Our Hungry Planet: Agriculture, People and Food Security

This free online course, a massive open online course (MOOC), on agriculture and food security is being run by experts from the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading, UK. Lasting 6 weeks and requiring 3 hours of study per week, it covers the challenges of growing crops and managing livestock at the regional, national, community and household level, focusing on the experience of family farmers (who produce 80% of the world’s food) in rural and urban settings in Uganda and the UK. It considers:

• What are the key issues facing producers and consumers of food, and how do they compare?
• What factors influence the way we grow, process, package, transport and consume food?
• How does agriculture - and its wide-ranging impacts in these different regions - relate to us?
• And how does the food we grow, buy, eat and throw away relate to global food security issues?
• Consider your own role in global food security

Each week, participants are invited to take part in activities that help them reflect on their own food habits, including keeping a food waste diary; analysing the weekly shop; and sharing experiences of food and farming in the  community.

The course is currently running and is in week 6, and further start dates are also planned. Participants receive a certificate on completion.