MiFOOD researchers participated in the 13th International Conference on Population Geographies, held from June 23 to 26, 2026, in Nanjing, China. With the theme “Population Geographies in an Era of Demographic Transition,” ICPG 2026 brought together scholars from around the world to discuss population change, migration, mobility, socio-spatial inequality and sustainable development.
MiFOOD researchers were featured in Session 16, “Migrants, Urban Food Insecurity, and the Making of Urban Food Systems,” held on June 25. The session included presentations by MiFOOD scholars Taiyang Zhong, Huiguang Chen, Yang Chen, Yuan Yuan, Luo Ting, Zhenzhong Si, Zack Ahmed, and Bernard Owusu, with Taiyang Zhong serving as chair and Zhenzhong Si as session host. The session examined how migration shapes urban food systems, livelihoods and food security across different contexts, including China, Canada, Ghana and Kenya. Presentations addressed topics such as migrant vendors’ household dietary diversity, migrant workers’ food security strategies, informal food economies, urban wet markets, Somali entrepreneurs in Nairobi and refugee experiences in Canada.
- Barnard Owusu. Ghana’s Urban Protein Economy: Migration and Meatification.
- Yang Chen. Food Security and Informal Strategies after Poverty-Alleviation Resettlement in China.
- Huiguang Chen. Migrant Workers’ Livelihood Resilience and Food Security Strategies A Perspective on Social Ties Between Individuals and Families.
- Taiyang Zhong. Sufficiency of Cold Storage Facility and Migrant Vendors’ Household Dietary Diversity.
- Yuan Yuan. The Semi‑Formalization of Wet Markets in Urban China: A Hybrid Social Infrastructure for Urban Resilience and Food Security.
- Ting Luo. Does Hukou or Housing Matter for Migrant Food Vendor Food Security.
- Zack Ahmed. Migrant Infrastructures and the Spatial Reconfiguration of Urban Food Systems: Somali Entrepreneurs in Nairobi.
- Zhenzhong Si. Rethinking the Migration and Food Security Nexus in Times of Crisis: Insights from Refugee Experiences in Canada.
During the conference, the MiFOOD team also visited local wet markets and wholesale markets in Nanjing to learn more about the operation of the city’s food system, including food distribution, marketing practices and the everyday infrastructures that support urban food provisioning.
MiFOOD’s participation in ICPG 2026 highlighted the network’s ongoing contribution to research on migration, food security, urban food systems and migrant livelihoods in an era of demographic and social transformation.
Download the ICPG Conference Programme.