©CFS HLPE-FSN/Silvia Meiattini
The HLPE-FSN is thrilled to announce the creation of its new drafting team, which has been selected to work on the upcoming CFS HLPE-FSN report on “Strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems to achieve food security and nutrition in the context of urbanization and rural transformation”.
The team was selected based on a rigorous selection process, which includes general principles of scientific and technical relevance, as well as regional expertise. As a result, the HLPE-FSN Steering Committee has assembled an extraordinary interdisciplinary team, well-equipped to address the multidimensional and intersectional aspects of the report’s topic.
The selected international experts bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the project, covering a range of areas, including urban and peri-urban food security, health and nutrition, sustainable urban development, rural and urban development sociology, political economy, economics, statistical analysis, legal aspects and human rights, gender analysis and Indigenous knowledge. Their collective expertise will ensure that the report provides a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of the complex issues at the intersection of food security, nutrition, and urbanization.
They will be responsible for assessing the science related to urban and peri-urban food systems and consider all the contributions received during the consultative processes, in a transparent and inclusive way, open to all forms of knowledge from many actors – knowledge of local implementation, knowledge based on global research and knowledge of “best practice” – that draw on both local and global sources.
The ultimate goal of the team is to present their findings to the CFS in October 2024 to help inform policy and decision-making at national, regional and global level, and contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Serving in their personal capacities, they will engage with the HLPE-FSN Steering Committee. Furthermore, selected experts will be co-authors of this future HLPE-FSN flagship report and will participate in the CFS public debate as part of the HLPE-FSN.
The high-level multidisciplinary team is led by Jane Battersby, who will coordinate the work of nine other members:
Jane Battersby is a human geographer. Senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town (UCT); she has a DPhil from Oxford, an MA from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a BSc (Hons) from Kings College, London.
Her current areas of particular interest are urban food systems, urban food policies and the construction of food security theory in Northern and Southern research contexts. A key area of focus is the ways in which the food system and the urban system interact to shape nutritional outcomes, with a particular focus on the dual burden of malnutrition. Her work has both theoretical and applied components. To this end, she has worked with several NGOs and civil society groups, done consultancy and advisory work with a number of UN Agencies and works closely with local and provincial governments on food policy issues.
