World Food Prize Laureate Summit, 10-11-10 Ames Iowa.

The first of several joint presentations by the two World Food Prize Laureates that occures on Monday night of World food Prize week each year.  It is at The Memorial Union Sun Room  at Iowa State University in Ames Iowa.  There is a two hour reception with posters of student research projects on hunger around the world.  They are judged and the winners are announced after the Laureates talk.  Here are the two lectures by the laureates and the question perriod.  The first question is by me.

WorConversation: More food, better food ld Food Prize:

Conversation: More food, better food – improving and preserving quality


Philip Nelson – Professor, Purdue University
Great Advances in Ag production but much more needs to be done in the food chain.  How do we improve micro nutrients.  Cambodia had bumper crop of rice but lost 1/2 because there was no way to get it to market. 

Florence Chenoweth – Minister of Agriculture, Liberia
She is trying to rebuild the Ag sector in the face a a region with severe conflict.  When she was 17 she heard about hunger that showed her her future .  She had career day at school and a man came and talked about hunger in the world.  She had to fight to go to national Univ.  She brought lawsuit forcing Gov't to let her be 1st girl in Univ.  She went through Univ as only girl.  25 years of conflict destroyed the research and institutional aspects that fought hunger.  El Salvador and Liberia where two countries that have gotten to 100% of food in schools localy produced.  25 years of anything that walked was eaten and any plant product nothing saved for seed.  We are now rebuilding.  We are not aproaching hunger holisticly, we do not discuss nutrition.  Emphasis is more on suplements rather then getting it from the food.



Howarth Bouis – Director, HarvestPlus
Cereal production doubled in Green revolution while nutritious plant mater fell.  Price of fish and non-staple plant food doubled.  making harder to get nutrition.  80% of income goes to rice only 20% go to nutritious.  This is purely an economic issue.  As food prices in Nutritious food increase the % that go to this type decreases. 

Dyno Keatinge – Director-General, the World Vegetable Center
We don't have not elephants in the room but tyrannosaurus Rex.  Hunger and malnutrition.  1/5 of all diabetic are Indian, 1/10 of China is diabetic.  Type II diabetes is a dietary induced disease.  If we challenge malnutrition we have to get people to change their diets.  Need to consume more Vegis less grain.  It's not good enough to feed the world in 2015 if we are not nourishing it.  Not all Vegetables created equal.  No attention has been addressed by research on his nutirient leafy green Vegis.

Joseph Taets – Vice President, ADM Grain Group
Invest in Ag
We tranfere info to farmers small and lg

promoting Sustainable Ag
We have mult program. Doing it right in Brazil  more food better food in sustainable way.  Also partnering with industry]=try expert on eliminating post harvest loss

Leveraging our expertise.
In Haiti.  We had 800 tons of rice and we made that rice immediately available to Haiti.

Derek Yach – Senior Vice President, Global Health, PepsiCo
We cannot look at hunger without looking at the health and nutrition aspects.  The focus of pepsico will not just be on high end markets but will focus on small markets and smallholders and how do you improve the quality of the food supply.  How can we embed the knowledge we have into the developing markets. 

Jacqueline Morete, Farmer in Haiti.
 
 
I asked question on irradiation of food.  The rep from ADM and Pepsico could offer no work by their companies about this.  The Moderator reinforced that consumer is afraid they would glow in the dark(which is not true) and almost no-one is doing any work on this.
 
Pepsico will cut sugar in it's products by 25% and within two years remove all coloric drinks from schools.

World Food prize: Hon Rajiv Shah Head USAID: Hunger Fighters

Rajiv Shah

Hunger Fighters: Rajiv Shah

The Administrator of the USAID program.

Norman Borloug Commemorative research initiative.
   First effort to work on wheat rust UG 99. 80% of wheat in USA susceptible to this.  Generating rust resistant varieties. Convert CGAIR into several Mega programs.  Time to crisis to a few days. Work on the first 1000 days.  Move away from monetized assistance to extension aid.  Create markets for smallholder feed the world program.  $20M directly improve income of smallholders.  1/3 of Tanzanians below poverty, 1/3 of children show bodily stunting.  Joining with Gov't of Tanzania to three central regions where they have highest potential for growth.  Rather then have diluted country wide program.  we are focusing on small area that we can have success.  we are building roads, Japan building reservoirs and World Bank developing rice strains for region.  Our policy will lift 2M women out of poverty.

Feed the Future Private Investment Sector:  Facilitate small business in regions of need to work with those in need.

