Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 3 — Observational / field trialPeer-reviewed

India has natural resource capacity to achieve nutrition security, reduce health risks and improve environmental sustainability

Kerstin Damerau, Kyle Frankel Davis, Cécile Godde, Mario Herrero, Marco Springmann, Shilpa N Bhupathiraju, Samuel S. Myers, Walter C. Willett

Nature Food · 2020

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Summary

This Nature Food paper, authored by leading nutrition and food systems researchers, examines whether India's natural resource base can simultaneously support nutrition security, public health improvements, and environmental sustainability. The work suggests that strategic optimisation of India's farming systems could address multiple policy objectives, though the specific pathways and trade-offs involved require engagement with the full text. The research contributes to broader evidence on food systems' capacity to serve health and environmental goals in the Global South context.

UK applicability

Whilst focused on India's specific agroecological and nutritional context, the analytical framework for assessing simultaneous nutrition, health, and environmental outcomes from farming systems may be transferable to UK policy discussions on sustainable intensification and food security. However, India's resource constraints, dietary patterns, and farming scale differ substantially from UK conditions.

Key measures

Nutritional adequacy, health risk reduction, environmental sustainability metrics (as suggested by title)

Outcomes reported

The study assessed India's capacity to achieve nutrition security, reduce health risks, and improve environmental sustainability through optimised farming systems. It likely evaluated trade-offs between agricultural productivity, nutritional outcomes, and environmental indicators across Indian farming contexts.

Theme
Nutrition & health
Subject
Food security & global nutrition
Study type
Research
Study design
Policy report
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
India
System type
Mixed farming
DOI
10.1038/s43016-020-00157-w
Catalogue ID
BFmovi2bj3-5b1nij

Topic tags

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