2011 Borlaug Dialogue

October 12-14, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa. The 2011 Borlaug Dialogue international symposium gathered the top minds and foremost leaders in global agriculture, food and development. The World Food Prize celebrates its 25th Anniversary of bringing hunger issues to the forefront.

The "Next Generation" theme asked several critical questions:

• What are the most pressing future challenges that the global community will face in fighting hunger and poverty?
• Who will be the next generation of leaders to confront such challenges and how do we best prepare and develop these leaders?
• What are the next generation of technologies, methodologies, models and solutions to overcome such challenges?

Beginning Wednesday, Oct. 12, this three-day dialogue addressed the questions above by exploring the following:

• Empowering youth through education and economic opportunities
• The role of private investment in smallholder capital to spur innovation and entrepreneurship
• The coexistence of high-tech agriculture and agro-ecology in promoting sustainability
• New technologies and practices in improving agricultural ecosystems and environmental resource management
• Improving efficiencies along the agricultural value chain and its effect on development, nutrition and health
• Leveraging markets and trade on the macroeconomic level between high-income and developing countries
• Changing demographics and the impact of population and dietary shifts, urbanization and aging
• Maximizing the potential of women and girls in fighting hunger and poverty
• Enhancing communication and collaboration across sectors and among all stakeholders to increase awareness and participation at all levels of advocacy.

2010 World Food Prize Laureates announced

David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World, and Jo Luck, President of Heifer International are the 2010 recipients of the World Food Prize.

David Beckmann and Jo Luck are being honored by the World Food Prize for their landmark achievements in building Bread for the World and Heifer International into two of the world’s foremost grassroots, non-governmental organizations leading the charge to end hunger and poverty for millions of people around the globe.

“In honoring Jo Luck and David Beckmann, the World Food Prize recognizes the critical efforts of NGOs in mobilizing and empowering grassroots citizens to end hunger in communities around the world.” 

The award will be formally presented to the laureates on October 14 at the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines. The ceremony will be held as part of the 2010 Borlaug Dialogue, themed “Take it to the Farmer: Reaching the World’s Smallholders.”

Reference: http://www.worldfoodprize.org/

Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development

To examine past successes in agricultural development and draw out the lessons they offer, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) documented evidence on what works in agriculture—what sorts of policies, programs, and investments in agricultural development have actually reduced hunger and poverty.

The findings and lessons from this report will be shared broadly. The final publications include complete technical background papers, a booklet with summary narratives, and a book with detailed narratives called Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development. All materials will be available from the IFPRI web site on November 12, 2009.

The case studies of success for the Millions Fed project were chosen through a rigorous process that included an open call for nominations, a wide-ranging literature review, an expert opinion poll, and key informant interviews. More than 250 case studies were nominated or identified. Using a comprehensive set of criteria that took into account such issues as scale, time and duration, impact, and sustainability, the project identified 19 proven successes that have had a demonstrated and significant impact on food security and poverty in developing countries.

These successes in developing-country agriculture are rich and diverse in nature. The pathways to success spanned six different areas:

1. intensifying staple food production;
2. integrating people and the environment;
3. expanding the role of markets;
4. diversifying out of major cereals;
5. reforming economy-wide policies;
6. and improving food quality and human nutrition.

Millions Fed: Pathways to Prosperity. This video showcases two successful projects—one in India, another in Africa—that are helping small farmers increase their productivity and incomes, and ultimately providing a path out of hunger and poverty.

Investments in agriculture provide a path for small farmers to prosper; improved seeds, new tools and training, and access to markets can lead to better, healthier lives. Learn about two successful projects—one in Uganda, one in India—that are having a significant impact on farmer productivity and are helping millions lift themselves out of hunger and poverty.

India: Leaving the Plow BehindOver-working of the land in India has led to soil depleted of nutrients. Learn how small farmers are adopting a new method, known as "zero tillage" to help retain nutrients and water, making their farms sustainable for the future.

The Green Revolution changed farmers' lives in India in the 1970s, increasing their crop yield by nearly 70% and allowing farmers to become self-sufficient. Due to over-tilling, however, the soil became depleted of nutrients. Learn how zero-tillage farming methods being used today are helping to retain nutrients and water by decreasing disturbance in the soil.

