My research focuses on food security related initiatives in the Global South. I work on aquaculture and specifically fish farming development, food innovation using neglected foods and indigenous knowledge, food safety and quality management as well as value chain management and development of gender-based value chains. The development of tertiary education (vocational and higher education) is a cross-cutting theme in all of my global engagements in research and education.

Projects

Global Foodnet: Ancient Crops for Food Security

Central Asia Finnish Education Institutes for Green Biotechnology and Food Security

Aquaculture and fisheries development in the Kyrgyz Republic

Green biotechnology for food security

Development of women fish farmer cooperatives in Nepal

Capacity Building in Fisheries and Aquaculture Education in the Kyrgyz Republic

Education collaboration opportunities between Finland and South Africa

Bridging existing and new approaches for science, technology and innovation cooperation between Finland and Africa

Food safety and quality management

Teachers of the future : Finnish-Namibian collaborative teacher education

Food product development from indigenous foods

Role of Finnish higher education in global food and nutrition security

Dr. Marko Virta is the Director of the Doctoral Programme on Microbiology and Biotechnology at University of Helsinki, Finland. His research interests include antibiotic resistance in various human impacted environments such as waste waters, agriculture and aquaculture. Dr. Virta’s website: http://www.helsinki.fi/molecular-environmental-biosciences

Projects

Antibiotic resistance in Indonesia

Occurrence, Sources and Prevention of Antimicrobial Resistance in West Africa – Following the flow of AMR genes between humans, animals and environment