Tackling Hidden Hunger: Putting Diet Diversification at the Centre

About the Book

The scourge of “hidden hunger” or micronutrient deficiency affects around two billion people worldwide who lack adequate intake of vitamins and minerals in their diet. While several international and regional initiatives are underway to combat malnutrition, and specifically micronutrient deficiency, these have largely focused on the approaches of nutrient supplementation and food fortification at the expense of dietary diversification, considered the most durable solution to hidden hunger. The development of nutritionally enhanced genetically engineered crops, such as “Golden Rice”, has further attracted controversy and raises serious biosafety concerns.

For a global strategy on nutrition to be successful, this book argues, it must place central emphasis on diversifying diets. Towards this end, sustainable farming practices based on agricultural biodiversity, such as agroecology, are key to providing the rich variety of foods that will keep hidden hunger at bay.


About the author

JUAN LOPEZ VILLAR holds a PhD in the field of environment and biosafety law from the Universidad Autonoma of Barcelona, in Spain. He has more than 15 years of experience in legal, policy and socio-economic research and analysis on environmental and development issues. Based in Africa since 2007, he has consulted to the World Bank, UNDP, UN-DESA, World Food Programme, WWF and the Swedish International Development Agency on issues such as climate change, agriculture and energy. Previously, he was International Programme Coordinator on biosafety issues with Friends of the Earth and worked in Mozambique developing the solar energy sector.


Contents

Summary    
 
1.    GLOBAL ACTION AGAINST HIDDEN HUNGER: SETTING THE CONTEXT     
    1.1     The challenge of hidden hunger     
    1.2    Some global and regional initiatives to combat malnutrition     
    1.3    The new business of malnutrition?     
    1.4    Hidden hunger seen through the lens of a human rights approach     
   
2.    NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTATION   
    2.1    Eliminating vitamin A deficiency by 2000   
    2.2    Tackling vitamin A deficiency through a non-food approach: the universalization of supplementation and marginalization of alternatives   
   
3.    FOOD FORTIFICATION       
    3.1      Traditional fortification approaches    
    3.2      Biofortification   

4.    DIET DIVERSIFICATION   
    4.1      Consensus exists over the best intervention to tackle hidden hunger   
    4.2    Is the diet diversification intervention being neglected?   
    4.3    Sustainable diets   
    4.4    A shift of the agriculture paradigm: Agroecology   
   
5.    A ROADMAP TO REDUCING HIDDEN HUNGER   
    5.1      Applying a human rights approach to food and nutrition   
    5.2    A diversity of interventions to tackle hidden hunger: More focus needed on the permanent solution
    5.3    Avoiding over-emphasis on fortification   
    5.4    Moving forward with a roadmap to tackle hidden hunger: Putting diet diversification at the centre