Uganda: Combating Cassava Mosaic DiseaseCassava has long been a staple crop in Africa, used for both food and income by most poor farmers. Learn how farmers and scientists have worked together to bring it back from the brink of destruction.

When a disease threatened to wipe out a staple crop, researchers and farmers worked together to develop a new variety of cassava that would be able to resist the disease.

The 2009 Borlaug Dialogue

12 - 17 October 2009. the 2009 Borlaug Dialogue symposium asked experts and decision-makers from around the world how their fields – in policy, industry, science and academia, and development – can ensure adequate access to food and nutrition for, and thus contribute to the security of, all people.

To address that question, several hundred participants representing more than 65 countries – including leading policymakers and diplomats, CEOs and senior private-sector executives, and experts from academia, research, and the development community – engaged in a range of conversations on compelling and critical topics including:

• Food and agriculture in the context of national and international security
• Poverty, hunger, and food security in global crisis areas
• Continuing to address gender in agricultural development
• Providing nutrition and enhancing health, especially among women and young children
• New and cutting-edge technological approaches to farming and food
• Harmonizing organic and sustainable agricultural practices with modern technology and genetics
• The future of agriculture in an urban, global world
• Preserving and renewing soil and water resources
• Prospects for trade in agriculture and food
• The institutions necessary for a food-secure world
• Assessing progress in global agriculture and identifying areas for needed investment

On 13th October Seyfu Ketema - Executive Director, ASARECA participated in the Conversation: Trends and threats in global agricultural yields

Reference:
View Symposium Brochure
AGENDA + SPEAKER BIOS + TRANSCRIPTS

Related:
2009 World Food Prize winner Gebisa Ejeta. The Ethiopian native's work to develop sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and the devastating Striga weed (witchweed) increased the production and availability of one of the world's five principal grains and enhanced the food supply of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ejeta has worked to integrate his scientific breakthroughs with farmer education programs and soil and water conservation initiatives and to empower subsistence farmers and promote economic development in rural Africa. Ejeta earned his Ph.D. in plant breeding and genetics at Purdue University, where he later became a faculty member and today holds a distinguished professorship. It was during his post-graduate work at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) office in Sudan that he developed his first hybrid sorghum. See: Iowa State University: Lecture: "Revitalizing Agricultural Research for Global Food Security"

Gebisa Ejeta 2009 World Food Prize Laureate

'Farming First' in Mozambique: Lessons for African Agriculture and Food Security

Two experts on African agricultural development visited farms in Mozambique ahead of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

In this video, Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, CEO of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), and Dr. Julie Howard, Executive Director of the Partnership to End Hunger and Poverty in Africa, listen to farmers and translate their concerns to the rest of the world.

Policymakers must target development aid in such a way that it captures agriculture's true contribution to the economy. Aid should also aim to build long-term, sustainable growth and improved rural livelihoods.



Related:
The Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa will organise a special symposium at the World Food Prize to mark the launch of the Partnership's flagship publication on US assistance to African agriculture. "Supporting Africa's Strategy for Reducing Rural Poverty" is the second report in our series, updating the Partnership's 2005 report, "Investing in Africa's Future: U.S. Agricultural Development Assistance for Sub-Saharan Africa."

Improving Agricultural Productivity in Africa

August 6, 2009. Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington.

Following the announcement at the G-8 Summit in Italy of a major commitment to global food security, CSIS hosted Dr. Monty Jones from the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa to discuss FARA's work and reforms in African agricultural practice. In describing emerging opportunities for international collaboration in African agricultural development, Dr. Jones emphasized priority areas for win-win U.S.-Africa partnerships.

Video: Johanna Nesseth Vice President for Strategic Planning interviews Dr. Monty Jones

The objective of Dr. Jones’ presentation was to present what Africa is doing to develop its agriculture and why the United States and other countries should be interested in partnering with the continent to solve the growing world food crisis. As Dr. Jones phrased it, “agriculture is the backbone to economic growth and can reduce poverty.” Africa has gone from an agriculture exporter to an agriculture importer—a change that could become problematic when exporting countries may struggle to feed their own populations. Therefore, investment in agriculture is beneficial in multiple ways because food insecurity increases famine, civil wars, extreme ideology, and immigration—issues of great concern to the American government and all countries.

