Structures and systems that promote nutrition security and climate adaptation in Puerto Rico: results from...

This study aimed to develop a shared understanding about the drivers of nutrition security in Puerto Rico (PR) from the collective perspective of multi-sector stakeholders in the agri-food, environmental and the health/disease systems.

A participatory community-based system dynamics approach (group model building) engaged stakeholders during one 4-h workshop March 2023 (followed by two 2.5-h member checking sessions).

San Juan, PR.

Stakeholders (n 22) in PR representing the agri-food, environmental and health/disease systems from multiple sectors (commercial food retail and technology, food production, public servants, academia and civil society) participated in the workshop.

Stakeholders collectively framed nutrition security as an outcome of six interconnected subsystems exacerbated by climate change: (1) governance and public policy; (2) demographic change and rural disinvestment; (3) climate change and adaptive capacity; (4) local food production economy; (5) food culture; and (6) nutrition security and health. Stakeholders identified leverage points mostly focused on strengthening information flow within and across subsystems and expanding cross-sectoral collaboration (systems structures and elements). We identified three paradigms that have the potential to transform the system structure and function: ecological conscience, traditional and healthy food culture, and social cohesion.

These findings deepened the collective understanding of systemic interdependencies that drive nutrition security as stakeholders identified locally feasible leverage points.