Jessica Fanzo named to Group Seeking Systemic Solutions for Climate Change’s Impact on Food Systems

Berman Institute faculty member Jessica Fanzo has been named to the recently launched Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) subcommittee on Systemic Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Agricultural, Nutrition, and Food Systems. The subcommittee will lead transdisciplinary evidence gathering to advise BIFAD with independent recommendations to improve U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programming and strategies.

“As a global community, we must act quickly to avoid the most severe consequence of climate changeon the world’s food supply and the health, food security, and safety of the world’s most vulnerable populations,” said Fanzo.

Dr. Fanzo is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Food Policy and Ethics at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She also serves as the Director of Hopkins’ Global Food Policy and Ethics Program, and as Director of Food & Nutrition Security at the JHU Alliance for a Healthier World.

“I am honored to serve on the BIFAD Subcommittee on Systemic Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. Alongside twelve other global experts, we recently began our work supporting BIFAD and USAID toward our shared goal of a resilient, prosperous, and equitable world with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Together, we have the important task of exploring evidence-based climate change action in programs aimed at safeguarding agricultural productivity, inclusive food systems changes, and poverty- and malnutrition-reduction objectives.”

The subcommittee is envisioned to support USAID’s role in accelerating systems change and transformative climate change adaptation and mitigation approaches in agriculture, food systems and nutrition, and in targeting climate finance to benefit smallholder farmers.  Subcommittee members bring a breadth of expertise across disciplines, diversity of views, and organizational perspectives to tackle the greatest challenge to food security.