Augusto João Bock (PhD), of Guinean nationality, is an Agricultural Engineer in Food Security and Nutrition, who specializes in community development in environmental terms and quality of life for populations. He is a professor and senior researcher for the Department of Medical Science (Higher Nursing) at Amílcar Cabra University (UAC)l and Lusófona University of Guinea (ULG) in Guinea-Bissau, leading Center for Environmental Studies and Applied Technologies (CEATA) programs at the Institute National Institute of Studies and Research (INEP), with special focus on the issues of climate change, food security and nutrition, ensuring the quality of life of populations.
He has spent over 25 years in development research and teaching activities, as well as in different areas of academic investigation. He has experience working in sub-regional African countries, multi-national and sectoral projects. Before joining the University of Amílcar Cabral and INEP in Guinea-Bissau, Dr. Bock worked at the National Agency for Food Safety and Pharmaceutical Products (ARFA) in Cape Verde. He was also a teacher at the Technical University of Lisbon (UTL) in Portugal for five years, where he worked from 2005-2010, on the privatization program of the only national agency that imports, exports and regulates the market in all food products in Cape Verde.
For eight years, he led programs as part of the European Development Fund (EDF) Project, and served as the Integrated Development Officer of the same European Union Delegation program supervising research and nutrition faculty for postgraduate students in Medical Science, in the areas of food security, nutrition and climate change. Dr. Bock, is a researcher, teacher and consultant at national and regional level on the topics mentioned above, and a mentor of the methodology for analyzing the assessment of the food vulnerability situation of families in Guinea-Bissau and for African countries at the Technical University of Lisbon (UTL) in Portugal, collaborating with the Amílcar Cabral University of Guinea-Bissau and the University of Cape-Verde (UNI-CV), as leader of the agri-food systems and nutrition team at the Ministry of Agriculture in Guinea-Bissau (CONSSAN) in collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP) in Guinea-Bissau. He was a trainer for technicians from the Inspectors Network at national level on the process and standards for carrying out African Environmental and Social Impact Studies (EAIA&S) and inspectors from the Ministry of Commerce and Customs in Guinea-Bissau. He collaborates with Consumer Protection Associations of Guinea-Bissau (ACOBES), regularly training inspectors and technicians.
His research interests focus on the adaptation and evaluation of preservative and low-cost food production technologies to ensure food security and improve the nutritional situation of families, essentially local agricultural products. His specific interest focuses on the use of locally available materials, such as organic fertilizers and local bi-pesticides that are easy to acquire and economically inexpensive and not harmful to the environment, improving the soil to increase production and productivity, focusing on horticultural production. His work also covers the use of various technologies, such as ecologically acceptable agricultural practices such as crop rotation, bed formation techniques in the dry and rainy season, selection of varieties adapted to drought and resistance to diseases and pests, as well as different processes of transformation and conservation of vegetables and fruits, through freezing, drying, smoking, etc., to extend the useful life of fruits and vegetables and add added value to the products. Another area of interest is the development of intervention strategies that can be applied to guarantee food security and sovereignty in Guinea-Bissau, essentially fruit and vegetables.
He has provided several consultancies on food security and nutritional projects for international institutions such as UNICEF, PLAN International, GRDR, ADPP, etc. Dr. Bock has a PhD in Food Sciences (Agroindustry) with a specialization in Food Security, quality control and nutrition, as well as a Master's degree in agricultural production from the Technical University of Lisbon in the Department of Agroindustry, Portugal and a degree in Agricultural Science (Agronomy) from the Tropical University of Cuban and Krasnodar, Russia. Dr. Bock is also a member of the National Institute of Health (INASA), the Coastal Zone Conservation Program (PRCM) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).