Researchersand leaders in the field of agriculture and health are needed to build good governance or policies, facilitate global integration and achieve common goals. Bidirectional connections and capacity building between health and agriculture at all levels helps translate the conceptual links into comprehensive action.
Impact of Agriculture on health
Fundamental activity of agriculture that helps sustain large societies has increased public health and environmental risks. Agriculture can be associated with poor health due to livestock related diseases, malnutrition, food borne illnesses, chronic and occupational diseases. Western diet and lifestyle environment has negative health outcomes causing an increase in hunger and nutritional deficiency in the poorest of the population. Reduced global consumption of healthy foods has become key dietary contributor and major cause of malnutrition and poor health leading to low economic productivity and death. Excess wastage and high post harvest losses has resulted in limited domestic supply and relatively high cost of agricultural products to consumers.
Large scale use of antibiotics in livestock farming and agricultural pesticides or fertilizers increases the risk of groundwater contamination resulting in various health problems in human population. Accelerated and cumulative misalignment conditions of human biology and modern industrial society is responsible for the increase in deaths due to non communicable chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This imposes a burden on agriculture and health systems threatening the economic viability in government organizations and civil society of low and middle income countries worldwide. Wide range of policies related to production, processing, transportation, wholesale and retail marketing practices along with specific food environment and consumer choices are influenced by different factors of desirability, accessibility, affordability, availability, convenience and marketing of food and agricultural products across multiple sectors.
Modern Agricultural approaches
Collaborative approach across health, nutrition and agricultural sectors is essential to identify feasible or appropriate policy strategies and recommendations with the ultimate objective of improving the health of population and nutritional environment. Modern agriculturemethods involve innovative agriculturaland farmingpractices that help increase efficiency and reduce loss to natural resources. Modern farmingis an evolving approach toincrease production in every sector. Modern farm activities and global food systems for sustainable nutrition and security are required to deliver diverse, affordable, healthy and high quality food through various agricultural stakeholders to forge rural and urban links.
Global priority to face food supply challenges, better understanding of political dynamics, qualitative agricultural policy analysis and food policy learning engenders nutritive change to improve access to affordable and healthy food. To create efficient food environments, coordinated policy action by stakeholders at state and national level within the private sector, government and non-government agencies of health, food, agriculture and other sectors is needed to foster better access of healthy food to the consumers of low and middle income countries. Public-Private Partnerships strategies can be developed to improve consumer food environment; strengthen diverse expertise and access across the supply chain; link health, agricultural and economic policy agendas and increase surveillance of policy impacts on consumers.
Online Course at JLI
James Lind Institute (JLI) provides an online program in Advanced PG Diploma in Global Health Management & Policy or Master of Science in Public Health Management for understanding effects of agriculture on health.
Also, JLI recently launchedAdvanced Postgraduate Diploma in Agribusiness Management. This is a unique program that will equip you with key skills and knowledge related to Agribusiness Management. A course in Agribusiness offers various career options like business ownership, farm or ranch management, financial consulting, education, international business, commodity trading, marketing, transportation analyst, law, natural resources, management in small and large companies, firms; and several other allied fields.
For more information please visit: www.jliedu.com
