Changing Global Diets: Implications for Agriculture

The changing global diet has profound implications for the agricultural sector in the developing world. It has brought opportunities and risks and is likely to lead to the restructuring of the farm sector. Diversification away from traditional staples toward higher-value products presents important opportunities to increase income among small holders. Increased meat consumption has important implications for the way meat and other animal-source foods are produced, and who produces. Increased use of supermarkets has important implications for agricultural production and marketing systems, and likewise, the increased consumption of processed foods. This chapter discusses how agricultural and rural development can both meet the challenges of the changing global diet and the increasing power of the food-consuming industries, while encouraging the production and supply of a healthy diet. A way forward is for the agricultural and health sectors to focus joint efforts on concrete problems.