CHAPTER EIGHT
Improved GovernanceCreating Supportive Environments for Diet and Nutrition Policies
Sound governance is essential for policy interventions that help improve diet quality and nutrition
OVERVIEW
- Sound governance is essential for successful policy interventions that contribute to improved diet quality and nutrition — these include fiscal and transfer policies, subsidies, regulations, and investments in technology and research.
- Improving diets and nutrition depends on a state’s administrative capacity to develop policy, regulate commercial activities, and deliver public services; and on its ability to raise taxes and mobilize funds for food system investments. Low state capacity limits policy choices.
- Bundling different policies together is often recommended but may not be feasible given different government incentives. Addressing diverse administrative needs for different policies and managing trade-offs across nutrition goals and other objectives require substantial state capacity.
- State capacity and political incentives also shape government engagement with food companies and other interest groups, which may either oppose or support government goals. Policies are more likely to be contested when powerful actors lack incentives to implement them.
- Citizen engagement and grassroots movements can play a transformative role in reshaping food systems. These are most likely to flourish when there is sufficient civic space and committed political leadership.
Good governance can be fostered by activities to:
- Complement economic analyses of policies for diets and nutrition with governance assessments to ensure policies are sustainable and scalable from both capacity and political economy perspectives.
- Identify and address government constraints, such as insufficient financing, poor data, and corruption or demoralization in bureaucracy that limit capacity and influence.
- Build government accountability to citizens — for example, through online transparency tools.
- Provide an enabling governance environment that fosters the growth of successful grassroots movements that can support better diets and nutrition.
Browse Chapters
Chapter One
Advancing Nutrition
Chapter Two
Diets and Nutrition
Chapter Three
Demand-Side Approaches
Chapter Four
Diet Affordability
Chapter Five
Food Environments
Chapter Six
Plant-Source Foods
Chapter Seven
Animal-Source Foods
Chapter Eight
Improved Governance
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