On August 22 and 23, 2013, the Global Center for Food Systems Innovations (GCFSI) will host a symposium in East Lansing, MI to discuss the first round of white papers focused on analyzing the megatrends in the East Africa region. These white papers will serve as a basis for innovation grants in 2014. GCFSI finds it of crucial importance to discuss their findings with others in the scientific community.

Michigan State University’s (MSU) GCFSI is one of seven Development Labs part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN). Since November 2013, GCFSI has been working on a series of white papers aimed at identifying the crucial and most pressing issues in the area of food systems, with a particular focus on three megatrends. These three megatrends, which include (1) Population Growth, Climate Change, and Pressure on Land; (2)  Rapid Urbanization and Transformation of the Food System; and (3) Evolution in Skills Required by Food System Transformation, will influence prospects for sustainable food production and consumption over the next two decades.