sachs JD. Multisector intervention to accelerate reductions in child stunting: an observational study from 9 sub-Saharan African countries. Am J Clin Nutr 2011; 94:1632-42. [PMID: 22030229 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.111.020099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In sub-Saharan Africa, ~ 40% of children <5 y old are stunted, with levels that have remained largely unchanged over the past 2 decades. Although the complex determinants of undernutrition are well recognized, few studies have evaluated strategies that combine nutrition-specific, health-based approaches with food system- and livelihood-based interventions. OBJECTIVE We examined changes in childhood stunting and its determinants after 3 y of exposure to an integrated, multisector intervention and compared these changes with national trends. DESIGN A prospective observational trial was conducted across rural sites in 9 sub-Saharan African countries with baseline levels of childhood stunting >20%. A stratified random sample of households and resident children <2 y old from villages exposed to the program were enrolled in the study. Main outcome measures included principal determinants of undernutrition and childhood stunting, which was defined as a height-for-age z score less than -2. National trends in stunting were generated from demographic and health surveys. RESULTS Three years after the start of the program in 2005-2006, consistent improvements were observed in household food security and diet diversity, whereas coverage with child care and disease-control interventions improved for most outcomes. The prevalence of stunting in children <2 y old at year 3 of the program (2008-2009) was 43% lower (adjusted OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.83) than at baseline. The average national stunting prevalence for the countries included in the study had remained largely unchanged over the past 2 decades. CONCLUSION These findings provide encouraging evidence that a package of multisector interventions has the potential to produce reductions in childhood stunting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roseline Remans
- The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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Remans R, Flynn DFB, DeClerck F, Diru W, Fanzo J, Gaynor K, Lambrecht I, Mudiope J, Mutuo PK, Nkhoma P, Siriri D, Sullivan C, Palm CA. Assessing nutritional diversity of cropping systems in African villages. PLoS One 2011; 6:e21235. [PMID: 21698127 PMCID: PMC3116903 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2010] [Accepted: 05/24/2011] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of children under five years in age are chronically undernourished. As new investments and attention galvanize action on African agriculture to reduce hunger, there is an urgent need for metrics that monitor agricultural progress beyond calories produced per capita and address nutritional diversity essential for human health. In this study we demonstrate how an ecological tool, functional diversity (FD), has potential to address this need and provide new insights on nutritional diversity of cropping systems in rural Africa. METHODS AND FINDINGS Data on edible plant species diversity, food security and diet diversity were collected for 170 farms in three rural settings in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nutritional FD metrics were calculated based on farm species composition and species nutritional composition. Iron and vitamin A deficiency were determined from blood samples of 90 adult women. Nutritional FD metrics summarized the diversity of nutrients provided by the farm and showed variability between farms and villages. Regression of nutritional FD against species richness and expected FD enabled identification of key species that add nutrient diversity to the system and assessed the degree of redundancy for nutrient traits. Nutritional FD analysis demonstrated that depending on the original composition of species on farm or village, adding or removing individual species can have radically different outcomes for nutritional diversity. While correlations between nutritional FD, food and nutrition indicators were not significant at household level, associations between these variables were observed at village level. CONCLUSION This study provides novel metrics to address nutritional diversity in farming systems and examples of how these metrics can help guide agricultural interventions towards adequate nutrient diversity. New hypotheses on the link between agro-diversity, food security and human nutrition are generated and strategies for future research are suggested calling for integration of agriculture, ecology, nutrition, and socio-economics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roseline Remans
- The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America.
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Abstract
Background Malnutrition affects a large number of people throughout the developing world. Approaches to reducing malnutrition rarely focus on ecology and agriculture to simultaneously improve human nutrition and environmental sustainability. However, evidence suggests that interdisciplinary approaches that combine the knowledge bases of these disciplines can serve as a central strategy in alleviating hidden hunger for the world's poorest. Objective To describe the role that ecological knowledge plays in alleviating hidden hunger, considering human nutrition as an overlooked ecosystem service. Methods We review existing literature and propose a framework that expands on earlier work on econutrition. We provide novel evidence from case studies conducted by the authors in western Kenya and propose a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration to alleviate hidden hunger, increase agricultural productivity, and improve environmental sustainability. Results Our review supports the concept that an integrated approach will impact human nutrition. We provide evidence that increased functional agrobiodiversity can alleviate anemia, and interventions that contribute to environmental sustainability can have both direct and indirect effects on human health and nutritional well-being. Conclusions Integrated and interdisciplinary approaches are critical to reaching development goals. Ecologists must begin to consider not only how their field can contribute to biodiversity conservation, but also, the relationship between biodiversity and provisioning of nontraditional ecosystem services such as human health. Likewise, nutritionists and agronomists must recognize that many of the solutions to increasing human well-being and health can best be achieved by focusing on a healthy environment and the conservation of ecosystem services.
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Ramaekers L, Remans R, Reyes JL, Hernandez G, Garcia A, Toscano V, Mendez N, Mulling M, Galvez L, Vanderleyden J. Field evaluation of the interaction common bean genotype, rhizobacteria and environmental factors in Cuba. Commun Agric Appl Biol Sci 2008; 73:193-197. [PMID: 18831273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- L Ramaekers
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, BE-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
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Remans R, Snoeck C, Verreth C, Croonenborghs A, Luyten E, Ndayizeye M, Martínez-Romero E, Michiels J, Vanderleyden J. Inactivation of the nodH gene in Sinorhizobium sp. BR816 enhances symbiosis with Phaseolus vulgaris L. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2007; 266:210-7. [PMID: 17233732 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2006.00521.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Sulfate modification on Rhizobium Nod factor signaling molecules is not a prerequisite for successful symbiosis with the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). However, many bean-nodulating rhizobia, including the broad host strain Sinorhizobium sp. BR816, produce sulfated Nod factors. Here, we show that the nodH gene, encoding a sulfotransferase, is responsible for the transfer of sulfate to the Nod factor backbone in Sinorhizobium sp. BR816, as was shown for other rhizobia. Interestingly, inactivation of nodH enables inoculated bean plants to fix significantly more nitrogen under different experimental setups. Our studies show that nodH in the wild-type strain is still expressed during the later stages of symbiosis. This is the first report on enhanced nitrogen fixation by blocking Nod factor sulfation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roseline Remans
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Kasteelpark Arenberg, Heverlee, Belgium
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Abstract
Diverse bacterial species possess the ability to produce the auxin phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Different biosynthesis pathways have been identified and redundancy for IAA biosynthesis is widespread among plant-associated bacteria. Interactions between IAA-producing bacteria and plants lead to diverse outcomes on the plant side, varying from pathogenesis to phyto-stimulation. Reviewing the role of bacterial IAA in different microorganism-plant interactions highlights the fact that bacteria use this phytohormone to interact with plants as part of their colonization strategy, including phyto-stimulation and circumvention of basal plant defense mechanisms. Moreover, several recent reports indicate that IAA can also be a signaling molecule in bacteria and therefore can have a direct effect on bacterial physiology. This review discusses past and recent data, and emerging views on IAA, a well-known phytohormone, as a microbial metabolic and signaling molecule.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stijn Spaepen
- Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Heverlee, Belgium
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