OAAG 1025 - Global Food Politics; Crises and Transitions

This course will examine various global crises in which food and agriculture are closely implicated - namely climate change, health/nutrition, environmental degradation and geopolitical conflicts - and assess public and private strategies designed to mitigate their destructive impacts. With global hunger and malnutrition rates on the rise, driven in part by armed conflicts, climatic conditions, dietary choices and financial shocks, the course will review various governance structures intended to deliver food security and nutrition worldwide and examine why they are failing to achieve the relevant Sustainable Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the deep inter-linkages and profound shortcomings of global food/nutrition, energy and financial markets, prompting national governments – aided by the UN System - to develop ‘transition pathways’ toward more resilient and sustainable food systems. Students will examine these pathways and the structures of global governance supporting them, to assess their content and effectiveness at achieving key political, social, and economic goals. The course is geared toward learners who want a fuller understanding of contemporary food politics, policies, and the realities of global food system governance aimed at addressing the multitude of pressing crises associated with this topic.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students, by the end of the course, will be able to:

• Describe in detail the complex links between food/food systems and various crises, conflicts and other drivers of global hunger and malnutrition;
• Recall and define key terms, concepts and the lead institutions associated with global food security, nutrition and food systems;
• Recognize the various global, national and local initiatives aimed at transforming food systems toward economic, social and environmental sustainability.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

Policy-making skills; negotiation skills; problem-solving, debating and research skills linked to the operation and outcomes of the global food system.

There are no prerequisites, apart from a strong interest in global systems, sustainable development, and the politics and policies associated with food and agriculture.

Feedback will be an ongoing and continual process, in every class and after each assessment. Students will be encouraged to approach the professor with questions and/or comments throughout the term, either about class work, class assignments, or weekly lessons. Students will be asked to do a minimum of three readings per class, and will be called upon to brief the class on one or more of those readings at some point during the course.

Assessments will be comprised of:

• class participation, including in-class debates and readings (20%),
• a group exercise (30%), and
• a final exam 50%

• Attendance: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Online learning activities: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 1,5 hours a week / 18 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 1,5 hours a week / 18 hours a semester
• Other: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester