The “COVID-19 and Africa” webinar series is hosted by the Liu Institute Network for Africa at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia. It is graduate student-led initiative aimed at examining African responses to COVID-19 across the different sectors to include public health, food security, education, and other topics.
The second session of the series, Impacts on Food Systems, Nutrition and Health, will examine the actual and potential impacts of COVID-19 on Africa’s agricultural and food systems. Esteemed speakers from Ghana, Ethiopia, Botswana and the FAO Africa Regional office will share their insights into the implications COVID-19 has had on health and livelihoods in their regions.
*Please register in advance. The webinar passcode will be emailed to all registered attendees before the session.
Opening remarks by Dr. Santa Ono, UBC’s 15th President and Vice-Chancellor.
Moderator: Professor Rickey Yada, Dean of Faculty of Land and Food Systems, UBC
Speakers:
• Professor Amos Laar, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health, University of Ghana
• Professor Maria S. Nnyepi, Human Nutrition, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Botswana
• Dr. Ade Freeman, FAO Africa Regional Program Leader
• Dr. Namukolo Covic, Senior Research Coordinator, IFPRI, Ethiopia
Speakers’ Bios:
Amos Laar, Associate Professor of Public Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon
Professor Amos Laar has academic training in Nutrition, Public Health, and Bioethics. In his independent scholarship, he draws on theoretical and conceptual perspectives from the social sciences, bioethics, and public health to understand how physical environment, social environment, and structural forces affect health. Currently, his research focuses on two distinct, yet related areas of public health: bioethics (research ethics, ethics & public health; health & human rights); & public health nutrition (food environment, & nutrition-related non-communicable diseases).
He is an active researcher having served as Principal/Co-Investigator of over 20 successful research grants at the University of Ghana. He co-led the “Dietary Transitions in Ghanaian Cities”; the “Dietary Transitions in African Cities Projects” (both projects aimed to identify how social, and physical environments drive consumption of energy dense nutrient-poor foods and beverages). He is the Principal Investigator of an IDRC-funded MEALS4NCDs Project which is “measuring the healthiness of Ghanaian children’s food environments to prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases”.
Amos Laar has been engaged internationally on matters relating to public health nutrition, including participating in the 66th Session of the UN-General Assembly Meeting in New York, 2011; participation in UN Economic Commission for Africa Expert Group Meeting on “Reducing Child Stunting in Africa, Nov 2017 in Addis Ethiopia, and in the UN FAO’s Future of Food Symposium in Rome, Jun 2019 .
He leads implementation of the INFORMAS protocols in Ghana – learn more here.
He was recently recognized in the Lancet, for his efforts at combating nutrition-related NCDs in Ghana – learn more here.
Details of Amos Laar’s work may be accessed from his website.
Maria S Nnyepi, Professor in Human Nutrition, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Botswana
Prof. Maria S. Nnyepi, a native of Botswana, is a Professor of Human Nutrition in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Botswana. Prof. Nnyepi holds MS and PhD degrees in Human Nutrition from Michigan State University. Her bachelor’s degree is in Medical Dietetics from the University of Columbia- Missouri. Prior to working for the University of Botswana, she worked as a National Maternal and Child Nutrition Coordinator with the Ministry of Health, Botswana. She has worked extensively in the area of maternal and child nutrition. Her research works also explored the nutritional status of populations at risk for malnutrition (preschool children, HIV positive children, adolescent and adults, and communities practicing flood recession farming. She is currently working on a project focusing on the nutrition care of end-of- life patients who are cared for at home. Prof. Nnyepi has taught human nutrition courses for Family and Consumer Sciences and Nursing students. Some of the courses she has taught include an Introductory Nutrition course, Nutrition throughout the Lifecycle, Clinical Nutrition and Contemporary Issues in Foods and Nutrition. She is also a registered dietician with the Botswana Dietetics Association and the Botswana Health Professions Council. Prof. Nnyepi has also held the following administrative positions as the University of Botswana; Head of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Deputy Dean, and Dean of the Faculty of Education.
Dr. Ade Freeman, Regional Programme Leader, FAO Regional Office for Africa
Ade provides management and leadership for strategic planning, formulation, execution, monitoring and reporting of FAO’s programme of work in Africa. He also supports the FAO Assistant Director General/Regional Representative in collaboration with FAO Representatives in engaging Member Governments in formulating and implementing the Organization’s work in response to regional priorities within the context of FAO’s Strategic Outcomes. Prior to joining FAO, he held several positions at the World Bank, including management and leadership responsibilities for investment operations, analytical and advisory activities, and policy dialogue on issues related to investment and trade, sector competitiveness and spatial development strategies such as growth corridors and special economic zones. He worked extensively in research and senior management positions in four International Agricultural Research Centers within the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research. He holds a PhD in Applied Economics from University of Minnesota.
Dr. Namukolo Covic, Senior Research Coordinator, IFPRI, Ethiopia
Namukolo Covic, PhD is a Registered Nutritionist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) with a dual background in agriculture and nutrition. She is a Senior Research Coordinator at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her work with IFPRI focuses on the CGIAR Collaborative Research Programme on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) and includes engaging with African Union and Ethiopian Government efforts that seek to address food security and nutrition from a food system perspective. The work straddles the interface of policy, dynamics of agriculture and food systems and related interventions, and how research could inform the intended impact on nutrition and health outcomes for Low-Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs) with special focus on Africa. She has experience working in several African countries.
Find her on Twitter @NamukoloC
Moderator’s Bio:
Rickey Y. Yada, PhD Professor and Dean Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia
In 2014, Professor Rickey Yada was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. Prior to UBC, Dr. Yada was at the University of Guelph where he held numerous leadership roles, including Assistant Vice President Research, Canada Research Chair in Food Protein Structure, Scientific Director of the Advanced Foods and Materials Network (Networks of Centres of Excellence), and Founding Member of the Food Institute. He is, currently, the North American Editor of Trends in Food Science and Technology as well as serving on the editorial board of several journals.
His areas of research includes: the structure – function relationships of enzymes (aspartic proteases) and carbohydrate biochemistry as related to nutrition and food quality.
Dr. Yada serves in a leadership capacity to several research and industry organizations, some of which include Chair of the Board of Trustees, International Life Science Institute – North America; Board of Bioenterprise Inc.; Advisory Committee Member – Arrell Food Institute and Seeding Food Innovation Grant Program (George Weston Loblaws); Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel – Riddet Institute (New Zealand); and a Member of the Advisory Panel – AgResearch (New Zealand). He is also a Past President and Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology and the International Academy of the International Union of Food Science and Technology, and is also a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. Dr. Yada has an honorary DSc from the University of Guelph and was the 2019 Harraways 1867 Visiting Professor, University of Otago, New Zealand.
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