Improving global diet and nutrition: challenges for food and agricultural policies

This conference is the third in a series on ‘Agriculture, food and land use: the international policy challenges’ which Wilton Park is running over 3 years in association with the University of Exeter.

More than a decade into the 21st century, around a billion people still suffer from under- nutrition. The same number are affected by overweight, obesity and diet-related ill-health.  As governments, the international community, and civil society organisations continue to grapple with global food security, diet is frequently listed among the factors likely to affect it in the coming years. In spite of this, the role of nutrition is often neglected in food security and agricultural policies.

This conference will explore a variety of diet and nutrition-related themes, including  examples of best practice in tackling under- and mal-nutrition; the policy implications and challenges of dietary change, associated with both increasing affluence and poverty; how to protect women, children and other vulnerable groups from food and nutritional insecurity; sustainable diets; the role of the private sector in boosting nutritional outcomes; and the policies required to address the various forms of under-, over- and mal-nutrition in a world of changing climate, finite natural resources, and an increasing population.