Theresa Lonetti, M.A. Food Studies
Bioversity International. Italy
My internship at Bioversity International gave me first-hand experience in applying to real life situations the lessons learned during the M.A. Food Studies program on development, policy, agricultural practices, and research methods. The internship tasks consisted of reviewing literature and landmark publications on conservation and sustainable use of on-farm conservation and participatory plant breeding in order to provide a report on background and context, methods and approaches, advantages and disadvantages, main achievements, barriers and constraints and future opportunities of these practices.
This internship was focused on various issues discussed in the Food Studies program including: the projected growth of global population to 9 billion by 2050, the SDGs eradicating poverty and hunger by 2030, the fundamental ideas of climate change adaptability, equity, biodiversity, agricultural practices, and using a bottom-up approach of partnering with small farmers to ensure adoption and resilience for a sustainable increase in food production for a more food secure future. It was important for me to see that all of these topics discussed in the program鈥檚 courses are at the center of international organizations like Bioversity, thus proving that the Food Studies program at 91吃瓜 provides students with the tools to be knowledgeable and useful in the context of global international development.