Health in All Policies: Agriculture, Land Use, and Animal Health

Abstract

Agriculture, land use, and health are closely associated. Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood and hence of food sufficiency and access to health care for most of the world’s rural poor. Agriculture has been implicated as a potential driver of human infectious diseases. However, the generality of disease-agriculture relationships has not been systematically assessed, hindering efforts to incorporate human health considerations into land-use and development policies. The influence on agricultural productivity and output is anchored to health in all policies and professional networks that promote agriculture, sustainable land use, and animal health. Livestock industry and the health sector have also been severely compromised by vagaries of climate change and deteriorating local environmental and ecological protection. The continued growth in global population and its dietary aspirations have led to widespread agricultural intensification, as well as proliferation of livestock and land use changes that are accelerating the production of greenhouse gases and thus climate change. Until a few decades ago, high consumption of animal products and sugar almost exclusively took place in high-income countries but now is increasing also in low- and middle-income countries such as China, India, and in South and Central America. Better distribution systems could stabilize total global livestock production, minimize additional environmental harm, and benefit the populations whose consumption of animal foods is either excessive or insufficient.