Pathway to Food Security

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course provides an overview of food security, food systems and food sovereignty, globally and regionally, with emphasis in the Latin America Region (and comparative views with other world regions). According to the State of food security and nutrition in the world 2024, approximately 733 million people face hunger and suffer from food insecurity worldwide and don’t have access to adequate nutrition. Food security and nutrition policy play an important role in any given society and aim to understand extreme situations that range from under-nutrition to the causes of overweight and obesity that affect large populations. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) particularly Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and 5 (Gender Equality) will be analyzed to provide a needed framework to reach consensus and adopt strategies to engage under-served populations and to address issues of inequality. The course will introduce the main pillars of food security, the causes and repercussions of the most recent food crisis (Covid-19, etc.), along with sustainable development patterns, value chain analysis, consequences of climate change, food losses and waste and how countries in Latin America dealt with these issues through their institutions and policies. All topics will be introduced through a gender lens and the need to consider gender as a prerequisite to reach food security. The course dynamics will examine complex case studies and alternative approaches at local and global levels to reach food and nutrition security. It is expected that the course will be enriched by the participation of guest speakers from government, UN Agencies, NGOs and other Washington DC based think-tanks from a variety of related disciplines. Students will be presented with hands-on activities and research tasks to enhance their understanding of food production, transformation and market access as needed ingredients to access food for all through a critical perspective.