A new understanding and evaluation of food sustainability in six different food systems in Kenya and Bolivia

Abstract

Food systems must become more sustainable and equitable, a transformation which requires the transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge. We present a framework of food sustainability that was co-created by academic and non-academic actors and comprises five dimensions: food security, right to food, environmental performance, poverty and inequality, and social-ecological resilience. For each dimension, an interdisciplinary research team—together with actors from different food systems—defined key indicators and empirically applied them to six case studies in Kenya and Bolivia. Food sustainability scores were analysed for the food systems as a whole, for the five dimensions, and for food system activities. We then identified the indicators with the greatest influence on sustainability scores. While all food systems displayed strengths and weaknesses, local and agroecological food systems scored comparatively highly across all dimensions. Agro-industrial food systems scored lowest in environmental performance and food security, while their resilience scores were medium to high. The lowest-scoring dimensions were right to food, poverty and inequality, with particularly low scores obtained for the indicators women’s access to land and credit, agrobiodiversity, local food traditions, social protection, and remedies for violations of the right to food. This qualifies them as key levers for policy interventions towards food sustainability.

A Rapid Review of Territorialized Food Systems and Their Impacts on Human Health, Food Security, and the Environment

“…This led to full-text screening of 36 articles and publications, from which 30 were excluded because they did not meet any one of the following criteria: assessing a territorialized food system or assessing the impact of the food system on human health, food security, and the environment. As shown in Figure 1 , six publications meeting our inclusion criteria (two literature reviews, one qualitative study, one mixed-methods study, one case study, and one descriptive study) were included in this rapid review [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Publications were from Canada ( n = 1), Australia ( n = 1), Kenya and Bolivia ( n = 1), the Asia-Pacific region ( n = 1), or not mentioned ( n = 2).…”

“…Finally, local, domestic indigenous, and agroecological food systems were also identified as territorialized food systems. These food systems are characterized respectively by short value chains, production and consumption of food within local households, and creation of network of producers, processors, and consumers for food production in and around a city [ 41 ].…”

“…Kahane et al [ 37 ] suggested, however, that more education about the health and nutritional benefits of these foods is needed for people to integrate this practice into their daily dietary and consumption habits. Data also suggest that food producers, farming workers, and consumers perceive territorialized food systems as having a positive impact on their health as well as on achieving a healthier diet [ 41 ]. Lal has suggested in a narrative review that territorialized food systems may indeed contribute to a better diet quality and health by providing easy daily access to fresh fruits and vegetables [ 39 ].…”

“…This provides a certain degree of autonomy to cities, which may become particularly important in a time of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic [ 39 ]. A study conducted in Kenya and Bolivia revealed that territorialized food systems received higher food security subscores than agro-industrial food systems in a framework assessing food sustainability based on five dimensions [ 41 ]. Mundler et al [ 36 ] documented initiatives taken by farmers engaged in territorialized food systems to improve access to SFSCs and educational activities among disadvantaged populations as a means to alleviate food insecurity.…”

Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Environment, Economy, Society, and Policy

“…Human rights also relate to labor as they imply decent working conditions and jobs [290]. In particular, the "right to food" is a prominent topic in the literature dealing with eradicating hunger and the achievement of food security [284,287,291,292].…”