Sustainable Food Security: Systems Thinking

Dr. Gerrie van de Ven serves as Assistant Professor in the Plant Production Systems Group at Wageningen University & Research, where she combines research and teaching with a focus on farming systems analysis and optimization of land-use systems related to all dimensions of sustainability. After completing her agronomy training at Wageningen University, she spent 13 years at the Centre for Agro-Biological and Soil Fertility Research developing methodologies for exploring production potentials under conflicting goals. Her PhD research explored opportunities for Dutch dairy systems, examining trade-offs between economic and environmental goals with particular attention to nutrient emissions. Following three years at the Centre of Environmental Sciences – Leiden University working on farm certification and biodiversity issues, she joined Wageningen's Plant Production Systems Group in 2000, where she has contributed to diverse research areas including mixed farming systems, multi-functional agriculture, biofuel production opportunities, and homegarden systems in Ethiopia. Her work consistently emphasizes systems analysis and sustainability, focusing on nutrient cycling, environmental impacts, and crop-livestock interactions in both Western and African contexts. She currently teaches natural resource management and systems analysis while also developing MOOCs on production ecology principles as part of the XSeries Programme in Food Security and Sustainability. Her research combines systems analysis and modeling approaches at farm and regional levels, contributing to our understanding of sustainable agricultural systems and their environmental impacts.