SFOK09113U ! Not offered in the fall semester 2014 - Food and Nutrition. Security in Global Health

A basic requirement for human survival, development, health and productivity is a safe, nutritionally adequate and consistent supply of food. According to the World Health Organization, adequate food and nutrition are the most important determinants of good health. Food security encompasses availability, accessibility, affordability and utilization of food. Food insecurity at the household and intra-household levels is one of the main causes of malnutrition. Food security in practice is not always understood in a comprehensive manner. The term food security frequently does not give adequate emphasis to the importance of food for better nutrition. Often policy and decision-makers give higher priority to food production, while nutritional objectives fall behind. In recent decades, the inter-related concepts of food and nutrition security have evolved dramatically in theory and practice, and their linkage with global health is increasingly acknowledged and emphasized. Particularly, food and nutrition security are increasingly at stake in the current wave of globalization with the global integration of food systems and the food chain. Hence, it is imperative to understand the roles of both national and international policies and actors in shaping global food policies that affect food and nutrition at the local, household and individual levels. While governments in economically affluent and developing countries are increasingly concerned about the public health challenges associated with nutrition and food security, ensuring a better outcome of these challenges is multifaceted and requires a comprehensive food and nutrition policy and its effective implementation. Food and nutrition policies are the frameworks that shape food systems at various levels. For public health practitioners operating at national and international levels, a better understanding of the global food system is required in order to develop comprehensive, inter-sectoral and concerted policies and programs on food and nutrition.

This course will provide theoretical, technical and practical knowledge on a range of food security and food policy issues. It will explore the different approaches that can be used to study and assess food security/insecurity issues, and global, regional, national and sub-national policies, strategies and initiatives to ensure food security. We will study how a stable and nutritionally adequate supply of food at various levels – global, country, regional, local, household and individual levels - can be made available and physically, socially, and economically accessible not only in times of stability and sound environmental conditions but also in times of humanitarian emergencies such as natural disasters and conflict situations. The analysis and monitoring of underlying causes of food insecurity and vulnerability in both economically developed and developing countries are also important areas of investigation in this course. Ongoing and emergent challenges to food security emanating from climate change, globalization, food insecurity of vulnerable groups (eg. women), genetically modified food, agro-food systems will be discussed from various perspectives.  

Understanding the politics of the policy process is of key importance for public health nutrition and food security, and will be at the center of this course. We will explore the context, processes and the role, power and positions of different stakeholders including the state, the private sector, civil society and various international actors. Students will gain competencies in conducting stakeholder analysis in the policy process, and most importantly they will obtain requisite knowledge and skills in developing, implementing and evaluating food and nutrition related policies and projects.

Content:

• Definitions of food and nutrition security;
• Evolution of food and nutrition security concerns;
• Inter-linkages between food, nutrition and health;
• Conceptual frameworks of food security and malnutrition; social levels of food and nutrition security;
• Indicators and instruments to assess food and nutrition security at different social levels;
• Challenges to global food security; ongoing global food crisis, causes of hunger and malnutrition;
• The global food system and the food chain – understanding their development, actors and current challenges with globalization and effects on food security;
• Food and nutrition security in humanitarian emergencies;
• Food insecurity in developed/affluent countries;
• Ongoing and emerging challenges of climate change, gender issues, genetically modified food;
• Role of state, private sector and civil society in food and nutrition policies;
• International actors (eg. EC (DG SANCO- Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs); EFSA; WHO; United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition; FAO; UNICEF; UNHCR; GAIN (Global alliance for improved nutrition); Asian/African Development Bank; World Bank; WTO) in food and nutrition policies;
• Examples of interventions to promote food and nutrition security at different social levels; the emerging paradigm of food sovereignty;
• Examples of international policy development;
• Stakeholder analysis in food and nutrition policy development;
• Policy development, implementation and evaluation;