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Food system transformation, social equity and one health in Southern Africa: a gendered political economy analysis

  • Publication | 2026
Global Food and Nutrition Security

In this reveiw, the authors apply a gendered political economy analysis integrated with One Health principles to ask how power relations, institutional arrangements and actor incentives shape food system outcomes in four Southern African countries, focusing on agricultural production systems and informal food markets. Synthesising 28 eligible studies, they argue that gendered political-economy structures govern resource allocation and market power; that institutional exclusions around land, credit and extension models create bottlenecks to technology adoption; and that in informal markets infrastructure deficits and exclusionary policing compound traders' precarity. They contend that these intersecting structural constraints drive a human-animal-environmental syndemic which undermines regional One Health outcomes. The policy implications include of these findings include the dismantling of structural gender barriers through the prioritisation of women's leadership in food system governance and through targeted extension and finance for women-led enterprises and the adoption of a One Health model that treats gender equity as a structural pillar linking health, agriculture and environment.

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Authors
Namaona EM, Chabwera M, Kasapila W, Mgalamadzi L and Madhlopa Y
Publisher
Frontiers
Geographic coverageGlobal
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23 Sep 2026

Knowledge service | MetadataGlobal Food and Nutrition Security | Sustainable Food SystemsGender Equality and Food Systems | Gender-transformative approachWomens' empowerment
Digital Europa Thesaurus (DET)gender equality
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