01: Global Food Security and Nutrition

Global food and nutrition security occurs when everybody has access to sufficient, safe, affordable and nutritious food to meet their needs for a healthy life all time. Food security is a matter for everyone: access to enough calories is a daily problem for the poor worldwide; access to a nutritious diet for a healthy life affects many more people (food intake, amongst other lifestyle factors, is globally one of the most important causes of mortality). The agri-food sector is economically very important and trade underpins a lot of global functioning: both positively (in terms of access to food grown elsewhere) and negatively (e.g. the rich World’s demand for fat and protein incentivises deforestation in the developing world). Agri-food also has a very significant environmental impact, but provides livelihoods for more people than any other sector. This seminar aims to examine some of the challenges and identifies some of the drivers that increase the magnitude of the challenge. Ultimately, we ask whether we can create a fair and global food system that includes aspects of inter-generational equity and sustainability.