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Food Security
Module Description
In this module, students will learn to look at agriculture and nutrition through an interdisciplinary food
systems lens and understand synergies and tradeoffs between human health and environmental
health goals. Concepts and measurement of food security, dietary quality, and the triple burden of
malnutrition, as well as related policy interventions, will be discussed. Links between agriculture,
nutrition, and the environment will be analyzed from a global perspective. Many examples will focus on
low- and middle-income countries, but links to policies and behavior in high-income countries will also
be discussed. Case studies will be used to evaluate specific food systems topics from a
comprehensive sustainability perspective.
The course is designed for students with diverse backgrounds, including agricultural science, nutrition,
economics, as well as other natural and social science disciplines. The idea is to have lively
discussions on the topics and case studies. Active student participation is highly encouraged.’
Learning content:
Students will learn to look at agriculture and nutrition through a food systems lens and understand synergies and tradeoffs between human health and planetary health goals. Concepts and measurement of food security, dietary quality, and the triple burden of malnutrition, as well as related policy interventions, will be discussed. Links between agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, diets, nutrition, and health will be analyzed from a global perspective and with empirical examples from low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Case studies will be used to evaluate specific food systems topics from a comprehensive sustainable development perspective. Case studies will include topics such as organic farming, GMOs, meat consumption, palm oil, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and the supermarket revolution, among others.
Learning outcomes:
After a successful completion of the course, the students…
- are able to define key terms related to food security and sustainable diets.
- can explain how food systems relate to the various sustainable development goals (SDGs).
- can identify policy needs and analyze the sustainability implications of specific interventions.
- can evaluate the arguments in the public debate around sustainable agriculture and nutrition.
- can construct and use dietary surveys and nutrition assessment tools.
Syllabus (not necessarily always one session per topic)
Part I: Concepts and Theories
1. Introduction
2. The Food Systems Approach
3. Food and Nutrition Security: Definition and Measurement
4. Poverty: Definition and Measurement
5. Principles of Food Markets
6. Case Study: Supermarkets and Nutrition
Part II: Economic, Social, and Environmental Aspects of Food
7. The World Food Equation
8. Food Systems, Climate Change, and the Environment
9. The Cost of Diets
10. Agricultural Development and the Role of Small Farms
11. Food Security and Gender
12. Case Study: Meat and Sustainability
13. Case Study: Palm Oil and Sustainability
Part III: Policies for Sustainable Food Systems
14. Direct Income and Nutrition Interventions
15. Food Price Policies
16. Reducing Food Loss and Waste
17. Sustainability Standards and Labels
18. Case Study: Organic Farming
19. Case Study: Fairtrade
20. Improving Infrastructure and Market Access
21. Case Study: Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture
22. Food and Agricultural Technology
23. Case Study: Green Revolution
24. Case Study: Genetically Modified Foods
Literature
There are no textbooks that cover all topics, but the following open access materials are very useful
overviews:
FAO (2024). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024. Food and Agricultural
Organization of the United Nations, Rome, https://doi.org/10.4060/cd1254en.
Food and Land Use Coalition (2019). Growing Better: Ten Critical Transitions to Transform Food and
Land Use. Global Report, https://www.foodandlandusecoalition.org/global-report/.
GLOPAN (2020). Future Food Systems: For People, Our Planet, and Prosperity (Foresight 2.0).
Global Panel on Agriculture & Food Systems for Nutrition, https://www.glopan.org/foresight2/.
HLPE (2017). Nutrition and Food Systems. Committee on Food Security, High-Level Panel of Experts,
https://www.fao.org/3/a-i7846e.pdf.
Masters, W.A., A.B. Finaret (2024). Food Economics: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health. Palgrave
(open access textbook), https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-53840-7.
The following are papers on case studies and other selected topics (when a link is provided, these are
open access publications, otherwise materials will be uploaded in eCampus):
Meemken, E.-M., C.B. Barrett, H.C. Michelson, M. Qaim, T. Reardon, J. Sellare (2021). Sustainability
standards in global agrifood supply chains. Nature Food 2, 758-765.
Meemken, E.M., M. Qaim (2018). Organic agriculture, food security, and the environment. Annual
Review of Resource Economics 10, 39-63.
Parlasca, M.C., M. Qaim (2022). Meat consumption and sustainability. Annual Review of Resource
Economics 14, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-111820-032340.
Qaim, M. (2020). Role of new plant breeding technologies for food security and sustainable
agricultural development. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 42, 129-150,
https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13044.
Qaim, M. (2017). Globalisation of agrifood systems and sustainable nutrition. Proceedings of the
Nutrition Society 76, 12-21, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665116000598.
Qaim, M., K.T. Sibhatu, H. Siregar, I. Grass (2020). Environmental, economic, and social
consequences of the oil palm boom. Annual Review of Resource Economics 12, 321-344,
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-110119-024922.
Sibhatu, K.T., M. Qaim (2018). Review: Meta-analysis of the association between production diversity,
diets, and nutrition in smallholder farm households. Food Policy 77, 1-18,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.04.013.
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