In 2024, the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil carried out, in partnership with PUC-RJ, an academic research project that resulted in two capstones (in-depth studies developed in groups) produced by the university’s master’s students in international policy analysis and management.
Presented in January this year, the papers dealt with issues of great relevance on the global agenda in 2025. The first, entitled ‘BRICS and Food Security’, explored the presence and relevance of the issue of food security on the BRICS agenda, mapping its history and current status, as well as compiling references for the actions of the Brazilian presidency in the group in 2025.
The second capstone focused on Climate and School Feeding and systematised the existing literature, as well as the main lines of argument and work supported and followed by the various actors and authors who have been working on the issue. The work also aimed to provide analysis and reflection for the Climate Conference (COP 30), which will be held in Brazil in November 2025.
The partnership between the WFP Centre of Excellence and PUC Rio’s Institute of International Relations has been ongoing for several years and promotes the production of research and knowledge that can be relevant to the challenges faced by the countries where the Centre operates.
For Programme Officer Maria Giulia Senesi, these projects make it possible to encourage new academics to delve deeper into topics that are close to the daily life of the Centre of Excellence, opening up a two-way street in this partnership. ‘We have diversified and enriched the debate on food security and school feeding by including cross-cutting themes of global governance of the utmost relevance, such as BRICs and the climate issue,’ said Maria Giulia, who, together with Programme Officers Ana Clara Cathalat and Nayla Almeida, taught the course students.
The ultimate aim of the partnership is to engage with academia and receive research inputs from the students in areas such as school feeding programmes, food and nutritional security for vulnerable populations, food systems and rural development.
With the WFP’s technical and institutional support, students have the opportunity to develop professional and academic work that supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 2, which focuses on zero hunger and the promotion of sustainable agriculture; and SDG 17, which focuses on strengthening the means of implementation and revitalising global partnerships for sustainable development by 2030.