The key roles of economic and social organization, producer and consumer behaviour towards a HAFEN (Health-Agriculture-Environment-Food Nexus)

We discuss in this paper the role of the economic and social organization in agriculture and the food industry, in relation with the Health-Agriculture-Environment-Food Nexus (HAFEN) concept. The aim is to better understand the potential impact of the implementation of this concept in food consumption and production systems. We discuss the need for a detailed analysis of the economic and social processes underlying food consumption practices, as well as innovation drivers towards more sustainable agrifood systems. The paper suggests a research agenda dedicated to the modes of social and economic organization of key stakeholders in the implementation of Nexus-based systems, facilitating the convergence between health, food and environmental objectives. Based on a literature survey, three main topics are discussed: a) processes and drivers of change of food consumption practices; b) co-ordination and multi-agent governance modes to better account for health issues in agrifood systems; c) the analysis of paradigms that put forward health as an entry point to reshape existing agricultural and food systems, and associated modes of knowledge production. For each of these topics, we provide examples of researches based on past or on-going scientific projects on selected French case studies, and suggest some research priorities for the future.