The Food Security Program invited veterinary doctor and specialist of farming systems and territorial dynamics, Dr. Patrick Caron to give two lectures and participate in two roundtable discussions in April.
Dr. Caron joined CIRAD, a French Agricultural Research Center for International Development in 1988 where he served as a Director-General for research and strategy from 2010 to 2016. His work analyzes the role of agriculture and livestock in rural transformations, particularly in Brazil, Southern Africa and the Near East. Since 2015, he has served as the chair of the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE)’s Steering Committee.
Lecture on “Guiding food Security and Nutrition Policy: the role of HLPE Steering Committee”:
Dr. Caron discussed HLPE’s Steering Committee’s role and work in concerned fields. HLPE on food and nutrition was created to help reform the international governance of food security and to advice the committee on World Food Security (CFS), the foremost intergovernmental and international platform dealing with food security and nutrition. The HLPE works to ensure more informed policy debated and improve the quality, effectiveness and coherence of food security and nutrition policies from local to international levels.
Lecture on “Nutrition and Food Systems”:
In this lecture, Dr. Caron presented and discussed the latest HLPE report on nutrition and food systems. HLPE on Food Security and Nutrition was established in 2010 as the science-policy interface of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS). It aims to improve the robustness of policy making by providing independent, evidence-based analysis and advice. Its reports serve as a common, comprehensive, evidence-based starting point for policy convergence. Based on existing research and knowledge, these reports clarify contradictory information and knowledge, elicit backgrounds and rationales of controversies, and identify emerging issues. These 12 reports cover a range of themes related to food security and nutrition, including price volatility, climate change, food losses and waste, and sustainable agricultural development. Reports can be found online at
http://fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/reports/en/ .
Roundtable discussion on "Youth, Food Security and the HLPE":
Dr. Caron led a roundtable discussion on youth where faculty members and graduate students were invited to partake in it.
Roudntable discussion on “Research Collaboration and Exchange with CIRAD / Montpellier”:
Dr. Caron discussed opportunities for research collaboration and exchange between faculty, staff and students in Montpellier and in Beirut. AUB researchers were encouraged to discuss their own research programs in order to identify such opportunities. Montpellier, France is a hub for academic research in agriculture and food systems and is a home to institutions including the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD), the Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro) and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM-IAM).
