Agriculture and health - linkages

Increasingly, health issues are being addressed through multi-sectoral approaches. This builds on the growing recognition that health issues are intrinsically linked to economic, social, political, and environmental matters.

A key concern currently is the impact that avian influenza is having on rural livelihoods, and particularly its implications for the poultry sector in different regions. Another health issue that affects farmers and rural livelihoods, as well as food security and overall health, is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Increasingly, the links between chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are attracting widespread attention from agricultural and rural development circles. This is because there is growing recognition of the cycle of poverty that involves food insecurity, vulnerability, gender inequality, and chronic illness. This is particularly so with HIV/AIDS, where gender inequality is a key driving factor in the epidemic. Linked to these and other health issues is nutrition. There is now greater focus on food and nutrition security, particularly in light of the need for good nutrition — both to meet the MDGs and as part of the anti-retroviral therapy (ART) used to treat HIV/AIDS.

Further reading

 People, Pathogens and Our Planet. Vol 1: Towards a One Health Approach for Controlling Zoonotic Diseases

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