Hosted by听AUR's Master in Food Studies
Chair:听Maria Grazia Quieti
Presenter:听Prof. John Wilkinson
Discussant:听Dr Kostas Stamoulis
To mitigate climate, biodiversity, and public health crises, the global agrifood system needs radical change.听听While the Global North remains central to agrifood innovation,听听new players in the South, especially Brazil and China, will increasingly determine its pace and direction.
Prof. John Wilkinson will present his new book and discuss with Dr Kostas Stamoulis how a new generation of actors, not associated with traditional agrifood interests,听听are exploring radical options to address the widely acknowledged crisis of the global food system听 whether viewed from a health,听听environment, climate, or animal welfare perspective. Such options have become possible through the convergence of advances in听听genetics, big data digitalization, and artificial intelligence.听On the other hand, since the `80s, social movements, have shown themselves听听capable of developing an alternative food agenda and also of stopping in their tracks unwanted technological innovations. To add to these听听uncertainties, global food markets and investments have shifted from North/South to South/East, with China as the pivot of current agrifood restructuring. Economic growth and urbanization is being dominated by states with ample capital but inadequate natural resources to ensure food security and therefore more open to promoting the radical innovations related to climate controlled agriculture and alternative proteins. At the same time, traditional听 听 animal protein interests are creating regulatory and legislative barriers to these new food options. The author skillfully听 听explores the way these听 heterogeneous forces are interacting and, while recognizing that earlier expectations have been dampened, argues that the current innovation wave is showing itself to be too diverse and broad based for simple cooptation by the established global players in agrifood.
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John Wilkinson,听 (Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Liverpool), 听is Full Professor at听the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His research focuses on the major transformations in the global agrifood system and their impact for听small farming and rural development. He has been a consultant to the OECD, FAO, BID, CEPAL, and the European Commission, together with Ministries and Financial Institutions in Brazil and the Southern Cone, and has also carried out research for international NGOs, OXFAM and ACTIONAID among others.
听His latest book听听听has just been published by Bristol University Press.听He is the (co)author of several books,听From Farming to Biotechnology;听Fair Trade: the challenges of transforming globalization; and听O Sabor da Origem听(The Taste of Origin), and has published many articles in internationally recognized Journals. He has spent periods as an invited researcher to the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in听 Paris, to the University of Santa Cruz, California, and to the European Commission. He was the coordinator of the FAO/CFS Report,听Biofuels and Food Security听in 2013. Wilkinson听has published over 150 books, chapters, and articles in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. In 2019, he was listed among the top 2% of researchers at听Academia.edu.听He has听.
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Kostas ( Konstantinos) George听Stamoulis (Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics,听听University of California at Berkeley, USA), former Assistant Director-General of the Economic and Social Department of FAO,听听is听currently an independent consultant on issues related to economic social and policy analysis of sustainable food systems.听
Dr Stamoulis held a number of positions for 30 years in FAO in technical, managerial and strategy development.听听听He was听Strategic Programme Leader for the Food Security and Nutrition听Strategic听Programmewhich cut across several disciplines and geographical regions,听Director of the Agricultural Development Economics Division,听Secretary of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)听where he played a key role in the reform of the committee.听
He听听has experience in the analysis and policy aspects covering a wide array of issues: food security, agricultural and rural development, food systems transformation, rural-urban linkages, urban food systems and environmental economics. He has been the author of numerous publications ( books, monographs and many articles in peer-reviewed professional听听journals).听听For many years he had the overall supervision and guidance for the major FAO flagship publications :听The State of Food and Nutrition in the World ( SOFI), the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA)听and听FAO鈥檚 Global Perspectives work.听听
Before joining FAO in 1989, he was Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign ( USA).
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