F3 - The power of different stakeholders in influencing food and health

WFP role/purpose

Role

• Provides emergency food aid in crises (famines, conflicts, disasters)

• Runs school feeding programmes to improve education + nutrition

• Uses cash transfers or food distribution depending on context

• Focuses on short-term relief + long-term food security

WFP evaluation

Evaluation (effectiveness)

• ✔ Very effective in saving lives quickly during emergencies

• ✔ Can reduce malnutrition and stabilise food supply

• ✖ Limited by funding (depends on donations from richer countries)

• ✖ Access problems in conflict zones can delay aid

• ✖ Doesn’t solve root causes (poverty, inequality, governance)
  
  Overall:
  Highly effective for emergency response, less effective for long-term structural food security.

World Health Organization (WHO) Role/purpose

• Coordinates global health responses (pandemics, disease outbreaks)

• Sets international health guidelines and standards

• Supports vaccination campaigns and disease prevention

• Provides technical support to national health systems

World Health Organization (WHO) evaluation

• ✔ Strong at global coordination and information sharing

• ✔ Helps control disease outbreaks through vaccination and monitoring

• ✖ Limited enforcement power (depends on governments cooperating)

• ✖ Funding constraints affect speed and scale of response

Effective in coordination and guidance, but limited control over national implementation.

Agribusiness TNCs (e.g. Nestlé, Monsanto/Bayer)

• Control large parts of global food supply chains

• Promote monoculture farming (large-scale single crops)

• Provide seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and technology

• Influence global food prices and trade systems

• Invest in GM crops and industrial agriculture

• vertical and horizontal aquiring??

Agribusiness and TNC evaluation

• ✔ Increase food production efficiency and global supply

• ✔ Can improve yields and reduce food shortages

• ✖ Encourage processed foods → obesity and diet-related disease

• ✖ Farmers can become dependent on expensive seeds/chemicals

• ✖ Environmental damage (soil degradation, biodiversity loss)

👉 Overall:
TNCs increase global food availability but often contribute to health inequalities and environmental harm.

Media influence on diets and consumption

• Advertising promotes processed, high-fat, high-sugar foods

• Globalisation spreads Western diets (fast food culture)

• Social media influences food trends and consumption patterns

• Creates demand for convenience foods

Evaluation of Media influence on diets and consumption

Evaluation

• ✔ Can raise awareness of healthy eating campaigns

• ✖ Strongly linked to rising obesity rates globally

• ✖ Encourages overconsumption of unhealthy foods

• ✖ Often targeted advertising in low-income areas
  👉 Overall:Media has a strong influence on unhealthy dietary change, especially in urbanising societies.

Gender roles in food production & access

Explanation

• Women make up a large proportion of subsistence farmers in developing countries STAT?

• Often responsible for:

  • growing food

  • collecting water

  • feeding families

• But have less access to land, credit, education, and technology

Impact of gender roles in food production & access

Impact

• Reduced productivity due to unequal access to resources

• Food insecurity higher in female-headed households

• Women often eat last/least in food-scarce households

Gender inequality in health outcomes

Explanation

• Women face barriers to healthcare access in some regions

• Maternal health risks in low-income countries are higher

• Men may have higher rates of certain diseases due to behaviour (e.g. alcohol, smoking)

Key patterns for gender inequality in health outcomes

Key pattern

• In poorer countries: women often worse health outcomes

• In richer countries: women often live longer but may have chronic health issues

Evaluation: how gender affects development

• ✔ Gender equality improves:

  • agricultural productivity

  • household food security

  • child health and education outcomes

• ✖ Gender inequality limits economic development

• ✖ Cultural norms can restrict women’s participation in decision-making
  
  👉 Overall:
  Gender equality is a key driver of development, and inequality slows progress in both food security and health outcomes.