• Showcase a deep understanding of the global food supply chain from farm to fork
• Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the concept of food security and its global and local challenges and implications
• Explain how different factors of the globalization process have affected the food supply chain, causing economic, environmental, and social consequences
• Apply key notions of international business, political economy, and supply chain management to analyze complexities of the global food supply chain today
• Identify the challenges MNCs are faced with in the GFSC from a food governance perspective, analyze their root causes and tradeoffs
• Present initiatives (e.g., MNC strategies, governmental or regulatory interventions, NGO actions, multi-stakeholder initiatives and new ventures) addressing these challenges in the global food supply chain and discuss their strength and weakness

As the Covid-19 crisis unfolded in 2020, images of empty supermarket shelves across the world highlighted disruptions in domestic and international food supply chains. Food security risks and tensions surfaced, impacting the process from field to consumer: movement restrictions affected production workers, consumer demands changed, food production facilities closed, food trade policies shifted, and financial pressure mounted. In order to understand these food system vulnerabilities and food security challenges laid bare by the pandemic, we need to look at contemporary agribusiness and their impact on global agricultural transformation.

Food is one of the basic material needs in daily life, and agriculture our oldest collective activity, remaining at the core of most economies around the world. However, farming is no longer an activity of nostalgic villages and bucolic life. Agribusiness has become an increasingly globalized, industrialized and complex sector, dominated and coordinated by MNCs. At the same time, global food security is one of our biggest challenges, as the global food system is impacted by growing populations, economic growth objectives, climate challenges, disruptive technologies and evolving consumer demands. How can we reconcile contemporary food security challenges with agri-business market-based solutions taking into account specific economic interests as well as environmental and other costs?

Drawing on concepts from the fields of international business, political economy, food studies and supply chain management, this course aims to unpack global agribusiness by providing a thorough understanding of the complexities of our dynamic and interconnected food system. After an introduction on the globalization of our food supply chain from a food security perspective, the course is built up along two blocks. PART 1 considers the different stages of the global food supply chain from farm to fork, focusing on key actors such as governments and MNCs. We build up our knowledge along the food supply chain by discussing investments in land and agriculture, seed and fertilizer businesses, the production and processing industries, logistics and retail, as well as the consumer. PART 2 of the course will take an in-dept look at essential topics and current challenges dealing with the governance of our globalized food supply chain, focusing primarily on food security, but also sustainability issues and alternative food production systems, international food governance and regulations, new food technologies, and vulnerabilities in the global food supply chain. As such, the course not only gives an overview of the global food supply chain, but also introduces the related challenges, as well as the myriad stakeholders and their role in our rapidly evolving food systems.

This course is suitable for students who are aspiring to work in or study the fields of agribusiness, state-business relations, food systems or food politics, and transformations of political economy with a global scope.