Systems Thinking Tools to Shift Stakeholder Engagement in Food and Nutrition Insecurity

Food and nutrition insecurity is the result of broken systems. While addressing this problem requires holistic interventions that target complex food systems, the stakeholders addressing these issues tend to be working in silos and focused on different specific aspects of the system.

Participatory group model building offers a promising approach to bringing the unique stakeholder perspectives together and identifying the systemic drivers of food and nutrition insecurity to promote a systems approach for this complex problem. This study used group model building to gain new insights into food and nutrition insecurity in Los Angeles and assess the impact of group model building workshops on stakeholder perspectives.

Twenty-four multi-sector stakeholders participated in three workshops to construct a systems map (69 variables grouped into 10 constructs across three ecological levels with four overarching themes). Pre- and post-workshop surveys (N = 22 pre and N = 13 post) measured shifts in stakeholder perceptions of key food and nutrition insecurity drivers and intervention areas.

Prior to the workshop, stakeholders tended to believe that individual-centric factors were the primary influences of food and nutrition insecurity. However, following the workshop, stakeholders reported that community and structural factors are the key drivers of food and nutrition insecurity.