Global Food Futures and Agri-food Systems Solutions

This course is a part of Sustainable Agribusiness, a 7-course MicroMasters series from edX.

"The challenge is to deliver nutritious, safe and affordable food to a global population of over 9 billion in the coming decades, using less land, fewer inputs, with less waste and a lower environmental impact. All this has to be done in ways that are socially and economically sustainable." -Prof. Sir John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Adviser

Are you aware that your daily choices about the food that you consume frequently affect people and the environment across the globe? As a global society, throughout diverse geographies, the effect of these choices are compounded. The learner will review environmental dimensions of sustainability to encompass health outcomes, social and ecological justice in order to expand their view of sustainable agri-food system and take action toward a more resilient and equitable future of food.

A global reality is that one in seven of the population is undernourished and two in seven are overweight in developed and developing countries alike. Given the scale and urgency of the challengeto feed the world from finite resources, and the variety of implications the ‘food problem’ entails, the global society must co-develop alternative future food systems. Learners will consider how the production and consumption of food can be shaped to match the future needs of the global population.

The search for innovative solutions calls for multidisciplinary critical inquiry and utopian thinking. Learners will evaluate emerging technologies, social behaviors, scientific breakthroughs, business practices, and global governance. Innovative food futures will be instrumental in ensuring all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. The private sector, NGOs, researchers, and governments have created potential solutions that seek to address these challenges and to transform agri-food systems towards more socially just, resilient, and sustainable agricultural production, and distribution systems. Learners will critically evaluate these different strategies and proposed solutions for viability utilizing the available evidence to understand the environmental, social, and economic implications.

What you'll learn

• Analyze proposed solutions to global agri-food systems challenges
• Compare existing distribution systems for sustainability
• Survey innovations, scientific breakthroughs, and emerging technologies
• Construct viable strategies and solutions for the environmental, social and economic challenges that face the global agri-food system