Global Food Security and Nutrition MSc, PgDip, PgCert (Online Learning) The University of Edinburgh

Food security is concerned with the availability, access, and utilisation of safe, nutritious and sustainable food for all, especially vulnerable groups within society.

The challenges related to food are not only the existence of approximately 795 million undernourished people in the world (Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)) but also:

• the increasing presence of diet-related, non-communicable diseases (e.g. diabetes and heart disease)
• the contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gas emissions
• land-use change

Understanding the interconnection of food, health and the environment, as well as their trade-offs, is vital to formulate policies that enable us to achieve food security in a sustainable manner.

What will I learn?

This programme recognises that food security concerns not only food policy and food production issues but other aspects such as:

• land tenure
• immigration
• demographics
• diet and nutrition
• technology
• natural resources (e.g., pressures on water and soil)
• climate change

We offer expertise and research on these topics, and the team have good working relationships with international organisations that are at the cutting edge of addressing food security issues, such as:

• Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
• World Food Programme (WFP)
• Organics International (IFOAM)

Online learning

Our online learning technology is fully interactive, and award-winning and enables you to communicate with our highly qualified teaching staff from the comfort of your own home or workplace.

Our online students not only have access to Edinburgh's excellent resources but also become part of a supportive online community, bringing together students and tutors from around the world.

Assessment and feedback

The programme has been designed to use a range of assessment tools, both formative and summative, with multiple feedback opportunities across the programme.

Summative assessment and feedback have been designed to help students develop the key skills associated with the learning outcomes and tied to practical applications such as reports and grant writing.

Formative assessment (e.g. MCQs and discussion groups) will be included in each course to provide opportunities for feedback before assessment deadlines. Opportunities will be provided for formative feedback on assessment drafts.

The University of Edinburgh is currently ranked 15th in the World in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

The aim of this programme is to train students in the breadth of issues relating to food security and give them key skills to understand and critically assess problems across food systems. At the end of the programme, students should have an understanding of the global context of food security and nutrition, identify and critically assess the main trade-offs between food security and nutrition and other goals in food systems. The programme aims to give students the ability to carry out independent research, produce reports to a professional standard, and be competent in constricting logically sound arguments.

By the end of the programme students will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of, and critical evaluation and assessment of the main theories, principles, and concepts related to agronomic, environmental, economic, nutritional, and socio-political factors that influence food security.
• Apply food security and nutrition practical methods to scientific information and methods in the analysis of complex.
• Develop critical analysis skills to review complex issues relating to food security and nutrition, and formulate an original research problem and independently carry out the research needed to produce an appropriate solution in a range of scientific or policy contexts.
• Apply and enhance a range of communication, ICT and numeracy skills applicable to food security and nutrition problems.
• Work individually or as part of a group, make informed judgments about the complex problems connected to global food security, and nutrition.

This programme is designed to equip graduates with the skills to go on to careers in government and international Non-Governmental Organisations working in a broad range of areas relating to food security.

There are increasing postgraduate research opportunities available in the food security arena, in the UK, EU and internationally.

There are also some positions in the private sector that will be attractive to graduates such as retail, food supply management, or even commodity trading.

Programme structure

The programme is composed of:

• 90 credits of compulsory courses
• 30 credits of elective courses (chosen from a range of options such as food policy, food safety, global health, conservation, and development)
• 60-credit Master’s dissertation

It is designed to be taken part-time over three years (20 hours per week), with an option to complete the course in up to six years if required.

Students may exit the programme after completing:

• 60 credits (Certificate) or
• 120 credits (Diploma)

Courses will also be offered as standalone Postgraduate Professional Development options.

Year 1

• Nutrition for Food Security
• Frameworks to Assess Food Security
• Sustainable Food Production
• Understanding Planetary Health & Data: An Introduction to the Concepts and Themes

Year 2

• Nutrition for Food Security
• Frameworks to Assess Food Security
• Sustainable Food Production
• Understanding Planetary Health & Data: An Introduction to the Concepts and Themes

Postgraduate Professional Development

Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) is aimed at working professionals who want to advance their knowledge through a postgraduate-level course(s), without the time or financial commitment of a full Master, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate.

You may take a maximum of 50 credits worth of courses over two years through our PPD scheme. These lead to a University of Edinburgh postgraduate award of academic credit.

Alternatively, after one year of taking courses, you can choose to transfer your credits and continue on to studying towards a higher award on a Master, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.

Although PPD courses have various start dates throughout the year you may only start a Master, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme in the month of September.

Any time spent studying PPD will be deducted from the amount of time you will have left to complete a Master, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.