FDSC4073K Food Security: Food Access

Academic Year 2024/2025

This module aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current burden of food and nutritional insecurities in both developing and developed countries across the globe. It explains the main traditional pillars of food security, primarily food access, availability and utilisation, in both temporal dimensions (chronic and transitory). It also addresses the main treats to food security including climate change and environmental shocks; population increase and the modern food system and disruptions in the food chain. Different actions needed to ensure the future of food security, proposed and initiated by the authorities, agencies and governments across the globe are addressed.
The content covers multiple dimensions: geographical, historical, and thematic. The historical development of concepts and approaches to food security are discussed, from entitlements concept to vulnerability and the sustainable livelihoods frameworks, to the most recently proposed concept of resilience, and how this transition influences the way interventions around food security are designed and implemented. The food systems’ perspective on food security and system thinking approach are utilised to establish the interdepandance with other elements of the modern food systems, inlcuding sustanable food production, processing, transport and distribution.
In addition to lectures that aim to provide broad understanding of the challenges and solutions in the food security domain, the tutorials are designed to provide case examples and foster critical assessment of the complexities, specificities and emerging challenges, and explore methods and tools used in the assessment of food insecurity as well as the solutions that have the potential to bring change to the most vulnerable populations and communities.