This is not just happening in Tanzania.  In Bangladesh, Ethiopia they have program to invest in sub region and small number of value change.  These programs will lift 1.6M children out of poverty.  This is in only four of the first twenty countries and in only sub regions.  Imagine when we can learn and replicate this we could have a foundation for a new sustainable Green revolution. 

Kofi A. Annan,Ending Hunger in Africa. AGRA

Ending hunger in Africa:Change is now within our Grasp says Kofi A. Annan former UN Sect-Gen and current CEO Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA):

Kofi Annan

" Africa is only continent which does not grow enough food to feed itself"

"Never before has there been such a collective drive for change"

The millennium goal of reducing hunger by 2015 will obviously not be met.  The goal is not to to eliminate hunger but to make it a sustainable system.

Our goal is to make smallholder farms Profitable sustainable and .

All African Govt to put 10% of their budget into agriculture and drive a 6% growth per year in production.

Central role of women farmers is finally becoming front and center.  However, rarely do they have title for land and they have problems with getting their product to market.  Less then 3% of all bank lending in Africa is ag related.

At last conference a large number of Bankers were present and this makes me optimistic about Africa's ability to turn the corner.  If we miss this current opportunity I don't know when we will get another chance.

Without a stable peaceful Africa our ambitions will not succeed.

World Food Prize: Overcoming Major Constraints Facing Smallholders

Uma Lele, World Bank, Chaired session 1
How do we bring all the expertise of the panelists together so each is not in a silo.

Rolf Derpsch: soil expert.
We hear very little about problem of degrading soil.  We need to focus on soil.  We cannot produce crops if soils are eroding away. Degradation and sometimes irreversible destruction of soil have reached frightening level of degrading ability to grow food.  >10 M Hectares are destroyed. Plowing degrades soil, Soil erosion, desertification. Intensive tillage leads to erosion and is largest cause of soil degradation. 
First :Stop soil degradation
Second:Build soil with calcium and nitrogen.
Conservation agriculture no tillage
Permanent soil coverage
No Tillage
Crop rotation
With no-till farming Brazil double crop production.

Dr. Joseph DeVries: Dir. African Seed System
Very optimistic because of increased supply of improved seed.  Seed is maybe the most deliverable.  Improved seed is the basis of the who;e green revolution. Lack of improved variety and problem getting seed to farmers if you have that improved variety.  We are starting to see improved seed. 150varieties recently released.  Micro delivery by bicycle seed dealers.  Micro packs. With better seeds can double yield from 800 KG /HA to almost two tons with both fertilizer and better seed. 

Dr Nuhu Hatibu: CEO Kilimo Trust. 
Africa had green revolution in the 50's before the other green rev. of the 60's.  There was markets, irrigation.  The markets are the key to making sure the farmers are sustainable.  Without markets that give fair prices the farmers cannot suceed.  Don't do good by us but do business with us.


The world has changed drastically in the last forty years but our conversation on food has not changed.  We are trying to reach 30K farmers to teach them to be independent farmers.  Multiple projects. Get information on crops and pest by cell phone to farmers in India.  No till demands the application of modern fertilization products and challenge organic farming.

Stephanie Hanson Dir One Acre Fund
Constraint of finance.  30K farmers in Kenya and Uganda.  Large banks do not want to do small farmers also micro finances are mostly urban.  They provide micro-finance plus.  They lend seed and fertilizer instead of cash.  they have 150 market points in Kenya and 200 in Uganda.  Within walking distance.  The farmers receive it in credit and repay it as they sell their crops.  Need to teach them how to plant and timing and how to use fertilizer.  Repayment rate of 98%.  They are doubling farm income.  $1.4M is 65% of there budget. 

Sarah Munalula, smallfarmer in Zambia
42, four children 1990 she stopped school (soshe went to school till 22) She had to farm because of economic pressure.  They could not plant variety. 2007 they got pioneer seed and she planted variety. Six Hectares owned but she only planted one hectare.  With Pioneer seed she has increased from 18X55 KG to 180X55KG of maze and now is very successful. She is now chairperson of womens cooperative.  The new seed from pioneer is the crucial change.

Nourishing The Planet: World Watch

Danielle Nierenberg: State of the world pre-release. Visited 200projects across Africa tosee what is working in Africa.  Full report released inearly Jan 2011. 

