On December 13th 2021, researchers and representatives of international organizations joined the MiFOOD team from 14 cities around the world in an online event to officially launch the MiFOOD Partnership Grant Project. The PI of MiFOOD Prof. Jonathan Crush and project manager Dr. Zhenzhong Si provided an overview of the project. Dr. Marie Ruel, Director of the Health Poverty and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Dr. Marie McAuliffe, Head of the Migration Research Division, International Organization for Migration (IOM) reflected on the rapidly changing status of migration and food security and the significance of the MiFOOD project for evidence-based policy making from the international organization perspective. Prof. Isaac Luginaah, Canada Research Chair in Health Geography at Western University and Prof. Shirin Rai, Director of the Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Centre for International Development (WICID) at Warwick University discussed the implications of rural-urban linkages for food security and how those linkages and consequently social reproduction of migrant households have been reshaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prof. Daniel Tevera of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, concluded the launch with reflections on the relevance of the MiFood Project for migration and food security research and policy in the Global South.
