Event

London International Development Centre (LIDC) and Nature Food are proud to announce our upcoming event Envisioning a Foods Systems Transformation. On 18 May 2023,  we will bring together key policy makers, researchers, and change-makers who are making a difference in the field of global health and nutrition. At this event, key individuals will present on a subject area of choice and utilise their distinct academic lens to provide the audience with a new understanding on how the public and development practitioners can better support and facilitate the transitions agenda. The event will take place in a hybrid format.

In an era demarcated by the triple crises of COVID-19, climate change, and global conflict, interdisciplinarity within academia and policy has become increasingly sought after as a best-practice approach to tackle the systemic issues in food production. By bringing together this unique set of talent with industry leaders, we will show that taking each of these strategies and adopting such an interdisciplinary approach is not only possible, but also critical in enabling more robust evidence-based nutrition policies at the global, regional, and country levels.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 demands zero hunger by 2030 and to do this will require the harnessing of knowledge and experience from a variety of sectors. This event will therefore look to align and harmonize actions across sectors and make the case for increased financing for proven nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. Together, we can ensure that individuals, families, and societies receive the nourishment they require to live long and productive lives, and that countries have the ability to deal with crises to propel their citizens’ health, social, and economic development in the SDGs’ final decade.

A full copy of the agenda and instructions on how to join can be found here: Final_Welcome Pack_ENVISIONING A FOODS SYSTEMS_May 17_2023_1

Confirmed Speakers include: 

• Professor Tim Benton – Chatham House
  • Professor Tim G. Benton leads the Environment and Society Programme at Chatham House. He joined Chatham House in 2016 as a distinguished visiting fellow, at which time he was also dean of strategic research initiatives at the University of Leeds. From 2011-2016 he was the ‘champion’ of the UK’s Global Food Security programme which was a multi-agency partnership of the UK’s public bodies (government departments, devolved governments and research councils) with an interest in the challenges around food.
  • Professor Benton tweets at @timgbenton

 

• Dr. Annisa Chand – Nature Food
  • Annisa joined Nature Research in March 2019, after completing her Bachelor’s in Veterinary Sciences and her PhD in Endocrinology at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London. During her time at the college, Annisa conducted research in animal reproduction, sperm cryopreservation, and immunology, while also gaining practical experience in livestock handling and dairy farming. For her doctoral studies, she specialised in pituitary gland development and function in zebrafish, focusing on the local hormonal regulation of pituitary secretion via the natriuretic peptide system.

 

• Dr. Lawrence Haddad – GAIN
  • Dr Lawrence Haddad is GAIN’s Executive Director since 2016. In such capacity, he was one of the drivers behind the Initiative on Climate and Nutrition at COP27 in 2022; he chaired Action Track 1 of the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit to ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all; and he was the co-founder of the Standing Together for Nutrition consortium, a response to the COVID19 pandemic and the current food crisis.
  • Prior to GAIN, Lawrence was the founding co-chair and lead author of the Global Nutrition Report from 2014 to 2016. From 2004 to 2014, Lawrence was the Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the world’s leading development studies institute. Before joining IDS in 2004, he was Director of the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) from 1994 to 2004. From 2009 to 2010, he was the UK representative on the Steering Committee of the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CSF). From 2010 to 2012, he was the President of the UK and Ireland’s Development Studies Association. An economist, Lawrence completed his PhD in Food Research at Stanford University in 1988.
  • Lawrence has gained international recognition in two big moments.
    • In June 2018, the World Food Prize Foundation awarded the 2018 World Food Prize to Lawrence Haddad, and David Nabarro, former Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General. Announcing the award – Ambassador Quinn, World Food Prize President – cited the recipients for their “extraordinary intellectual and policy leadership in bringing maternal and child nutrition to the forefront of the global food security agenda and thereby significantly reducing childhood stunting.”
    • In December 2022, in the first New Year Honours List of King Charles III in the UK, Dr Lawrence Haddad was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for “Services to International Nutrition, Food and Agriculture”. This is an award reserved for overseas and international work that honours individuals who have rendered important services in relation to Commonwealth or foreign nations. The Order’s motto is “Token of a better age”.
  • Dr Haddad tweets at @l_haddad

 

