Addressing food system challenges: Making interdisciplinarity work

The Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH) is holding their 3rd Annual Forum online on Tuesday 15 December at 14.00 – 17.00 (GMT). This year’s theme is the importance of interdisciplinary working to successfully address food system challenges.

The importance of sustainable and resilient food supply systems, capable of responding to shocks and disruptions such as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, is widely acknowledged. However, food systems are complex with inter-relationships between agriculture, the environment and consumers, and require approaches that are holistic and interdisciplinary, drawing upon natural, social and physical sciences. The Annual Forum provides an opportunity to learn about the application of such approaches in practice in different parts of the world and draw on the experience of the IFNH in applying interdisciplinary approaches to systems-wide challenges.

The event hosts talks from a range of speakers from the University as well as key partners: Joanna Kane-Potaka, Assistant Director General, External Relations, ICRISAT and Executive Director at Smart Food Initiative (ICRISAT) and Dr Adegbola Adesoga, Professor of Animal Nutrition and Director of the Food Systems Institute at the University of Florida and a leader of USAID’s Feed the Future initiative.

Professor Ian Givens, IFNH Director says: “The Forum highlights research from the University and our partners and how this connects with work done elsewhere. We are very pleased that in addition to University colleagues we will be joined by two external speakers who share a common vision but approach it from very different perspectives: the contrast between an animal-derived foods and a plant-based approach to reducing childhood stunting will prove interesting.”

The event is free to attend. For more information and to register your attendance please click here. Please register by Monday 7 December 2020.