Michael Hauser, Lorenz Probst, Didier Pillot: University Network for Tropical Agriculture (UNTA) Meeting at Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand - Thema: “Tropical Agriculture for Food and Nutrition Security”.

1. Why universities must engage in
transformative higher education to
to leverage global food
and nutrition security
Michael Hauser
Source: WFP/Zoriah, flickr creative commons

2. For global food and nutrition security let
us add one critical learning outcome:
University graduates successfully nudge
food system transformations towards
equality, resilience and sustainability.

3. 1
How we promote
transactional change
towards global food and
nutrition security

4. Food security exists when all people, at all
times, have physical, social and economic
access to sufficient safe and nutritious food
that meets their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life.
How to operationalise this definition?
Images: www.fao.org

5. Clock work approach to
food and nutrition security
- Local
- Closed systems
- Causal behaviour
- Rational actors
- Specialisation
- Linear change
But there are no easy fixes
that work quickly. Photo Credit: Hauser / BOKU

6. Good news: Tropical agricultural research was
tremendously successful in increasing crop and
livestock productivity.
Photo Credit: Hauser / BOKU

8. But there is work to do: Despite progress in Asia
and Latin America, the world is far away from
global food and nutrition security, food
sovereignty and food rights.
Photo Credit: Hauser / CDR

9. 2
Why we must engage in
transformational change
to achieve food and
nutrition security

10. Thomas Robert Malthus
1766 - 1834
Ester Boserup
1910 - 1999
“More People, Less Hunger” – Stop the battle
between approaches: work for innovation, deep
change, and a new global societal contract.
Photo Credit: AusAid, flickr creative commons

11. Adopt food systems perspective to achieve global
food and nutritional security.
Source: Norgaard / Development Betrayed

12. Systems approach to food
and nutrition security
- Local and global
- Open systems
- Chaotic behaviour
- Actors with interests
- Inter- and
transdisciplinarity
- Co-evolving change
But again there are no easy
fixes that work quickly for
complex, adaptive systems.
Photo Credit: CYMMIT, flickr creative commons

13. Transformational change goes beyond knowledge, capacities
and skills. It addresses values, beliefs and mindsets that
underpin food and nutrition security behaviour at all levels.
Source: Rico de Faria (2012)

14. 3
What universities should do
towards transformational food
and nutrition security

15. Across all relevant study programs,
universities shall train a new generation of
food system facilitators.

16. High end technology research will remain
critical, but systems sciences help to develop
sustainability pathways.
Source: AusAid, flickr creative commons

17. Geels, F. W. (2002). Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level
perspective and a case-study. Research Policy, 31(8-9), 1257–1274. doi:10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00062-8

18. Towards deep change: a new generation of
food system facilitators mentor multi-stakeholder
change processes.
Photo Credit: Mentler / BOKU

19. 2
Engaging students in
transformative learning
- Social experiments
- Open systems
- Chaotic behaviour
- Actors with interests
- Co-evolving change
Engage students in Experiential learning
as a basis for future
decision makers with new
sets of knowledge, values
and beliefs.
Photo Credit: Probst / BOKU

20. For global food and nutrition security
university shall transform as well:
Engage in didactical experiments,
innovative learning arrangements and
cross-boundary partnerships .

21. Michael Hauser, Lorenz Probst and Didier
Pillot
AGRINATURA – The European Alliance on
Agricultural Knowledge for Development
www.agrinatura.eu
University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences, Vienna l Centre for
Development Research
www.cdr.boku.ac.at
Montpellier SupAgro