Planetary health is a transdisciplinary approach that aims to advance the understanding of the links between human-driven changes to the planet and their consequences, and to develop appropriate solutions to the challenges identified. This emerging movement has not yet agreed upon a code of ethics to underpin the rapidly expanding body of research being carried out in its name. However, a code of ethics might support the principles for planetary health set out in the Canmore Declaration of 2018. Phrases such as “Public Health 2.0”, “Human Health in an Era of Global Environmental Change”, or “A safe and just operating space for humanity” are often used in planetary health discussions, but are not always clearly defined and so far, the field lacks a strong guiding ethical framework. In this paper, we propose a starting point towards a code of ethics for planetary health that builds on the Canmore Declaration. We chose to propose 12 ethical principles in recognition of the need for a 12-Step Programme for the planet. The human race must identify and reject damaging behaviours. Evidence of the harm we are causing the planet is no longer enough and refraining from certain current practices is essential for Earth’s future health. We must motivate advocacy and calls for action. We believe a shared ethical code can act as a tool to enable and encourage that process. This paper is presented to the planetary health community as a starting point, not as a finished agenda. We welcome comments, critiques, additions and the opportunity to rework our approach accordingly.

Natural and social science studies have commonly referenced a ‘typical’ or ‘habitual’ Nigerian diet, without defining what such a diet entails. Our study, based on a systematic review of the existing literature and an analysis of household-level survey data, describes the general outline of a common Nigerian diet and how it varies based on spatial, demographic, and socio-economic characteristics. We further try to establish whether Nigeria has embarked on a dietary transition common in most modern economies, marked by a greater consumption of processed foods, fats, and sugar at the expense of traditional whole cereals and pulses. We conclude that while a traditional Nigerian diet is still relatively healthy from an international perspective, it has indeed been transitioning, with an increasing inclusion of high-energy, high-fat, and high-sugar processed foods and a related growing incidence of overweight, obesity, and diet-related non-communicable diseases.

Relative to its economic growth and poverty levels, Indian children suffer from higher levels of malnutrition than children in many other low- and middle-income countries. Research presented in this article examined the links between infant and young child feeding practices among Indian children and their rates of stunting, underweight, wasting, and anaemia, with a particular focus on the types of semisolid complementary food consumed. It did so through a comprehensive analysis of data on more than 57,000 6-to-23-month-old children obtained from the nationally representative National Family Health Survey IV (2015–2016). One of the key findings was that especially feeding children animal-sourced and vitamin-A-rich food was associated with lower malnutrition rates. The study further interrogated whether livestock ownership and participation in the Integrated Child Development Services programme could be supportive of better complementary child feeding and concluded that daily food receipts from the programme and poultry ownership were indeed linked with significantly higher rates of children following the recommended feeding practices as well as with somewhat lower children’s malnutrition rates.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to existing literature by examining whether development aid has any measurable impact on food security, whether the impact is conditioned on the quality of governance and whether it differs based on the type of aid provided. Design/methodology/approach: – Panel-data analysis of 85 developing countries between 1994 and 2011, using generalized method of moments and two-stage least squares estimators. Findings: – The paper finds that aid in general has a small positive impact on food security; that multilateral aid, grants and social and economic aid have a positive effect on food security in their own right, and that bilateral aid, loans and agricultural aid are more conditioned on the quality of governance that other aid. Research limitations/implications: – The main limitations rest with the imperfect nature of cross-country data on food security and governance, which I have tried to overcome through a series of robustness tests. Practical implications: – The findings suggest that aid, despite its many deficiencies, can play a positive role in strengthening food security. Furthermore, they indicate that concessional loans, bilateral aid and agricultural aid are likely to foster food security only in countries with better governance. Originality/value: – The paper constitutes a novel contribution to existing literature because it is one of the first to use cross-country data to explore the impact of aid on food security and because it utilizes a relatively complex aid categorization, which allows its conclusions to be more nuanced.

Motivation: In 2020, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) was merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). This policy move strengthens the trend to “securitize” development, whereby the provision of aid is motivated by national security concerns.Purpose: Many researchers have raised concerns about the securitization of aid and its consequences for development, but little research has examined its impact on aid‐recipient countries.Approach and Methods: This study evaluates 144 securitized aid projects implemented by DFID between 2000 and 2018 in Kenya, Nigeria and South Sudan, using the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability.Findings: Our analysis finds that although most of the projects assessed were “relevant”, i.e. formally aligned with recipient and funders’ objectives, many struggled to achieve their intended outputs (“effectiveness”). Few of the projects had a positive “impact”. We conclude that the securitized projects reviewed did not significantly strengthen the recipient countries’ institutions, stability, or security but had some negative side effects.Policy Implications: In view of the merger of DFID with the FCO and the decision to reduce aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI), the UK is likely to draw an even closer connection between domestic security priorities and its development aid. In view of our empirical findings, the UK government needs to be more aware of the limitations of development interventions undertaken in the name of security and consider other means of enabling development.