By: Anne Zaczek, U.S. Grains Council manager of global development programs
The World Food Prize annually recognizes individuals across all sectors of the value chain who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. In conjunction with the honors events, it also sponsors the Borlaug Dialogue, an internationally recognized symposium that this year drew more than 1,500 attendees from around the world to explore solutions to the world's current and future food challenges.
Held last week in Des Moines, Iowa, this year's proceedings focused heavily on challenges and opportunities in Africa. Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and farmer, investor and philanthropist Howard Buffett announced the launch of the 40 Chances Fellows Program, a collaboration between Blair's Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), the Howard G. Buffett Foundation (HGBF), and the World Food Prize. The Fellows Program is aimed to encourage young innovators to develop strategies to address issues of hunger, conflict or poverty in Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone or Malawi.
Food security, water security, and conflict mitigation are longstanding HGBF focus areas, and sub-Saharan Africa is among its major areas of investment. U.S. Grains Council delegates will have an opportunity to hear first-hand about these initiatives from Howard Buffett, who will attend the Council's 54th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting in Omaha, Neb., as the keynote speaker.
The World Food Prize also recognized the contributions of Jeff Simmons, president of Council member Elanco and the recipient of this year's Borlaug CAST Communication Award. The CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) award is presented annually for outstanding achievement by a scientist, engineer, technologist, or other professional working in the agricultural, environmental, or food sectors for contributing to the advancement of science in the public policy arena. Simmons noted that in 2050 there will be 9 billion people on the planet to feed, but emphasized the statistic that 3 billion people will be added to the middle class by 2050. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that due to the growth of the middle class, there will be a 60 percent increase in demand for meat, milk and eggs. Furthermore, the largest growth of the middle class will be experienced between today and 2020.
Nearly 850 million people are food insecure today. The United States has been a large funder of food aid around the world, but there is now a heavy push to reform food aid by providing food insecure nations with the educational tools they need to produce their own food in order to achieve food security. While there was a strong emphasis in the conference on the development of smallholder women farmers of Africa, the statistics provided by Simmons shows the additional importance of addressing the growing protein gap. With the drastic increase in global population all countries have a vital stake in Africa becoming able to feed itself; the future of food security for the world depends on this. The Council is taking its first step towards addressing this issue with their Food for Progress Program in Tanzania which is expected to be announced at the end of this year.
Buffett's and Simmons' remarks and the remainder of the Laureate Award Ceremony and Borlaug Dialogue can be viewed at worldfoodprize.org.