August 22, 2016

Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations

A woman carries her baby as she walks through a wheat field on her way to a polling station to cast her vote in Shabazpur Dor village, in Amroha district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, as India kicked off the biggest day of its mammoth general election April 17, 2014. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Nutrition, Agriculture, and Innovation: The Road Ahead
Micronutrient deficiencies undermine the health of 2 billion—yes, billion—people worldwide and are responsible for almost half of all preventable maternal and child deaths each year. Biofortification—the process of naturally enriching staple foods such as rice, wheat, and corn with vitamins and minerals—can resolve such deficiencies and benefit low-income subsistence farmers who rely on these inexpensive but not very nutritious staple foods for much of their families’ diet.

Enlist the Market in the Climate-Change Fight
This year’s World Economic Forum Global Risks Report declared the “failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation” the “risk with the greatest potential impact in 2016.” Yet financial markets suffer from an alarming lack of climate-risk information, which keeps investors and policymakers from accurately incorporating these risks into their decisions. Combating climate change requires not only leveraging bold action by governments to cut carbon pollution, but also harnessing the power of market forces with clear, uniformly disclosed assessments of climate-related economic risks.

Ever Wanted to Track Where Your Fish Comes From? Now You Can.
Anyone with internet access and a passion for seafood will soon be able to track commercial fishing trawlers all over the world, with a new tool that its developers hope will help end the overfishing that has decimated the world's fish stocks. Millions of people depend on fish to survive, and fish will be vital to feeding the world's growing population that is predicted to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050.

Why USAID Is Looking to Silicon Valley for Food Security Partners
The Bay Area is home to a growing number of agriculture technology, or agtech, startups, ranging from robotics to predictive data analytics to the “Internet of Things.” Building on the momentum of the Global Food Security Act, which President Barack Obama recently signed into law, they are working with USAID’s Global Development Lab to explore how Silicon Valley investors and entrepreneurs might adapt and scale agtech in developing countries.

About

The Global Food and Agriculture Program aims to inform the development of US policy on global agricultural development and food security by raising awareness and providing resources, information, and policy analysis to the US Administration, Congress, and interested experts and organizations.

The Global Food and Agriculture Program is housed within the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent, nonpartisan organization that provides insight – and influences the public discourse – on critical global issues. The Council on Global Affairs convenes leading global voices and conducts independent research to bring clarity and offer solutions to challenges and opportunities across the globe. The Council is committed to engaging the public and raising global awareness of issues that transcend borders and transform how people, business, and governments engage the world.

Support for the Global Food and Agriculture Program is generously provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Blogroll

1,000 Days Blog, 1,000 Days

Africa Can End Poverty, World Bank

Agrilinks Blog

Bread Blog, Bread for the World

Can We Feed the World Blog, Agriculture for Impact

Concern Blogs, Concern Worldwide

Institute Insights, Bread for the World Institute

End Poverty in South Asia, World Bank

Global Development Blog, Center for Global Development

The Global Food Banking Network

Harvest 2050, Global Harvest Initiative

The Hunger and Undernutrition Blog, Humanitas Global Development

International Food Policy Research Institute News, IFPRI

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Blog, CIMMYT

ONE Blog, ONE Campaign

One Acre Fund Blog, One Acre Fund

Overseas Development Institute Blog, Overseas Development Institute

Oxfam America Blog, Oxfam America

Preventing Postharvest Loss, ADM Institute

Sense & Sustainability Blog, Sense & Sustainability

WFP USA Blog, World Food Program USA

Archive

Photo of the Week

Farmers in Maraka, Kenya, plant maize using a hand hoe and a pre¬measured planting string to help them properly space their seeds.


Commentary - Saving Lives Through Efficient Food Aid Delivery

Early this year our government made real progress in improving the way we provide food aid to chronically hungry people and those in crises.  Unfortunately, recent actions by the House of Representatives threaten to undermine important reforms that would make food aid programs more effective and efficient. 


Photo of the Week

Silas Niyimpa of Ngobi, Rwanda, harvests cassava roots he planted in 2013.




Video: Could climate change lead to more wars?

Retired Navy Rear Admiral David Titley, who is a professor of meteorology at Penn State University, joins Consider This host Antonio Mora to discuss how climate change could increase global instability and conflicts.



Photo of the Week

One Acre Fund farmer Elias Ndinduyubwo of Kagabiro, Rwanda, shows off maize he has harvested with his family.


Video: Zero poverty. Think again

A new paper by the Overseas Development Institute reviews what is known about the impacts of climate change on eight development goal areas, and shows that it is essential for climate change to be addressed in order not to compromise development efforts.




Photo of the Week

One Acre Fund group leader Pauline Keya demonstrates how much chlorine to add to water to make it safe for drinking.


Photo of the Week

Martin Ugiraneza, of Rwamiko, Rwanda, was able to purchase a cow after his 2013 harvests.


USAID Ending Extreme Poverty

Through the narration of Presidents Kennedy, Clinton, Bush, and Obama, the film depicts America's progress, mission, and means by which we intend to end extreme poverty over the next two decades.


Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability

Working Group II assesses the scientific, technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of the vulnerability (sensitivity and adaptability) to climate change of, and the negative and positive consequences for, ecological systems, socio-economic sectors and human health, with an emphasis on regional sectoral and cross-sectoral issues.