Inequality in Food: A Wide Nutritional Gap Hindering Advancement in Low-Income Nations
The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025–2034 highlights the urgent need to ensure balanced and healthy diets for all populations as a global imperative for sustainable progress. Despite advancements in food production and diet diversification, millions continue to be denied access to balanced nutrition.
The report reveals that as incomes rise in lower-middle-income countries, per capita calorie intake from animal-source foods is projected to increase significantly, by 24% over the next decade. However, persistent inequalities remain both within and across countries, with low-income nations lagging far behind at just 143 kcal per day—less than half the FAO’s Healthy Diet Basket benchmark of 300 kcal per day.
Improved nutrition in developing countries is a "welcome outcome that needs to be scaled up to reach those in the lowest-income groups," the report stresses. The challenges and directions for policy include scaling up food production through productivity gains, ensuring equitable access, and addressing the dignity and health gap.
The report does not lay out detailed, country-specific nutrition strategies but provides a framework for understanding the dynamics at play. The focus remains on elevating consumption of nutrient-dense animal products in populations where intake is currently low. However, the need for holistic strategies that address not just nutrition but also environmental sustainability and broader social equity is emphasized.
The report serves as a reference for forward-looking policy planning, encouraging governments to integrate nutrition, food security, and sustainability goals into agricultural and economic policies. Investment in diversified food production is recommended, with a focus on nutrient-rich foods. Knowledge and choice are emphasized as important for empowering communities, and public awareness campaigns are proposed to help reverse current trends.
Urbanization, economic growth, and changing dietary patterns are driving lower-middle-income nations towards more diversified and protein-rich diets. However, the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034 warns of a rising trend in the consumption of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, fat, and salt, particularly in urban middle-income areas. Targeted subsidies are suggested as a potential solution to promote healthier food choices.
In conclusion, the report underscores the critical challenge of persistent inequality in nutrition, both within and between countries. Current policy emphasis is on scaling up agricultural productivity and ensuring equitable access to nutrient-rich foods. However, the need for holistic strategies that address not just nutrition but also environmental sustainability and broader social equity is highlighted. Detailed, country-specific nutrition strategies, such as promoting dietary diversity beyond animal products, are less explicitly discussed, suggesting room for further policy innovation in promoting truly balanced diets.
- The global imperative for sustainable progress includes ensuring balanced and healthy diets for all populations, as highlighted in the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025–2034.
- In lower-middle-income countries, per capita calorie intake from animal-source foods is projected to increase significantly, underscoring the growing need for balanced nutrition.
- Despite advancements in food production and diet diversification, millions worldwide are denied access to balanced nutrition, especially those in the lowest-income groups.
- The report emphasizes the importance of holistic strategies that address not just nutrition but also environmental sustainability and broader social equity for achieving truly balanced diets.
- Policy makers are encouraged to integrate nutrition, food security, and sustainability goals into agricultural and economic policies, with a focus on diversified food production and promoting healthier food choices.
