Accountability top

Accountability mechanisms for nutrition

We are pulling together the key initiatives, frameworks and debates around the private sector's impact on nutrition - for better and worse - and looking at how the other priority areas are defined.

The global challenge of malnutrition may seem far away from the technical issues of how to measure the impact of business on nutrition. But it is business – small and large, farmer and enterprise, shop and retailer – which grows and gets to market everything we eat. Unless we can improve the quality of diets – making them more nutritious, affordable and safe – the troubling acceleration of overweight and obesity, and stubbornly high vitamin and mineral deficiencies, hunger and stunting will remain.

Today 1 in 3 people are malnourished. Being able to track and measure the impact of business on food and diets is thus central. Business is both part of the problem and the solution to the current food systems challenges. It is critical that we all learn more about this dual impact and that we are able to track how it evolves. By increasing the effectiveness of tracking we will be better positioned to ask and assist businesses to be agents for positive change. 

To do that, we need to strike a balance: between overcomplication which deters clear reporting, and too loose, failing to responsibly reflect performance.  

 

Accountability initiatives

Top resources we think matter

Reports and discussion papers: A new survey from McKinsey finds that "executives and investment professionals largely agree that environmental, social, and governance programs cr
Advocacy and policy: This report from Stichting Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and UN Global Compact and PRI provides perspectives and recommendations on the key par
Reports and discussion papers: This report outlines opportunities for creating shared value for each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with supporting examples.
Peer review: This is Chapter 8 from the 2015 Global Nutrition Report - Actions and accountability to advance nutrition and sustainable development.