Global dietary convergence from 1970 to 2010 altered inequality in agriculture, nutrition and health

This study draws on publicly available data to examine food-system inequality across countries. Changes in natural resource inputs, food/nutrient outputs and nutrition/health indicators reveal that inequality generally declined, but did so very differently across variables. Humans globally have similar nutritional needs but face large differences in natural resource endowments and local food production. This study quantifies food-system inequality across countries on the basis of natural resource inputs, food/nutrient outputs and nutrition/health outcomes, from 1970 to 2010. Animal source foods and overweight/obesity show rapid convergence while availability of selected micronutrients show slower convergence. However, all variables are more equally distributed than national income per capita, the Gini coefficient of which declined from 0.71 to 0.65. Inequalities in total and animal-source dietary energy declined from 0.16 to 0.10 and 0.55 to 0.36, respectively. There was convergence in overweight/obesity prevalence from 0.39 to 0.27, while undernutrition and stunting became increasingly concentrated in a few high-burden countries. Characterizing cross-country inequalities in agricultural resources, foods, nutrients and health can help identify critical opportunities for agriculture and food policies, as well as prioritize research objectives and funding allocation for the coming decade.

Automated summary

This study found that global food-system inequality has generally declined, but changes in different variables varied significantly. Despite similar nutritional needs, humans globally face large differences in natural resource endowments and local food production.