Prelims

Half Title Page

HIGHER EDUCATION AND SDG2

Series Page

HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Series Editor

• Wendy Purcell

  Emeritus Professor and University President Emerita, and Academic Research Scholar with Harvard University

About the Series

Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals is a series of 17 books that address each of the SDGs, in turn, specifically through the lens of higher education. Adopting a solutions-based approach, each book focuses on how higher education is advancing delivery of sustainable development and the United Nations global goals.

Forthcoming Volumes

• Higher Education and SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities edited by Julio Lumbreras and Jaime Moreno-Serna

• Higher Education and SDG4: Quality Education edited by Tawana Kupe

• Higher Education and SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions edited by Sarah E. Mendelson

• Higher Education and SDG10: Reduced Inequalities edited by Priya Grover, Nidhi Phutela, Pragya Singh

Title Page

HIGHER EDUCATION AND SDG2

Zero Hunger

EDITED BY

KAREN CRIPPS

Oxford Brookes University, UK

AND

PARIYARATH SANGEETHA THONDRE

Oxford Brookes University, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL.

First edition 2024

Editorial matter and selection © 2024 Karen Cripps and Pariyarath Sangeetha Thondre.

Individual chapters © 2024 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: www.copyright.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83608-461-7 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83608-458-7 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83608-460-0 (Epub)

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Series Editor Preface

Professor Wendy Purcell PhD FRSA

Higher education (HE) makes an important contribution to realising the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Teaching and learning support the development of responsible citizens as scholars, leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Curiosity-driven and socially impactful research and innovation help advance knowledge frontiers and find solutions for the world’s most pressing issues. As anchor institutions, universities and colleges are also active in civic and community settings, working in partnership with other stakeholders. Given the fierce urgency of (un)sustainable development, the climate crisis, and widening inequity within countries and across the globe, HE institutions (HEIs) need to do more and go faster to deliver fully on their potential to help achieve the SDGs.

This book series focuses on the role of HE in advancing the SDGs, identifying some actionable and scalable initiatives and pointing to opportunities ahead. In sharing the ways and means universities and colleges across the world are engaging with the SDGs, the series seeks to both inspire and enable those in the HE sector and stakeholders beyond to transform what they do and how they do it and thereby hasten progress towards Agenda 2030. Insights gleaned from case studies, reflective accounts, and student stories can help the HE sector both deepen and accelerate its engagement with the SDGs. Each book seeks to capture examples of how HEIs are fulfilling delivery of their academic mission and progressing the SDG concerned. Illustrating the work of students, that undertaken by faculty and staff of the institution, and conducted with partners, positions HE as a change agent operating at a systems level to help create a world that leaves no one behind.

This book on HE and SDG2 highlights the work of universities and colleges focused on achieving the goal of Zero Hunger – to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Hunger is a complex problem that reflects the various scales from global to hyperlocal, from the community to the individual, and from field to fork, and it is growing at an alarming rate. This book clearly articulates differing perspectives across the world and serves to challenge some of our assumptions, for example that food insecurity and promoting sustainable agriculture are not simply concerns in the global South but are rapidly emerging as major issues for affluent nations of the global North. It does this by adopting a truly international flavour with authors drawn from Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Italy, Malawi, Northern Ireland, Peru, Turkey, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. The book reveals how local issues relating to SDG2 are translated into the activities and mission of HEIs and serve to foster global partnerships.

SDG2 reflects undernourishment, chronic and acute malnutrition, wasting and stunting, as well as food insecurity and hidden hunger. It interfaces with so many of the other SDGs, 12 of the 17 goals from good health and well-being (SDG4) and quality education (SDG4) to climate change (SDG13) and life below water (SDG14) and on land (SDG15) as well as those relating to equity (SDG5 gender equality and SDG10 reduced inequalities). Food security is achieved only when everyone has physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. From the use of high-technology supported agriculture models focused on urban food security (Chapter 2), to international research on edible insects as a novel protein source (Chapter 4), the book highlights the work of HEIs in stewardship of land as well as on-campus gardens (Chapter 6), with case studies that can be copied and scaled by the HE sector.

Health of people, planet, and shared prosperity rely upon the full participation of HE with universities and colleges, in turn, needing to pursue greater engagement with the SDGs – not least to reduce their own environmental footprint and become more equitable. As organisations that have stood for many centuries in some cases, this demands that they adapt with new models of learning, research partnerships, and leadership and governance frameworks. Immersive engagement with the SDGs can catalyse pedagogic innovation, serve to refresh curricula, and stimulate new programme development. It can also open new avenues for research, attract new sources of funding, and energise people to deliver on the academic mission. HEIs can play a critical role in developing new systemic and transformative solutions through interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaboration and a purposeful focus on the SDGs. This book illustrates this approach as it relates to SDG2 with HEIs bringing their key assets of curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge and its application to partners seeking solutions and driving innovation, operating in both local and global networks, and connecting the worlds of learning, work, and entrepreneurship in support of more sustainable development. Sustainability is a goal for today and sustainable development an organising principle for universities and colleges.

Acknowledgements

We extend our deep gratitude to Professor Wendy Purcell for her invaluable guidance and mentorship throughout. From supporting a vision of the book through to initiating contacts and shaping book structure, Wendy has been a constant source of wisdom and inspiration. We are also indebted to Katy Mathers and the team at Emerald along with reviewers, for their enthusiastic support and advice.

It goes without saying that we would not be in the privileged position to be writing this without the authors and student contributors. It has been a pleasure to see individual chapters weave together into this collaborative shared story of the excellent work that is happening globally to address SDG2 Zero Hunger. We are truly humbled by everyone’s work and have valued the opportunity to work across disciplines on a global scale.

Personally, Karen dedicates this book to her sons Dylan and Brandon and hopes that the world they grow up in sees much faster progress towards eliminating food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition. Sangeetha thanks her family, friends, and colleagues who have inspired and supported throughout her career, and Karen for her leadership and enthusiasm which made this project a very fulfilling experience.