On the African agricultural front, they are looking to collaborate more on agricultural research and technology, invest in infrastructure development, land and water management, and to invest in its population, of which more than half are involved in some form of agriculture. According to Dr. Jones, the opportunities for partnership are now. With the G8 pledge, attainment of stability in many African countries since the 60s and 70s, and the amount of arable land, Africa is ready to take agriculture to the next plateau.
Nevertheless, for Africa and its partnerships to be successful, Dr. Jones calls for capacity building in all sectors of agriculture (researchers, extension, and farmers), an institutional reform, female empowerment (as they are involved heavily in agriculture but are not involved in research, science, and other areas), an increase in farm subsidies, among other necessary factors for agricultural development.

Though Dr. Jones and the African continent are looking to bring agriculture to the forefront again, there is one thing they most understandably want understood: “Africa must be able to feed itself first.” With that in mind, they set out to solve their own food insecurity problems, and contribute to world’s growing problem.

Audio Aug 6, 2009: Harnessing the Spirit of L'Aquila: Improving Agricultural Productivity in Africa

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Task Force on the Global Food Crisis has released a new report, "A Call for a Strategic U.S. Approach to the Global Food Crisis" which calls for modernizing and doubling emergency assistance, making rural development and agricultural productivity foreign policy priorities, revising the U.S. approach to bio-fuels, urgently acting to conclude the Doha Development Round, and creating a strategic U.S. approach to global food security.

References:

CSIS press release Harnessing the Spirit of L'Aquila: Improving Agricultural Productivity in Africa
Abt Associates 30/07/2009 Abt Associates Participates on CSIS Global Food Crisis Task Force
Earth Day Network 21/08/2009 The Hunt for Food Security

Monsanto Company Commits $10 Million to Rice and Wheat Research Program

Monsanto Company establised a $10 million grant: Monsanto's Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program, which will help identify and support young scientists interested in improving research and production in rice and wheat, two of the world's most important staple crops, through plant breeding techniques.

The announcement of the grant from Monsanto on 25th March marked the celebration of Dr. Borlaug's 95th birthday.

Monsanto is funding the program, which will be administered by Texas AgriLife Research, an agency of the Texas A&M University System, for the next five years. The program honors the accomplishments of Dr. Henry Beachell and Dr. Norman Borlaug, who pioneered plant breeding and research in rice and wheat, respectively.

Applications were accepted until May 31. Applications are reviewed by an independent panel of global judges chaired by Program Director Dr. Ed Runge, who is also a professor and Billie B. Turner Chair in Production Agronomy (Emeritus) within the Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University at College Station.

FARA visit to the World Food Law Institute

9-10 October 2008. Washington D.C, U.S.A. The World Food Law Institute Symposium

The Executive Director, Dr. Jones participated in the World Food Law Institute Symposium with a lecture entitled “From Research to Knowledge of Farmers”. He addressed issues such as the efforts being made by Africa to turn around its fortunes in the agriculture sector and, the benefits of empowering farmers with knowledge that will enable them to contribute to agricultural innovation. He also detailed the steps being taken to reform African ARD.
The various speakers shared experiences on the role of the smallholder farmer on agricultural productivity for development. Speeches were also delivered by Dr. Namanga Ngongi the President of AGRA, Ambassador Hawa Ndilowe the Malawian Ambassador to the United States and Dr. Sakeel Bhatti – Secretary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food & Agriculture.

A panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities for smallholder farmers in Africa was also organised. The panel was made up of representatives from the FAO, WFP and techno serve. WFP has developed an initiative called “Purchases for Progress” which is aimed at helping smallholder farmers and is supported by the Gates and Buffet Foundations. Under this initiative WFP will revise its tendering processes and contracts to enable small holder farmers participate more. It will also engage in forward purchasing which can be used as collateral at banks, and will also promote more direct local purchasing. To make the desired impact it will tap into existing structures e.g. cooperatives. Currently the initiative is being implemented in 21 pilot countries and is expected to purchase produce worth US$50m from 17 African countries.

