Hettie Schönfeldt is an advocate for nutrition research, promoting excellence through the creation, translation and dissemination of science-based information into policies and training programmes both nationally, and internationally. She serves as a scientific advisor to AFROFOODS, a network on the African continent, forming part of IUNS/UNU/FAO INFOODS Task Force. She is a co-director of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems and holds a South African Department of Science and Innovation /National Research Foundation Research Chairs Initiative in Nutrition and Food Security. Her group’s research focuses on linking nutrient quantity and quality of foods to sustainable food systems for attaining nutrition and food security for all.
Hettie Schönfeldt has been a member of 4 Australia-Africa Universities Network (AAUN) projects, and is a team member of the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP). BFAP provides a yearly Agricultural Outlook (currently 2014–2023) on African Food Systems. In 2013 she was invited by the United Nations Systems Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) to perform a descriptive review of food and agricultural policies in South Africa encouraging the advancement of the discussion on nutrition-sensitive agriculture towards informing the ICN2.
She is a national of South Africa.
