Monarch Media is collaborating with the Eurasian Center for Food Security (ECFS) at Moscow State University (MSU) to develop two online master’s programs focused on food security needs in the Eurasian region.
The master’s programs are targeted to regional students and aims to equip them with appropriate knowledge and tools for careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors related to agribusiness, natural resources management, and food security. These programs will be delivered by the Eurasian Center for Food Security at MSU, in cooperation with the World Bank.
“This project is a great example of how our work in eLearning has a global impact,” explains Claire Schneeberger the learning designer for the project who traveled to Moscow in November. “We’re providing the design and engineering for the online program and collaborating with thought leaders from around the world.”
In addition to the role of ECFS and MSU, a consortium has been formed by Monarch Media, the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) to complete the World Bank project.
“Many people don’t understand what ‘food security’ means,” says Schneeberger. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “Food security exists when people have, at all times, physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for an active and healthy life.” Food security is more than just a concern for producing and consuming sufficient calories. Food produced and consumed must be safe and nutritious, and it must be produced and consumed in a way that does not impair the long-term ability of a region, nation, or the world to produce food for consumption. Thus, food and nutrition are closely linked with the environment and sustainability. Understanding food security is also about understanding the history, development, social, cultural, and economic contexts of different regions of the world.
The vision of both master’s degree programs is to go beyond a strictly Natural Resources and AgroFood Management approach to provide an interdisciplinary and interrelated foundation to the essential problems in agrofood security and how to solve them in long-term and sustainable ways.
“The project is a perfect fit for Monarch because of our specialization in designing online learning programs and systems that tackle challenging learning goals,” says Schneeberger. “As an industry leader in online training here in the U.S., it’s very rewarding to be working at the global level.”