Discussions with Dr. Connie Veillette. On the work of FARA Dr. Jones gave an overview into the rational for the establishment of FARA, its mandate under CAADP Pillar IV, FAAP and the five Networking Support Functions. He mentioned that capacity strengthening is a cross cutting theme across the four CAADP Pillars and at FARA NSF4 takes care of issues related to capacity strengthening. Two projects have been developed under this NSF5 i.e. SCARDA and BASIC. FARA is working with existing structures such as ANAFE, RUFORUM, NASULGC etc.

Highlight: the Global Rust Initiative

The Global Rust Initiative (GRI) is a measured yet aggressive response to the emergence and spread of stem rust race Ug99 in East Africa. First formally noted in 1999, this race appeared to be a significant threat to global wheat production. Recurring epidemics in Kenya and then Ethiopia brought forth strong advocacy for world action from Nobel Laureate NE Borlaug.

CIMMYT heeded this call and together with Dr. Borlaug, declared in January of 2005 its intent to form a Global Rust Initiative to prevent a pandemic.With resources and advice from Dr. NE Borlaug and the Rockefeller Foundation, CIMMYT commissioned a blue ribbon panel of world experts to assess the nature of the threat and if warranted, prescribe remedies. It should be noted that the panel included scientists from both CIMMYT and ICARDA- not simply for institutional reasons, but because they are in the top tier of international rust scientists.

The wheat stem rust (Puccinia graminis), also known as wheat black rust, is capable of causing severe losses and can destroy entire wheat fields. It is estimated that as much as 80 percent of all wheat varieties planted in Asia and Africa are susceptible to this new strain. The spores of wheat rust are mostly carried by wind over long distances and across continents.

Old canvas sheets, twine and branches

–makeshift shade for delicate seedlings at Njoro

The Njoro station is in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, not far from the city of Nakuru and very close to the Equator. The new stem rust spores have been present in the air at the station for at least three years, making it the perfect location for testing wheat to see if it can resist the fungus. “We improvise a lot here,” says Miriam Kinyua, the Director of the station and overall coordinator of Kenya wheat research, including GRI activities. “The world needs this work to be done.” She also expresses gratitude to the Canadian International Development Agency for providing funding that let the station put in a good irrigation system. “We can now grow wheat in the off season and ensure that if the rains fail, our testing won’t,” she says. She is also pleased that the research station is now connected to the rest of the world via a satellite dish and the internet, another result of the CIDA contribution. New contributions from USAID are adding to the support for GRI work in both Kenya and Ethiopia.

Called Ug99, the new stem rust is such a large threat to wheat around the world that scientists dare not transport the spores themselves to other test locations. Instead as part of the CIMMYT-ICARDA Global Rust Initiative, which also includes national partners like KARI and the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture Research (EIAR), the world’s wheat comes to East Africa. Similar work is being conducted at several sites in Ethiopia by EIAR. “We are committed to work with international partners to fight the looming threat of stem rust,” says Dr. Bedada Girma, leader of EIAR's Stem Rust Task Force.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has worked with the National Wheat and Barley Improvement Committees to collect and send U.S. wheat and barley breeding lines to east Africa for screening against Ug99 in collaboration with CIMMYT and the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). Data from the Kenyan field-screening nursery will give U.S. wheat and barley breeders a headstart on developing new varieties with resistance to Ug99.

ARS plant pathologist Yue Jin evaluates wheat seedlings infected with stem rust.
Interest in the effort is growing, helped in part by the results to date shown by Yue Jin and colleagues at ARS, CIMMYT, ICARDA, KARI, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, the University of Minnesota, and many other institutions.

See also
Read more about this research in the November/December 2007 issue of the Agricultural Research magazine.

Chinese scientists responsible for developing innovative wheat varieties were recognized on 03/12/2007 with the International Award for "Outstanding Agricultural Technology". One of the varieties, known as Jimai 20, is the only Chinese wheat cultivar—and one of the few in the world—to show high resistance to a new and virulent strain of destructive wheat stem rust that originated in East Africa and has now spread to the Arabian peninsula. International wheat experts have been alarmed that most of the world’s wheat varieties appear susceptible to the disease, which can reduce harvests by as much 70 percent. See: China's new high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat boosting as world prices soar.

