Social protection policies & food security: Preliminary results of a Cochrane review

Background and aims: Household food insecurity occurs when there is inadequate access to nutritious and affordable food. The purpose of this systematic review is to assess the effects of social and economic policy interventions for reducing the prevalence and/or severity of household food insecurity in high‐income countries and the developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS).

Description: This review will include interventions that are described broadly as ‘social and economic policy interventions’, grouped as follows: i) income and labour policies that aim to provide fair work and employment conditions, helping people to meet the cost of living and taxation and cash policies that address income redistribution; ii) housing policies that aim to reduce homelessness and ensure housing affordability; iii) welfare or safety net policies that aim to provide financial and material support to reduce the effects of unemployment, underemployment, and non‐participation in the workforce; and iv) family policies that aim to support parental leave, children’s well‐being, and participation of parents in the labour force. A search of ten databases was supplemented with a grey literature search (e.g. .gov and key agencies). As this review is currently underway, preliminary results will be presented to characterise the policy options (e.g., policy type, actors involved, settings, duration, target populations) and potential effects on prevalence and/or severity of household food insecurity.
Significance: Towards the end of the decade of nutrition, there is a more urgent need than ever to produce the evidence on nutrition-sensitive actions.