Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the frontlines of climate change and consistently rank high on a range of risk and climate vulnerability indices. In this talk, a socio-metabolic research (SMR) perspective will be adopted to analyze the challenges of food and nutrition insecurity in the Caribbean. From being a net exporter of food, the region underwent a transition in the 1970s and now imports 83% of its total food requirements. Yet, 67.5% of the population faces food and nutrition insecurity, in contrast to the global average of 27.6%. What does this mean for the region’s food security when subject to shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic? And where are the barriers, and opportunities for a transition from vulnerability to viability?

The talk is presented by Simron J. Singh, Professor and University Research Chair (URC) in the Faculty of Environment. Using the analogy that islands function like living organisms, he conducts socio-metabolic research to evaluate how small island economies utilize (or metabolize) materials, energy, water, and infrastructure. His research partnerships span island nations in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Asia-Pacific regions. He is the founder and lead of the research program “Metabolism of Islands”, the Executive Secretary of the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE), chairs the inaugural board of Island Industrial Ecology within ISIE, and co-chairs Risk-KAN, a global research and action network of Future Earth, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), the World Weather Research Program (WWRP), and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).