Mapping social and human dimensions of One Food to integrate into the One Food Wheel

Abstract

The report categorises the food systems hazards that arise due to people’s behaviours at an individual, group, community, national or global level. It further used a food value chain approach to map where these human and socioeconomic hazards threaten and disrupt sustainability of food systems. The mapping of these hazards is guided by the One Food framework. Socioeconomic hazards can be incorporated in One Food through the One Food Wheel, a visualisation of the One Food approach to conduct multi-hazard risk analysis in food systems. The One Food approach, visualised through the One Food Wheel, aims to mitigate various hazards across food value chains, from production/harvesting to consumption as well as waste management. It emphasises multi-hazard risk analysis and advocates for environmentally friendly diets and sustainable food production practices. This model categorises hazards into natural, human-made, and socioeconomic types, each posing unique problems to food security, safety and attainment of sustainable food systems. As an example, this report identifies hazards like the misuse of agrochemicals, hydrological and meteorological risks, food contamination, and waste mismanagement as central issues that persist across various points of food production and distribution. Further, the report underscores the importance of socioeconomic dynamics in shaping food systems hazards. Human behaviour, whether individual, group-based, or institutional significantly impacts the emergence, spread, and severity of food systems hazards. It provides examples and case studies of how human and socioeconomic issues like poverty, insufficient knowledge and inadequate education are hazards that intensify vulnerabilities within food systems. The report emphasises the potential of the One Food Risk Tool for assessing the impact of hazards to inform policy and practice. The tool can be used to evaluate multiple hazards and inform policy on how to prevent i) harmful human and socioeconomic behaviours and activities, ii) worsening climate damage, iii) loss of biodiversity, and iv) economically, environmentally, and socially unsustainable food systems. This approach has potential provide to solutions that promote protection of vulnerable populations from unstainable food systems while safeguarding biodiversity, human health, and mitigating environmental harm caused by food systems activities. Integrating this model within food systems could lead to a balanced ecosystem where economic, social, and environmental sustainability coexist. The report serves as a call to action, encouraging stakeholders to adopt the One Food framework as a viable solution to the complex challenges facing global food systems today. It ends with recommended questions on further research that could help reduce or remove the human and socioeconomic impediments delaying attainment of sustainability in food systems.