PLOS Global Public Health · 12 authors, 10 centres
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The authors used group model-building sessions with food system stakeholders in Caribbean and Pacific Small Island Developing States to develop two causal loop diagrams mapping relationships between food system actors, ecosystem health, and human nutrition. The diagrams serve as dynamic hypotheses to guide future intervention design and reduce maladaptive consequences.
This study employed group model-building techniques from system dynamics to engage food system stakeholders across Caribbean and Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in participatory systems mapping. The authors conducted multiple group model-building sessions with participants spanning the food value chain, including political actors, conventional commercial interests, agroecological food interests, and community members. Two causal loop diagrams were produced: the first summarizes interactions among four main food system actor groups and their effects on ecosystem health and human nutrition; the second provides a framework for co-designing and implementing food system interventions, emphasizing the role of community-embedded partners and learning from autonomous adaptation. The authors acknowledge that causal loop diagrams are qualitative and difficult to parameterize within statistical models, are sensitive to stakeholder composition, and should serve as starting hypotheses rather than estimates of effect sizes. The findings are intended to guide multi-level, multi-sectoral coordination for food system transformation toward greater self-sufficiency, sustainability, and improved nutrition in SIDS.
