Website: www.fsc.uni-hohenheim.de
SEARCA has been tapped by the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany as one of its network partners in its Food Security Center (FSC) supported by the Government of Germany.
The FSC is a newly established center of excellence in development collaboration at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of the five excellence centers of the program "Exceed- Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperation," supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany. The mission of FSC is to make effective and innovative scientific contributions in research, teaching, and policy advice to eradicate hunger and achieve food security in collaboration with partner Higher Education Institutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as national and international development and research organizations. The FSC activities deal with issues of sustainable food availability, food access, food use, and food utilization.
The University of Hohenheim's partner universities in developing countries are Sokoine University of Agriculture and Technology, Tanzania; Universidad de Costa Rica; and Kasetsart University, Thailand.
The objectives of the Food Security Center are to:
- Promote interdisciplinary teaching and training of PhDs and PostDocs through the Young Excellence School in Hohenheim and strengthening MSc and PhD programs at Partner Higher Education institutes in developing countries;
- Facilitate demand-driven and impact-oriented research at postgraduate level through empirical research projects in developing countries and collaboration with CGIAR centers, development organizations, and local and national stakeholders;
- Strengthen capacity building through North-South, South-North and South-South academic exchange by having visiting professorships and lectureships, as well as PhD scholarships and sandwich PhD/PostDoc scholarships;
- Support capacity strengthening at universities in developing countries through regional networking, fostering institutional linkages at the global scale, and providing structural and personal support of selected postgraduate study programs; and
- Provide knowledge transfer and brokerage by organizing international conferences annually and support external conferences and expert meetings, organizing lecture series for the wider public, establishing a web domain and online discussion paper series, supporting publications and publication platforms, and offering policy advice and expert contacts.
- Short- and long-term lectureships and research stays for German staff with any of the partner universities of SEARCA
- Short- and long-term lectureships and research stays at the Universität Hohenheim of Asian scientists, lecturers, and post-graduate students (master’s and/or PhD students) from any of SEARCA’s partner universities
- Oganization of joint research activities, conferences, workshops, seminars, lectures, and symposia in Southeast Asia
- Exchange of scientific materials, publications, and other relevant information
- Other forms of academic exchange subject to mutual consent
For this DAAD-funded program, FSC has six strategic partners:
- Kasetsart University (KU)
- Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)
- University of Costa Rica (UC)
- Centre in International Migration and Development (CATIE)
- Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM)
- Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA)
In each region, there is one regional coordinator, who is hosted by one of these six strategic partners. At present regional coordinators are:
| Asia: | Wiboon Chongrattanameteekul
Kasetsart University (Thailand) |
| Latin America: | Victor Jiménez
University of Costa Rica (Costa Rica) |
| Africa: | Wellington N. Ekaya
RUFORUM (Uganda) |
The project is expected to be completed in five years effective June 2009.
Scholarships for Graduate Students to Attend FSC Summer School 2010: Disease-Related Malnutrition
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