3rd Annual Conference of the Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH), Developing methods in agriculture and health research, London, 13-14 June 2013

摘要

Agriculture and health interact in complex ways via food systems and nutrition, creating positive and negative syne-gies, which differ according to economic, political and envi-ronmental contexts, but particularly affecting the lives of vulnerable populations in low-income countries. Research in these subjects has historically proceeded in relative isolation, with different disciplines applying distinct methods to generate knowledge and inform sector-based policy and prac-tice. This segregated working is not beneficial if research is to inform the design and implementation of programs and pol-cies that aim to fully and sustainably address the nexus of agriculture and health. Encouragingly, policy and program-matic initiatives, as well as research endeavours, have been increasingly attentive to the linkage of agriculture and health as a method for improving nutritional status and health (Masset et al. 2012). More and better multi-sectoral action will be necessary, however, to reduce the harms and enhance the benefits of the agriculture-health relationship, and research increasingly needs to engage with this complex picture if findings are to remain relevant to policy and practice.