• Professor Claire Heffernan – LIDC
  • Professor Claire Heffernan is Director of the London International Development Centre and Chair of International Development at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC.) She holds a joint appointment with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Her work at the Centre focuses on facilitating interdisciplinary research across seven University of London institutions aimed at addressing critical challenges in international development. Claire’s particular areas of expertise include the application of interdisciplinary research within the development sphere.
  • Professor Heffernan tweets at @cheffernan_LIDC

 

• Dr. Edward Mabaya – Cornell University
  • Dr. Ed Mabaya is a scholar and a development practitioner with more than two decades of experience working on development, agribusiness value chains and food security issues with a regional focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a Research Professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University where his teaching, research and outreach work focuses on economic development in Africa. Mabaya’s applied research work is anchored around food marketing and distribution, enabling environments for agribusiness, seed systems, digital agriculture, and the role of efficient agricultural markets in Africa’s economic development.
  • Dr. Mabaya tweets at @EdMabaya

 

• Dr. David Nabarro – World Health Organisation
  • David is Co-Director and Chair of Global Health at Imperial’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, which he was appointed in 2019. He is also Strategic Director of the Swiss-based social enterprise, 4SD (Skills Systems and Synergies for Sustainable Development), established in 2017, training and mentoring leaders for sustainable development.  In March 2020, David was appointed Special Envoy of WHO Director-General on COVID-19. He is also co-chair of the World Innovation Summit for Health Forum on Climate Change and Health.

 

• Lord Jonathan Oates – United Against Malnutrition
  • Lord Oates joined United Against Malnutrition and Hunger as its first Chief Executive in September 2022. His interest and involvement in development issues date back to 1985 when he spent time in Ethiopia during the Ethiopian famine. From 2010 to 2015, Jonny was Deputy Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street and subsequently Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, during the coalition government. In the late 1990’s Jonny worked in South Africa’s first democratic parliament on a two-year project to support political parties previously excluded from parliament under the apartheid regime. From 2017-2019 he was Senior Adviser to the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Lord Oates has been a member of House of Lords since October 2015 and has a particular interest in international development and climate change.

 

• Sareh Forouzesh – Meridian Institute
  • Sareh Forouzesh is a Senior Mediator and Program Manager at Meridian Institute, where she is the Deputy Director of the Just Rural Transition (JRT) Secretariat. Sareh is a sustainable development professional with more than nine years’ experience in consulting and program management roles. She is specialized in agricultural drivers of deforestation and land use change, supply chains and sustainable procurement, and corporate sustainability. Prior to joining Meridian, she was the Associate Director of Forests at CDP, where she worked on issues relating to commodity-driven deforestation and landscape-level/ jurisdictional approaches towards eliminating deforestation. In this role, Sareh was responsible for developing, fundraising for, and managing several global multi-year programs of work, developing CDP’s strategy on eliminating commodity driven deforestation through landscape-level approaches, and contributing towards multiple thought leadership and knowledge products
  • Mrs Forouzesh tweets at @sarehfo

• Dr. Alok Ranjan – Power of Nutrition
  • Dr Alok Ranjan joined The Power of Nutrition as Director of Programmes and Investments in January 2021. He has over 17 years of experience across various public health and nutrition programs.  Prior to The Power of Nutrition, for over six years he led the Nutrition program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and South Asia. Prior to that, he worked with UNICEF for over seven years including leading nutrition programs for the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India, states which collectively contribute to around 10% of the global burden of stunted children.
  • Dr Ranjan tweets at @dralokiranjan

• Dr. Alberta Sagoe – AU-IBAR
  • Dr. Sagoe obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Ports and Shipping Administration from the Regional Maritime University in 2009. She further obtained a Master of Arts degree in Governance and Sustainable Development from the University of Cape Coast in 2011, and a Master of Science Degree in Marine Spatial Planning in 2015. In 2020, she obtained a PhD in Integrated Coastal Zone Management from the University of Cape Coast. She is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Africa Center of Excellence in Coastal Resilience at the Centre for Coastal Management, University of Cape Coast. Dr Sagoe’s research in coastal management has contributed to operationalizing the establishment of Marine Protected Areas in the Western Region of Ghana.
  • Dr. Sagoe tweets at @Alberta_A_Sagoe

 

• Dr. James Wangu – World Resources Institute (WRI)
  • Sustainability enthusiast, driven international development and research professional with over seven years of experience. Completed several international knowledge management and learning assignments. Highly respectful of others, a critical thinker, resourceful, accountable, a team player, timely and attentive to details.
  • Dr Wangu tweets at @jameswangu

 

 

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