Chaire UNESCO Alimentations du monde

Revealing the dynamics of African food systems

Justine Hugues — 2025-11-27T13:10:16Z

Africa stands out for the convergence of major global issues, all of which profoundly shape its food systems. We need to move beyond dichotomous representations of Africa either as a region in crisis, structurally dependent on international aid, or as the ‘continent of the future', potentially the ultimate frontier for global growth. The recognition of Africa's diverse cuisines is part of a process of heritage preservation that, combined with a dynamic of contemporary creativity and re-compositions spawned by the diaspora, highlights their richness and constant renewal.

- Summary notes

The Montpellier Food Fund: an action research project on food democracy

Justine Hugues — 2025-11-27T11:12:13Z

The prospect of making food a matter of democracy, and of transforming its social and political organisation with a view to combating food inequalities and promoting the sustainability of food systems, is at the heart of a collective experiment currently underway in Montpellier : the Caisse alimentaire commune. How can we promote access to sustainable food for all? How can we make food a subject of democracy and encourage citizens to take ownership of the challenges facing our food systems? What mechanisms can be used to make these systems more sustainable? These are some of the questions guiding the experiment.

- Summary notes

Evaluating food system innovations

Justine Hugues — 2023-10-12T14:28:12Z

A global toolkit for cities.

- Books

24/ A territorial approach to food insecurity factors using open access data

Mathilde COUDRAY — 2023-01-09T18:53:26Z

– Justine Labarre, Unesco Chair in World Food Systems, Montpellier, France Claire Néel, INRAE, UMR Innovation, Montpellier, France Coline Perrin, INRAE, UMR Innovation, Montpellier, France Nicolas Bricas, Cirad, UMR MoISA and Unesco Chair in World Food Systems, Montpellier, France
Key points The work presented here complements the traditional measurement of food aid beneficiary numbers by proposing an index to identify territories with presumed food insecurity. This index is based on open (...)

- Policy Briefs / Bricas Nicolas, Perrin Coline, Policy brief, Gouvernance/politique, Sociale, Français, Ressources de la Chaire, Depuis 2020, Labarre Justine, Néel Claire

23/ More vegetarian meals in school canteens to reconcile nutritional quality and environmental protection in France

Mathilde COUDRAY — 2022-11-22T14:21:10Z

– Nicole Darmon, INRAE, UMR MoISA, Montpellier, France Romane Poinsot, MS-Nutrition, Marseille, France Florent Vieux, MS-Nutrition, Marseille, France
Key points Current French school catering regulations require at least one unground red meat meal and one vegetarian meal to be served every week. In school meals, the choice of the dish to serve as a “protein dish” has a strong influence on the environmental impact of the meal and little influence on its nutritional quality. Meals with a (...)

- Policy Briefs / Darmon Nicole, Policy brief, Gouvernance/politique, Environnementale, Biologique, Français, Ressources de la Chaire, Depuis 2020, Poinsot Romane, Vieux Florent

21/ Child undernutrition in Guatemala: aggravating factors and levers

Mathilde COUDRAY — 2022-09-29T18:21:24Z

– Juliana Yael Milovich, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, United Kingdom Elena Villar, Department of Economics and Finance, Catholic University of Milan, Italy
Key points The aggressive expansion of African palm farming in Guatemala is exacerbating chronic child undernutrition by jeopardizing families' access to sufficient food. Nutritional health programmes that operate at local level and involve all community members are particularly effective in reducing child (...)

- Policy Briefs / Policy brief, Gouvernance/politique, Biologique, Anglais, Ressources de la Chaire, Depuis 2020, Milovich Juliana Yael, Villar Elena

20/ Does weight status increase vulnerability to the food environment?

Mathilde COUDRAY — 2022-09-16T11:21:46Z

– Marine Mas, UMR CSGA, INRAE, Dijon, France Stéphanie Chambaron, UMR CSGA, INRAE, Dijon, France Marie-Claude Brindisi, CHU Bourgogne, Dijon, France
Key points All individuals tend to “go towards” food automatically, especially food that is energy-dense. This potentially explains the obesogenic effect of the Western food environment. Some individuals have a cognitive vulnerability to the food environment. This vulnerability is driven by more than conscious factors, and challenges the “lack of (...)

- Policy Briefs / Policy brief, Consommation, Biologique, Anglais, Ressources de la Chaire, Depuis 2020, Mas Marine, Chambaron Stéphanie, Brindisi Marie-Claude

19/ Hidden costs and the fair price of our food: between the market, the State and the commons

Mathilde COUDRAY — 2022-09-15T16:20:42Z

Jean-Louis Rastoin, L'Institut Agro Montpellier, France
Key points The market price of food products reflects only a limited share (between a third and half) of their true cost if we take into account the negative externalities associated with their production, distribution and consumption. These harmful impacts pertain to human health (50% of hidden costs on average), the environment (30%), and the economy (20%). These figures vary due to the territorial diversity of food systems. (...)

- Policy Briefs / Rastoin Jean-Louis, Policy brief, Système alimentaire, Économique, Anglais, Ressources de la Chaire, Depuis 2020

18/ The social stratification of sustainable food practices

Mathilde COUDRAY — 2022-07-04T13:57:18Z

– Carla Altenburger, L'Institut Agro Montpellier, UMR Innovation and UMR IRISSO, Paris, France
Key points Looking at sustainable food practices, understood here as the purchase of products labelled as “organic” or “fair trade” or that refer to a geographical origin, the French population can be split into consumers and non-consumers of such products. All the consumers surveyed fit one of four typical profiles, the comparison of which shows that sustainable food practices are strongly shaped by (...)

- Policy Briefs / Policy brief, Consommation, Culturelle, Anglais, Ressources de la Chaire, Depuis 2020, Altenburger Carla

Final report - results of the Foodscapes project

Mathilde COUDRAY — 2022-06-28T09:08:52Z

This report presents the results and recommendations of the Foodscapes project.

- Reports