Addressing the triple burden of malnutrition in the time of COVID-19 and climate change in Small Island Developing States: what role for improved local food production?

Gordon M Hickey; Nigel Unwin

doi:10.1007/s12571-020-01066-3

Addressing the triple burden of malnutrition in the time of COVID-19 and climate change in Small Island Developing States: what role for improved local food production?

Food Secur. 2020;12(4):831-835. doi: 10.1007/s12571-020-01066-3. Epub 2020 Jul 9.

Authors

Gordon M Hickey¹, Nigel Unwin^{2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
² MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
³ European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Devon, UK.
⁴ George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre, University of the West Indies, Wanstead, Barbados.

Abstract

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and nutrition insecurity are likely to be significant for Small Island Developing States due to their high dependence on foreign tourism, reliance on imported foods and underdeveloped local food production systems. SIDS are already experiencing high rates of nutrition-related death and disability, including double and triple burdens of malnutrition due to unhealthy diets. We consider the potential role for improved local food production to offset the severity of food system shocks in SIDS and identify the need for localized approaches to embrace systems thinking in order to facilitate communication, coordination and build resilience.

Keywords: Collective action; Complexity; Decentralization; Food sovereignty; Food systems; Transitions.

Grants and funding

MR/P025250/1/MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom