What are the main enablers and barriers to achieving a nutritious diet in a developing context?

Nutrition-sensitive agriculture can produce nutritious food.

But we must remember that no food is nutritious unless it is eaten. The path from agriculture to nutrition can be long and complex. Many factors affect whether or not people can achieve healthy and sustainable diets. Some examples of these include:

• physical infrastructures, for example, access to markets or technologies.
• governance and policies that include incentives and disincentives – these are often economic in nature (higher tax for unhealthy foods, lower tax for healthy foods)
• individual behaviours influenced by education, culture and socio-economic factors
• social networks, including the people you live, learn and work with, and how they might influence you to eat (or not eat) in certain ways.

Have your say:

Fruit and vegetables are an important component of a healthy diet. Consider the barriers and enablers that affect children’s consumption of fruit and vegetables.

In particular, think about:

• the physical barriers or enablers
• relevant governance and policies
• individual behaviours (by parents, leaders, teachers and the children themselves)
• social factors.

Share and discuss your thoughts with other learners in the Comments below.