A high-level delegation from Cambodia, Mongolia, Vietnam and the Asian Development Bank recently visited UCC to discuss food security issues in the region and the potential for collaborative work in building capacity and research.
The visit was designed to build upon previous visits to UCC by ADB staff and some recent collaboration around international development and food security issues with staff from the Department of Food Business and Development. A roundtable workshop was convened by Dr Stephen Thornhill, Programme Director of the MSc Food Security Policy and Management, including representatives from the Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development (IFIAD), of which UCC is a member, and University of Galway (UoG).
The visiting delegation included the State Secretary and the Director of the International Division of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry for Mongolia, the Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam and the Chief and Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Cambodia. The government staff were joined by senior staff from the Asian Development Bank and hosted by Enterprise Ireland.
The delegation highlighted the increasing numbers of food insecure people in Asia over the past decade due to high prices and poverty, extreme weather events, the fallout from Covid-19, trade policies and import dependence. There was a pressing need for more local experts in food and nutrition security and research to improve food security resilience in the region.
Dr Stephen Thornhill noted the capacity-building expertise delivered by its International Development team, through joint programmes in Africa and Asia, including the joint MSc in Rural Development with Mekelle University in Ethiopia and the recent summer school initiatives in Vietnam and PhDs. The Food Business and Development Team has also trained students from all over the world in its MSc Food Security Policy and Management, MSc Sustainable Development, Agri-Food and Co-operatives and MSc Food Business, as well as the BSc International Development programmes, many of whom are now working in the Asia-Pacific region. Professor Thia Hennessy and Dr Edward Lahiff also discussed their recent research work in Vietnam.
Dr Charles Spillane, Chairperson of IFIAD and Dr Una Murray from University of Galway highlighted the MSc Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and MA in International Development capacity building expertise. A UoG research team also explained their TAPAS project for measuring the impact of large-scale agri-food projects with satellite based remote-sensing.
The Asia-Pacific delegation was keen to develop partnerships with IFIAD, UCC and UoG around capacity building and research initiatives and ADB provided some suggestions on potential avenues for collaboration and funding.
Dr Stephen Thornhill noted “It has been an honour for UCC to host such a high-level delegation on food security, which remains a high priority for governments in the Asia Pacific region as the number of hungry people continues to rise there. Irish universities can play an important role in collaborating with partners in the region on capacity-building and research solutions and many of our former students are already working in food security related roles there. We look forward to future collaborative work with our Asia Pacific partners to help achieve zero hunger under SDG2”.