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As the cost of nutritious food continues to be shaped by food prices, agricultural productivity, and agrifood value chains, strengthening food systems and developing targeted policies are essential to make healthy diets more affordable and advance a more food-secure future.
Image Source: FAO
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World: Understanding and Addressing the High Cost of a Healthy Diet, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as part of its flagship State of the World series, reports that global hunger and food insecurity remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, despite recent improvements. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) or Zero Hunger requires not only access to sufficient food but also access to nutritious and healthy diets. A healthy diet should be adequate, balanced, diverse, and moderate. However, the affordability of healthy diets remains a major barrier to achieving SDG 2. The global average cost of a healthy diet (CoHD) is estimated to have increased from 3.44 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars in 2021 to 4.28 PPP dollars in 2025 . This is approximately 40 percent higher than the international extreme poverty line of 3 PPP dollars, placing a healthy diet beyond the financial reach of many people.
The cost of a healthy diet is closely associated with the structure and performance of agrifood systems. Fruits, vegetables, and animal-source foods account for nearly 70 percent of the total cost of a healthy diet basket, despite providing a relatively smaller share of its calories. Consequently, the affordability of nutrient-dense foods is particularly important in improving access to healthy diets. Agricultural productivity, infrastructure, logistics, input costs, and value-chain efficiency all influence food prices. Higher crop yields and sustained investment in agricultural research and development are associated with lower costs for several food groups, while improved roads, logistics, and information and communication technologies can help reduce costs, particularly for perishable products. High energy and labor costs can contribute to higher food prices. About 70–75 percent of consumer food expenditures occur in post-farmgate activities, including transportation, processing, storage, and cold-chain services. This underscores the importance of addressing inefficiencies beyond primary production, particularly in developing economies where inadequate infrastructure and post-harvest losses can further increase the cost of food for consumers.
Reducing the cost of healthy diets therefore requires coordinated interventions across the entire agrifood system rather than relying on a single policy measure. Expanding the supply of nutrient-dense foods can be supported through increased investment in agricultural research and development, improved access to agricultural inputs and reliable water, secure land tenure, reduced food loss and waste, and greater trade integration. Investments in transportation, processing, storage, cold-chain facilities, and other value-chain infrastructure are essential to reduce per-unit costs and improve market efficiency. The report also highlights a structural mismatch in existing government support: policies often concentrate on primary production and starchy staples while giving less attention to midstream value-chain inefficiencies and nutrient-dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Addressing this gap requires a more balanced policy approach that considers farm productivity, market efficiency, food prices, consumer affordability, incomes, and demand-side factors. Such an approach can help make healthy diets more accessible while contributing to more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems.
Reference: FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2026. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 – Understanding and addressing the high cost of a healthy diet. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd8306en
