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Feeding the World Sustainably
The global food system is under pressure: Farmers and agribusinesses have to produce food for a growing population. This increases the environmental burden, as greenhouse gas emissions accelerate climate change, biodiversity loss increases, and resources become scarce. How can this system become more sustainable? This question forms the basis of new Robert Bosch Junior Professor Dr. Verena Seufert’s research.
Verena Seufert’s research focuses on how sustainable agriculture can help global food production become both more environmentally and socially responsible. “We need to find sustainable ways of producing food, so that we can feed each and every person on this planet in the long term,” explains Seufert.
Replicating local best practices in other regions
The Junior Professor will focus on regions in India and Mexico that manage to achieve strong agricultural yields despite climatic fluctuations – all without compromising biodiversity or depleting natural resources. The aim is to be able to replicate lessons learned from successful local systems in other regions or contexts, thereby playing a role in steering global agricultural food production toward greater sustainability.
About the person
Verena Seufert studied Biology at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg and wrote her diploma thesis on the role of nitrogen in crop productivity at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Seufert holds a PhD in Geography from McGill University, Canada, on the contribution of organic agriculture to global food security. Most recently, she was Assistant Professor at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije University in Amsterdam, where she conducted research into land use and food system dynamics.