Brian Hal   :  Hunger persists.  A policy of agricultural abandomment exist in Africa.  Africas food output hasbeen focused on raw commodities not on added value. 
First :Make better useof water,there is much greater potential that is not being tapped.  As little as 5%gets to crops.  Increase mulching, tilling.  can increase yeild 20-135%  Return on investment was so fast that 5 years later farmers will still use it and spread to surrounding farms
second:Make sure all the post harvest loses are minimized. This can be simple and very effective. Better storage, quickly get rid of spoiled produce, better drying.Community storage very effective.
Third: plan for more farmers incities.  By 2020 35-40M African will relie on urban agriculture.  There are many models for urban farms.
Fourth: Pay for programs for farmers to store carbon in the soil.i.e. keep farm planted more of the year  plant trees.  75 project in 22 countries that are working on this. Great GreenWall initiative and the Billion tree initiative.

Dr Dyno Keatinge: Humanity doesn't live by caloriesalone.  We need diverse diet.  Grains are just calories. and are 50% of food eaten.  We have 2B people who are malnourished.  Very few nuts and berries in diet.  This is major cause of epidemic of type two diabetes.  The Green Revolution is doing disservicebecause we have cast into stone that we put our effort predominately into grains.  Malnutrition is principle thing we need to address.  Not only to feed the planet but nourish it as well.  Rateof return in rice/wheat there is very small rate of return since there are so many people in it.  In nuts berries and other side crops the rate of return on $ can be very hi 3-400 %.  Broader crops are more likely to help break out of poverty and also address nutritional/vitamin deficiencies.  Don't give up what we are doing but expand to other typed of crops.

Hans Herren:Agriculture at the cross roads.  We need a paradineshift in agriculture.  In particular we need to look a changes from on that produces green house gases to one storing carbon.  We need a Brown Revolution in Agriculture.  Biggest return on research comes from one program.  this was using natural means with zero cost to farmer that preserves the crop better.  This is the most easily implement low hanging fruit.  If we want to move over into sustainable ag,we need todo these simple steps.  Indirect investments.  Infra structure, markets,

Borlaug CAST Communication Award

Wed. October 13th, 2010

Jay Vroom President of Croplife America Foundation: 
Dr John Bonner, Exec VP CAST- Council for Agriculture Science and Technology.  Dr Borlaug was for the last three years of his life was a communicator first and foremost.  He received an award from Cast in 1973.  He told cast they had to expand their borders beyond Iowa and the USA.  He commanded that CAST needs to not just research and develop but needs to communicate their work.  Dr. Borlaug was critical in increasing support for CAST.  He wrote the 1st paper published on CAST and 26 years later his last paper was published through CAST.

Dr. Pedro Sanchez presented the award to Dr. Akin Adesina.  He is an agronomist with chlorophyll. At Purdue he is the VP of AGRA- Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa.  He developed idea of small crop shops run by families.  He came up with idea for micro lending in Africa.

Dr, Akin Adesina:  I am honored to win this first renamed award after my hero Dr. Borlaug.  Sci and tech critical to improve agriculture. His father told him  'If god even enables you to influence the world make sure it is in agriculture.' Africans are not benefiting enough from the science and technology available.  Support for Ag has plummeted.  the Gains of the Green Revolution have eroded.  World Food Crisis was a wake-up call.  The world needs to double efforts for food production.  We must lead the power of Sci and Tech to the most powerful force that of communication.  Agriculture has been managed as development program but it is not a development program it is a business.  You can not eat potential.  Need to improve access.  Increase Agri dealers across Africa, He took plan to African Union and he organized a summit to accomplish this.  The African Fertilizer Summit occured.  Dr. Borlaug strong armed the attendees to implement the plan. Wehave long pursued policies of abandoment of the farmers of Africa. We have to subsidize the farmers.  It is cheaper then importing food. Plans to take African agriculture from development to a real Business.  Need to improve acessto markets so farmers can make profit or this will never work.  We must put in mechanisms to ensure adaptability to envirnmental change.  There is no such thing as half freedom we will march to freedom when our stomachs are full, our kids are fed and our farmers are self supporting.  Then we can say Free at last, free at last.

Gates Foundation Donates $ 120 M Dollars To Change Paradigm for Allelviating World Hunger

I covered Keynote speaker Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today at the World Food Prize Symposium announcing his foundation will be donating $ 120 Million to support the worlds poorest farmers with new agricultural grants. He said. 'How do you help those people who live on less then $1 / day. Helping the world's poorest farmers grow more crops and get those crops to market will be the biggest thing we can do to eliviate hunger.'

'The Green Revolution did amazing things but it didn't do enough. It did not get to Africa, specificly Sub-Saharan Africa.'

'There is also trouble' 'The Global effort to help small farmersis endangered by an ideological wedge that threatens to split the movement in two........One side is a technological approach that increases productivity (Big Ag, many of the attendees at the World Food Prize cinf.) ...the other is an environmental approach that promotes sustainability. (the Community Food Security Coalition, their conf. preceded the World Food prize Conf.)' I posted a blog two days ago highlighting this contrast.

