Jennifer Constantine

Thesis title:

From Zero to Nutrition for Growth: a comparative study of policy responses to food and nutrition security issues in Brazil and the UK

Abstract:

Jennifer’s study offers a comparative analysis of the UK and Brazil’s policy responses to food and nutrition security (FNS) issues since 2003. The study of FNS policies offers a unique opportunity to bridge different disciplinary approaches to policymaking at domestic/global levels. Much has been done to document the political economy (PE) of Brazil’s considerable progress in tackling hunger and malnutrition through social policy. Recent nutrition governance studies highlight the role of political elites, CS and the private sector in shaping FNS outcomes, principally in the ‘Global South’. However, less research exists on this in the UK, a vital gap given the rising prevalence of domestic FNS issues.In 2013, Brazil and the UK signed the Global Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Compact, a voluntary agreement signalling commitment to strengthening international cooperation to tackle FNS challenges through private public-sector partnerships, considered vital for meeting the SDGs. The N4G process is a useful convergence point to analyse how the private sector, international organisations and civil society (CS) lobbied Brazil and UK state elites to modify their commitment to FNS policies. Jennifer’s work will also look at how these domestic policy agendas influenced one another through policy transfer and translation. Her research speaks to the broader question of how to translate FNS governance agendas into improved outcomes at domestic and global levels. Research questions will include: What are the similarities and differences in the ways state and non-state actors shape FNS policy agendas in the UK and Brazil? How does the N4G endorsement reflect domestic/global nutrition governance agendas? How do these formal/informal two-level games shape FNS outcomes worldwide?

First supervisor:

Andrés Mejía_Acosta

Pathway:

10 – International Development, Conflict & Human Security

Cohort:

2017-18