With Quadram Institute Biosciences (QIB, UK), and supported by funding from BBSRC and MRC, EuroFIR AISBL has organised several workshops to support cutting-edge research that addresses challenges faced by developing countries. More specifically, the aim of these workshops was to assess status, provide training and build capacity in the use of standardised methodologies for food composition and food intake methods. The first workshop was held in Rabat (Morocco, 8-10th May 2018) with follow ups in Belgrade (Republic of Serbia, 18-19th October 2018) and Ras Jebel (Tunisia, 5-8th November 2018, picture - right). The workshop in Morocco established an overview of current status and identified gaps and needs. The follow up workshops were specific to clusters of countries with similar types of diets (i.e. Iran, Iraq and Pakistan [Serbia] and Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania [Tunisia]) and addressed some needs, specifically training related to compilation of food composition data, including food description, value documentation, sources and quality of data and recipe calculation. Trainers from EuroFIR were Paul Finglas, Mark Roe and Angelika Mantur-Vierendeel as well as Maria Glibetic and her colleagues
at IMR during the workshop in Belgrade.

The project is led by QIB (UK) and run in collaboration with the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region Office. Partners include EuroFIR and University of East Anglia (UK) as well as organisations from Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Kuwait. Global Challenges Research Fund (UK Research and innovation) is a £1.5 billion fund set up by the UK Government in 2015 to strengthen capacity for research, innovation and knowledge exchange in the UK and developing countries through partnerships with UK researchers.

15-17 October 2018, Belgrade, Serbia.    

To promote better understanding of the food systems approach in Central and South Eastern Europe countries region, CAPNUTRA, a Capacity Development in Nutrition Network in Central and South Eastern Europe (www.capnutra.org), in close collaboration with the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (www.fao.org/europe/en), organised a three-day Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets in CSEE countries, which also included training on collection of food consumption data and opportunities to strengthen regional networking.

The main objective of this symposium was to raise awareness on a sustainable food system approach for improving diets and nutrition. It was attended by 42 participants from 26 countries, representing governments, research and academia as well as European and United Nations Agencies, such as EFSA, FAO and UNICEF (26 oral presentations; 20 posters presented). Speakers included food composition experts, health and nutrition specialists, and scientific officers, who presented different thematic areas of food systems, as well as participants from the CSEE region.

The final agenda is available here.