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Contact: Patricia Coen (609) 258-5764
Date: Nov. 13, 1996
Urban Agriculture Around the Globe to Be Discusssed at the Woodrow Wilson School
Princeton, N.J.--Jac Smit, president of The Urban Agriculture Network (tuan), will give a lecture titled "Urban Agriculture: A Contribution to Ecologically Sustainable Cities and Food Security" at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 4:30 p.m. in Robertson Hall, Bowl 5.
As president of TUAN, a clearinghouse for information on urban agriculture, Smit heads a network that extends to 40 countries and comprises 4,000 members. Most of the members represent agencies, including the media, universities, research centers, farmers' associations and cooperatives, hunger organizations, environmental organizations, and sustainable agriculture groups. Smit travels worldwide to participate in conferences and workshops for such member groups and for others concerned with the vital issues associated with agriculture for urban areas around the globe. He and his colleagues also conduct training in policy and process and support research in urban agriculture, particularly by degree candidates.
Before coming to TUAN in the early '90s, Smit lived and worked for 20 years in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In the '70s and '80s, he headed USAID projects in Egypt for low-income housing and for the redevelopment of the Sinai Peninsula. He was the project manager for the UNDP's planning of the Suez Canal region after the war between Israel and Egypt. Smit is also a consultant to the "Sustainable Cities" global project of the UNCHS and is on the steering committee of the "Best Practices" global project. His publications include the book Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities and upcoming articles in Our Planet and Scientific American .
Smit's lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.