Global Center for Food Systems Innovation - AFRE Collaboration
Co-Principal Investigators
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Eric Crawford
Professor Emeritus
crawfor5@msu.edu
517-432-2481
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David Ortega
Professor and Noel W. Stuckman Chair in Food Economics & Policy
dlortega@msu.edu
517-353-2981
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David Tschirley
Professor
tschirle@msu.edu
517-355-0134
Non-AFRE Co-Principle Investigators: See a full list of all MSU Co_PI's and other faculty PI's at partner institution on GCFSI's website
Overview
The Global Center for Food Systems Innovation (GCFSI) project is centered at MSU in International Studies and Programs, and is part of a USAID Feed the Future funded effort entitle “Higher Education Solutions Network”. GCFIS's overall goal is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of USAID programs, through an innovative and cost-effective partnership with scientists and practitioners from academia, the private sector, and strategically chosen research and development laboratories, thereby building a sustainable consortium of global problem solvers.
The Global Center for Food Systems Innovation launched as a consortium led by Michigan State University. A range of institutions with individual strengths was created to support the mission including academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. GCFSIs consortium partners include:
- Michigan State University, USA
- CRDF Global
- Lincoln University, Pennsylvania
- The Energy & Resources Institute, India
- LUANAR (formerly Bunda College), Malawi
- Wageningen University and Research Center, The Netherlands
The Center's approach to global food systems is holistic and combines expertise from disciplines such as agricultural and food science, biotechnology, economics, education, engineering, including postharvest, processing, and packaging. The Center will facilitate scalable solutions to complex development problems by employing connected knowledge, breakthrough thinking, and problem-solving practices that include experimentation, rapid prototyping, and developing locally relevant applications.
AFRE faculty collaborate with MSU/ISP and others at MSU, helping manage this project, and work on the second of the set of food system change mega-trends being focused on by GCFSI:
- Pressures on land from population growth and climate change
- Food system transformations driven by rapid urbanization and income growth
- Evolution in Skills Required by Food Systems Transformation
Implementation Dec. 2012 – Jan. 2017