The man who fed the world: more on Norman Borlaug

Who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970?

Who? Norman Borlaug, 94, is the father of the "Green Revolution", the dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s.

He is the subject of an admiring biography by Leon Hesser, a former State Department official who first met Mr. Borlaug 40 years ago in Pakistan, where they worked together to boost that country's grain production.

"The Man Who Fed the World" describes, in a workmanlike way, how a poor Iowa farm boy trained in forestry and plant pathology came to be one of humanity's greatest benefactors.

More information on the website dedicated to Norman Borlaug...

The World Food Prize Youth program

Students from more than 140 high schools in Iowa and beyond have participated in World Food Prize Foundation youth programs. Each October during the Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium, the Youth Institute provides students the opportunity to interact with Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates and offers exposure to an array of experts, facilities and organizations relating to nutrition and food security.

Each participating high school designates a student and faculty member to attend the Institute, which takes place in Des Moines during a three-day period that includes the Laureate Award Ceremony and International Symposium. Student and faculty teams prepare discussion papers, which are presented by the students during a day-long seminar before a panel of World Food Prize Council of Advisors and Laureates - individuals who are acknowledged leaders in a broad range of food and agricultural disciplines. Development of the papers can be a project of a single student, a group of students, or an entire class. Faculty members serve as advisors. The papers are published in the Youth Institute Proceedings.

Biofuels Primer: Biofuels are liquid or gaseous fuels derived from biomass, which can be identified generally as organic matter; for the purposes of fuel, organic matter is plant material or animal waste. While biofuels include compounds and elements such as methanol, methane, and hydrogen, the two fuels primarily in commercial production are ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is a liquid fuel generated from converting the carbohydrate portion of biomass into sugar and then fermenting the sugar, while biodiesel is produced through the transesterfication of organically-derived oils or fats.

Food Security Primer: Food security is when people do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. Food insecurity exists when people are undernourished as a result of the physical unavailability of food, their lack of social or economic access to adequate food, and/or inadequate food utilization. World-wide around 852 million people are without enough food to eat on a regular basis and another 2 billion face intermittent food insecurity. There are 22 countries, 16 of which are in Africa, in which the undernourishment prevalence rate is over 35%.

Increased agricultural productivity enables farmers to grow more food, which translates into better diets and, under market conditions that offer a level playing field, into higher farm incomes. With more money, farmers are more likely to diversify production and grow higher-value crops, benefiting not only themselves but the economy as a whole.

Biofuels and Biofoods: The Global Implications of Emerging Technologies

The 2007 Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium, held in Des Moines October 17-19, 2007, focused on: "Biofuels and Biofoods: The Global Implications of Emerging Technologies."

The 2007 "Borlaug Dialogue" gathered more than 700 leading policymakers, industry executives, and agricultural and food science experts from over 60 countries, who explored the international impact that biorenewable energy will have in the coming decades, including such topics as:

• the implications of biorenewable energy in the context of climate change, declining water resources, and sustainable agriculture
• the linkages between biofuels and biotechnology
• the particular promises and challenges that biofuels pose for developing countries.

Speakers from Africa:

H.E. Lulama Xingwana, South Africa Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, Republic of South Africa. As Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, Minister Xingwana has worked extensively to promote and further the Strategy for Biofuels in South Africa.

H.E. Ibrahim Mayaki, Niger Executive Director, The Hub for Rural Development in West and Central AfricaFormer Prime Minister, Niger. Since its inception in 2004, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki has served as Executive Director of the Hub for Rural Development in West and Central Africa, which works to promote coherence in rural development programs worldwide.

Dr. Monty Jones participated at the 2007 "Borlaug dialogue" Biofuel Symposium as he was laureate of the World Food Prize in 2004

Dr. Jones meets some of the students at the Borlaug dialogue

It is possible to hear the audio from each portion of the 2007 World Food Prize International Symposium and to download the speaker's PowerPoint presentation. But note: these files are very large and downloading on a dial-up connection is not advised.