Food Diplomacy and Sustainable Food Systems: An Integrated One Health Framework Linking Food Safety, Antimicrobial Stewardship, True-Cost Accounting and International Relations

Author

Adeladun Badirat Adeduntan, Cynthia Obianuju Onucheta, Timothy Abigail Ifeoma, Ajaegbu Chioma Jane, Glory Ebere Uwazie & Mercy Amarachi Onunkwo

Abstract

 Global food systems face severe systemic risks where chemical, biological, and socioeconomic hazards intersect across animal health, environmental stability, and human well-being. Addressing these interconnected vulnerabilities requires shifting beyond siloed governance toward an integrated "One Food for One Health" paradigm that bridges food safety engineering, welfare economics, and foreign policy. This study develops a comprehensive cross-sectoral framework that positions food diplomacy, international trade, and human mobility at the center of agrifood sustainability. The analytical foundation of this framework is a standardized True-Cost Accounting (TCA) model that monetizes critical systemic externalities routinely omitted from market prices: livestock antimicrobial resistance (AMR), foodborne disease burdens, environmental degradation, and animal welfare. By applying mesoeconomic instruments and Pigouvian taxation alongside advanced engineering controls, including risk-proportionate HACCP tracking and whole-genome sequencing, the framework prices negative externalities while incentivizing non-antibiotic feed alternatives and biosecure farm operations. In parallel, the framework incorporates the circular bioeconomy through the valorization of agrifood side-streams into upcycled functional ingredients via green extraction technologies. Achieving market viability for these circular foods demands transparent true-pricing models, strict monitoring of chemical contaminant carry-over, and harmonized international health-claim standards to build consumer trust. Crucially, the framework articulates the geopolitical and international relations dimensions of agrifood systems. Food serves as a primary instrument of soft power and gastro-diplomacy, where culinary traditions, nation branding, and social gastronomy foster intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding. Concurrently, international tourism and cross-border human mobility drive local economic development but also act as transboundary vectors for foodborne pathogens and resistant microbes, exerting immense pressure on national sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems. When regulatory standards and SPS measures lack multilateral harmonization, they function as disproportionate non-tariff trade barriers that penalize developing agricultural exporters. By integrating productivity-loss valuations and digital certification into trade diplomacy, this framework establishes a unified "One Ledger" approach. This multi-level architecture aligns food safety engineering and sustainable gastronomy with multilateral diplomacy, fulfilling the integrated governance and economic mandate established by the Lancet One Health Commission.

Keywords

Antimicrobial resistance; Circular bioeconomy; Food diplomacy; International relations; One Health; Tourism and mobility; True-cost accounting.

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References

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