May 6, ICGC Brown Bag Series, Global Food Security and Social Justice

ICGC Brown Bag Series Friday May 6th, 2016 Noon-1pm 537 Heller Hall Panel: Global Food Security and Social Justice Presenters: Aaron Eddens, Department of American Studies, & Alexander Liebman, Department of Horticultural Sciences Faculty Moderator: Dave Wilsey, Program Director for the Masters in Development Practice (MDP) Program, co-administered by ICGC and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs Panelist Biographies: Aaron Eddens (ICGC Global Food Security Fellow) will present ideas from his dissertation, tentatively titled “‘Climate-Smart’ Seeds: Science, Property, and the Changing Landscape of International Agriculture,” which studies several contemporary agricultural development projects that are introducing hybrid and genetically modified maize varieties in eastern and southern Africa. As public-private partnerships involving some of the world's largest agribusiness and agricultural development institutions, these projects demonstrate important shifts in the political economic and scientific landscape of international development. Aaron’s dissertation theorizes how these efforts both shape and reflect new relations of science and property. Alex Liebman (ICGC Global Food Security Fellow) uses the lens of agroecology – in its biological, political, and economic dimensions – to explore nutrient cycling in agroecosystems and its relation to food sovereignty and ecological conservation. He researches aboveground-belowground relationships in agroecosystems and their implications for nutrient cycling, currently studying legume cover cropping systems in the upper Midwest. In Fall 2016 he will be researching the effects of pasture diversification in grazed agroforestry systems on soil carbon in Colombia as a U.S. Borlaug Global Food Security Fellow. Simultaneously he plans to explore the production of scientific knowledge regarding soil organic matter and how this is linked to institutional dialogues and initiatives on food security, carbon sequestration, and land-use. Dave Wilsey’s (MDP Program Director) research and practice focus on development of programs that support integrated natural resource conservation and livelihoods, generally focusing on forest-and farm-based livelihood systems. He is particularly interested in the role of non-timber forest products in food and livelihood systems and in the use of market-based interventions to foster sustainable development in natural resource dependent communities. For a full list of ICGC Events go to ICGC.umn.edu