He goes on to say this is a false choice, that blocks important advances. 'We need productivity and sustainability, and I feel we can do both..........The next green revolution must do both and must be guided by small-holder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and the envirnment.'

'We have to develop crops that can grow in a drought; that can grow in flood; that can resist pest and disease.'

'We need rigorous science to accomplish this.'

'It is essential for Africa to get a hardiar Maze that can grow in a draught and be a complete food source.' 'In some grants, we include transgenic approaches.....because it can address challenges faster.....Of course these technologies must be subject to rigorous scientific review to ensure they are safe and effective.'

We are developing this maze and it will be released royalty free to all of Africa.

Swarna sub-1 rice species was tested in India. when floods came 90% of normal crops dies. 95% of new variety survived.

Wheat rust is fast-moving and threatening the world wheat supply. 'We are partnering with 15 research stations..using a number of approaches to bread wheat varieties that will offer farmers some lasting protection.'

'We focus on small farmers and make investments across the value chain.....and look at the expertise of woman farmers who do most of the farming in Africa.'

African countries must lead. Most countries have pledged 10% of their National Budget. Ghana is the first country to do this and they have turned around their poverty and are almost at the Millennium Goal.

Here is the Video to his talk and the following discussion.

'Poor farmers are not a problem to be solved: they are the solution.'

A book will come out soon called 'Millions Fed" to follow up on 'Millions Saved' The vacine and health story.

He finished with a standing ovation and then went into a Q&A with Dr. Ejeta this years Food Prize laureate.

This was an amazing speach which clearly showed that an over riding philosophy that is rational and that doesn't try to impose a specific solution and which take into account the needs of stake holders from all levels may have a chance to change the world for the better. However this speech was followed by Dr Jeffery Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. In this speech he laid out an analysis that was sobering and scary. My next blog will be on that.

Food Security: Two world Outlooks, A World Apart

This week I attended two main conferences: The World Food Prize (WFP), and 'From Commodity to Community', the 13th Annual Community Food Security Conference (CFSC), with a buffer conference between them the Third Iowa Hunger Summit (IHS). (#foodprize, #csfc) I saw two movements unfortunately a WORLD APART. The first, the CFSC, was attended by 800 passionate activists. Seventy percent of them in their 20's, dungaree and tee shirt wearing, with a passion and energy level that was exhilarating. The second, the WFP, was attended by 950 gray haired, three piece suited, corporate or governmental officials. The sessions were educational, stimulating with a call to action clearly stated. What was missing was the passion of the CFSC. What was missing from both was the missed opportunity for cross pollination between the two. When I had heard the CFSC was being held immediately before the WFP I expected this was done to foster this. However, I was severely disappointed.

There were many areas of common goals between the conferences and their attendees. They both agreed that within 40 years the world population will increase 50% and the need for food will therefore double ( to take into account those living in Hunger now). That this increase needs to be done in a sustainable manner. That women were the key to success (give women: 1-Educational access {the most important}, 2-Economic equality with men, 3-health access, and 4-Political equality with men). That agricultural improvements need to be done in a sustainable manner. Climate change will significantly hinder the ability to meet the world food demand.

There were some serious areas of conflict. Simply put those attending the CFSC felt all solutions needed to be bottom up, while the WFP attendees felt the solutions need to mostly be top down (however they felt bottom-up needs to be incorporated). The CFSC attendees were violently opposed to genetically modified organisms (GMO), while the WFP attendees were it's prophets. They each have their own research the one that shows GMO's are nothing but pure evil while the other has their research that GMO's are manna from heaven. If only there could be more dialogue and sharing of those studies. There was more talking past each other then to each other. However, I did feel that the WFP attendees were more open to bringing in the CSFC people then the other way around.

Those attending CSFC complained of lack of access to the discission makers both in the US and abroad. Yet hardly any of them stayed on (actually in talking to over one hundred of them, most didn't even know anything about the WFP meeting - A failure of the CSFC to inform their members), to interact at the WFP conference. There were many world discission makers at the WFP. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak, eight Ministers of Agriculture, several former heads of state and multiple CEO's of the most important corporations in Big-AG-Biz.

The big shining light was Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, the WFP winner, in his talk at Iowa State on Monday to kick off the WFP meeting. He talked about the importance of Ag. extension type programs to get small farmers into the 21st century through education while also needing the large Ag-Biz to be the structure over this agricultural revolution.

So I hope that there is more dialogue between the dungarees and the three piece suits. We need both to move this forward and to have any chance of solving the loaming food and climate crisis.