Key Idea: Topic 12.3 asks who really decides what we eat and how healthy we are — the stakeholders in food and health. Its one micro pulls the whole question together: 12.3.1 — stakeholders in food and health: four groups pull in different directions — governments (laws, taxes, subsidies, public-health campaigns), TNCs / agribusiness (growing, pricing and advertising food for profit), international organisations & NGOs (the WFP, FAO, WHO, Oxfam — aid and development), and individuals & communities (daily food choices, farming, food banks). They act at different scales, from a global vaccination drive down to a family's weekly shop, and the same stakeholder can make things better or worse. This is an option topic, examined on Paper 1 (you answer 2 options at SL, 3 at HL — the same questions). Each option ends in a [10] markband essay, so most marks here come from weighing how much power each stakeholder really has — with named examples and a clear judgement.
🍽️ 12.3.1 — Who shapes food and health, and how much power they hold
No single group decides what people eat or how healthy they are. Governments, TNCs / agribusiness, IOs & NGOs and individuals all influence both food policy (what is grown, priced and advertised) and health policy (campaigns, vaccination, sanitation) — and they do it at different scales. The skill examiners test is reading a bar chart of stakeholder influence, then describing which group dominates before explaining the role of each, and finally judging their relative power in the essay.
Who shapes what we eat and how healthy we are
| Stakeholder | What they do (food & health) | Scale | Real example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governments | Laws, taxes, subsidies, food-safety rules and public-health campaigns | Mostly national / local | India's 1960s Green Revolution subsidies; the UK's 2018 sugar tax |
| TNCs / agribusiness | Grow, process, price and advertise food worldwide; shape diets for profit | Global | Nestle and Coca-Cola marketing; supermarket chains; fast-food TNCs |
| IOs & NGOs | Emergency food aid, long-term development, research, setting global targets | Global -> local | The WFP and FAO; Oxfam and ActionAid; the WHO in disease outbreaks |
| Individuals & communities | Daily food choices, farming methods, local food banks, cultural diets | Local / household | Local food banks; Sahel subsistence farmers; community health volunteers |
Key terms to use precisely
- Stakeholder — any person, group or organisation with an interest in and influence on what people eat and how healthy they are.
- TNC / agribusiness — a transnational corporation that grows, processes, prices or advertises food across many countries (e.g. Nestle, supermarket chains).
- IO / NGO — an international organisation (WFP, FAO, WHO) or non-governmental charity (Oxfam, ActionAid) giving aid or long-term development.
- Scale — the level an action operates at, from global (the WHO) down to local (a town's food bank or a household).
- Food aid dependency — when long-term aid removes the incentive for local farmers to grow food, so a region never regains its own food security.
- Food security — reliable access for all people to enough safe, nutritious food.
Tip: Stakeholder influence usually arrives as a bar chart. Read the key first, then describe the pattern — name which group's bar is tallest, quote a figure with units (% of influence), and note a contrast between regions. Then explain why, and only in the essay do you weigh their relative power.
Read the key first. Which stakeholder bar is tallest in each region — and where do IOs & NGOs jump?
🔒 Interactive diagram
Explore the labelled diagram, charts and maps for this topic in study mode.
⚖️ Scale, power and the help-or-harm double edge
Stakeholders show their power most clearly in a crisis — a famine, a disease outbreak, or a push to feed a growing population. The key skill for the [10] essay is that the same stakeholder can make things better or worse, so a top answer always shows two sides and ties each to a named place.
The same stakeholder can help OR harm — four case studies
| Case study | Stakeholders involved | How they HELP | How they can HARM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sahel famine (recurrent drought) | Governments, WFP, NGOs | Emergency food aid, wells and drought-resistant seeds keep people alive | Over-reliance on short-term aid undercuts farmers' prices and breeds dependency |
| Haiti cholera outbreak, 2010 | WHO, NGOs | Treatment and clean-water programmes saved thousands of lives | The outbreak was linked to poor sanitation around an aid base — a backfired response |
| Malaria in sub-Saharan Africa | WHO, NGOs, local health workers | Treated bed-nets, medicines and prevention cut infections | Reach is uneven and depends on donor funding and government cooperation |
| India's Green Revolution (1960s) | Government, agribusiness | High-yield seeds, fertiliser and irrigation hugely boosted food output | Widened the gap between rich and poor farmers and degraded soils |
A strong answer names the stakeholder, says what they do, gives a real example, and judges how much power they actually have compared with the others. Be ready to give an action at each scale — global (a WHO sugar-intake guideline) and local (a government sugar tax or a town's food bank) — because a frequent short question asks for exactly one of each.
On the headline TNC essay, discussing only one fast-food TNC (e.g. a single burger chain) is capped at the lower band. You must develop two or more stakeholders, or the wider influence of agribusiness — supermarkets, food processors, advertising — alongside governments, wealth, culture and the media.
✍️ IB-style questions
Explain one global-scale action and one local-scale action that could help reduce the severity of a health problem such as type-2 diabetes.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
"Agribusiness transnational corporations are the most powerful influence on what and how people eat." To what extent do you agree?
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
✅ Quick self-check
Tap each card to reveal the answer.
What is a stakeholder in food and health? Any person, group or organisation with an interest in and influence on what people eat and how healthy they are.
Name the four stakeholder groups. Governments, TNCs / agribusiness, international organisations & NGOs (WFP, FAO, WHO, Oxfam), and individuals & communities.
Give one global vs one local action. Global: the WHO issuing worldwide sugar guidance. Local: a government sugar tax or a town's food bank.
Why can international food aid be a drawback? It can cause dependency (farmers lose the incentive to grow food) and depress local food prices, harming long-term food security — as in the Sahel.
What does a top [10] stakeholder essay need? Two or more developed stakeholders with named examples (the Sahel, Haiti cholera, the UK sugar tax), a weighing of their relative power and limits, and a justified conclusion.
🎯 Highest-yield exam reminders
Exam Tips
- For a stakeholder bar chart: read the KEY, DESCRIBE first (tallest bar, a figure with units, a region contrast), THEN explain and weigh.
- Know all four stakeholders: governments, TNCs/agribusiness, IOs & NGOs, individuals — and what each does for FOOD and HEALTH.
- Always give an action at each SCALE — global (the WHO) and local (a sugar tax or food bank).
- The same stakeholder can help AND harm: aid saves lives but breeds dependency; agribusiness feeds millions but widens inequality.
- Anchor every point to a named example: the WFP, Oxfam, the Sahel famine, Haiti's 2010 cholera, India's Green Revolution, the UK sugar tax.
- On the [10] Examine / To-what-extent / Evaluate: develop two+ stakeholders with named examples, weigh their power, and finish with a clear judgement (a single fast-food TNC alone caps the mark).