ANH Academy Webinar Series: Food systems approaches to food and nutrition security in humanitarian crises

Armed conflict continues to claim and threaten lives in many countries including Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia. UNHCR estimates that there are 20.4 million refugees and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) estimates an additional 45.7 million internally displaced persons due to armed conflict (end of 2019). While the initial need of forcibly displaced persons, in most situations, is quick access to water, food, sanitation and shelter, in protracted crises where people are displaced for long periods of time this need shifts to other forms of support that promote building livelihoods and becoming self-sufficient. Pathways to becoming self-sufficient include producing food for sustenance and/or to sell, engaging with the food market through employment (e.g. retailer, distributor) and diversifying income sources to improve resilience to shocks such as reduced food production and/or increased prices.    

In this seminar series we explore: 

1. Frameworks for food system approaches to food and nutrition security in settings impacted by protracted crises 

2. Existing evidence base and gaps from both research and practitioner perspectives 

3. Data landscape and the future for data acquisition in armed-conflict contexts  

Those interested must register for each webinar separately. Learn more about each of the three webinars in the series using these links:

(1) Frameworks for food system approaches to food and nutrition security in settings impacted by protracted crises

The first session of this seminar series focused on the framing of food security in armed-conflict contexts. What makes these settings different to non-humanitarian settings in terms of assessing and improving food security? What are the challenges faced when defining frameworks aimed at serving multiple sectors (such as NGOs, health care workers, researchers) 

Speakers for the first webinar series: 

• Laura Hammond, SOAS, University of London

• Wilson Makuwaza, Food and Agriculture Organization

• Hala Ghattas, American University of Beirut  

Chair: Claire Dooley,  London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

(2) Existing evidence base and gaps from both research and practitioner perspectives 

This session will include case studies relating to foo security in conflict-affected settings. This session will address the challenges and methods in accurately measuring food security, determinants of food security in conflict settings and the effectiveness of interventions. Presenters include both researchers and practitioners. 

Speakers for the second webinar series: 

• Sharad Tandon, World Bank   

• Olivier Sterck, University of Oxford  

• Steve Wiggins, ODI 

• Marianella Herrera-Cuenca, Central University of Venezuela 

Chair: Claire Dooley, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

(3) Data landscape and the future for data acquisition in armed-conflict contexts  

In this final session, we focus on the future. What are the key data collection challenges? What are the next steps in developing innovative methods to make use of the existing data? 

Speakers for the third webinar series: 

• Kaija Korpi-Salmela, IPC

• Erin Lentz, University of Texas  

• Francesco Checchi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine 

• Noe Hinck, International Organization for Migration

• Lia Pozzi, World Food Programme 

Chair: Claire Dooley, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine