Food Security

Ending hunger, ensuring food security and sustainable food production, as well as improving nutrition is a complex challenge. This unit equips students with a critical understanding of food systems, links from food production to consumption, livelihoods, secure and safe access to food for all, and food utilisation.

The unit considers diverse understandings of food, from rights based approaches embedded in the food sovereignty discourse, to food security, and food as a commodity.  It explores sustainable development, environmental and resource management and conservation, and agricultural/rural production systems, as well as aid and trade.
 
Linkages between social, environmental and economic influences on development will be investigated, alongside critical review of debates on population, conflict and natural disasters, resource scarcity, poverty, and equality. Theoretical debate will be used to inform practical analysis and case studies of policy and programme responses, in development, emergency relief, and community contexts, globally and locally.

Weekly Topics:
1.          Introduction to food security
2.         Food systems
3.         Population
4.         Nutrition, health and food security
5.         Environment, resource management
6.         Policy and food Security
7.         Food, food aid and humanitarian interventions
8.         Gender and food security
9.         Food security in Australia
10.       Agriculture
11.        Conclusions ad food security into the future

At the completion of this unit, successful students can:
ULO1: recognise competing understandings of hunger, poverty and food insecurity
ULO2: Have a basic understanding of sustainable livelihoods as a framework for understanding hunger, poverty
and inequality.
ULO3: appreciate the real world issues of food insecurity and the relationship with development
ULO4: know where to go to source relevant and timely information relating to issues of production and consumption;
ULO5: identify, and critically evaluate policies and practices to tackle food insecurity
ULO6: Apply this learning to a real world case study.

Learning experiences are via CloudDeakin. This unit requires that you engage with the unit materials through the weekly set readings, but also strongly encourages discussion and sharing of ideas through online forums. Regional issues of food security which form the basis of assignments 2 and 3 will be the focus of many of the discussions, promoting applied learning.

Online Exercises 20%
Essay 30%, 1500 words
Essay 50%, 2500 words

Leathers, H.D. and Foster, P. (2017) The World Food Problem: Toward Ending Undernutrition in the Third World, 5th edition, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder