UNA Warwick & District : Food - The Web That Connect Us All

Full title:

Food - The Web That Connect Us All -  Food Security and Sovereignty

Guest Speaker:

Dr Ulrich Schmutz
Environmental and Agricultural Economist
The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience
Organic Garden  (Ryton Organic Gardens), University of Coventry

The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience  is driving innovative, transdisciplinary research on the understanding and development of resilient food and water systems internationally.

Food and water security is increasingly threatened by factors such as climate and environmental change, loss of biodiversity, conflict and market volatility. New knowledge, policies and technologies are needed to develop systems that are more resilient to change and which ensure the health of our food and water supplies. Resilient systems are better able to bounce back from stresses caused by longer-term change or short-term events - be it natural processes such as flooding, or human impacts such as war or water pollution incidents. The Centre also provide research for the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the UN Research Institute for Social Development and many other international institutions relating to agriculture and food.

Food security is a hot topic but what does it means for us in the UK or worldwide? Do we have the right concepts to achieve food security and even food sovereignty? Dr Ulrich Schmutz will address these questions and analyse what the concept of agro-ecology can contribute to the discussion and what we in the UK could do to increase food sovereignty.

Ulrich is an agricultural economist and specialist in organic horticulture and agriculture. He has over 15 years experience in both academic research and working within the organic industry. Ulrich’s current research comprises of a variety of projects on farm and environmental economics. He also has considerable knowledge and expertise in modelling farm economics, resource use and energy and emissions data.