Global food industry gathers for World Food Prize

And I'm David Miller in Des Moines, Iowa, where foreign dignitaries, trade representatives, government officials, and members of private industry gathered to celebrate the awarding of the World Food Prize. Prior to the Laureate ceremony - a series of speeches and breakout sessions were held under the banner of the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue.

Kees Huizinga, Global Farmer Network, Ukraine: “Some time ago, for example, 1,000 hectares of arable farming. The energy you need from this, you can produce and transfer through hydrogen.”

Robert Coviello, CSO & Government Affairs, Bunge: “The food system has clearly gotten more efficient. It's, it provides safer, higher quality food at a lower price. But what we've seen over the past couple of years, it needs, it needs some improvement.”

Speeches were given by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Sec. Tom Vilsack, USDA: “This is a transformational moment in agriculture. This is a transformational moment. This is a chance to do a lot of things that need to be done in agriculture, not just on climate, but as well, not just on productivity, as important as that is, but also on profitability. For the last 40 years or so, our focus has been predominantly on increasing productivity. That needs to continue, obviously, if we're gonna continue to feed a, a, a fragile world in the face of climate change. But we have to make sure that it is also not only sustainable, but also profitable.”

And USAID administrator Samantha Power.

Adm. Samantha Power, USAID: “In response, USAID is investing in the food systems that farmers, but especially women farmers rely on. Systems that weren't necessarily designed, weren't designed, with women in mind. Food systems include expanding access to new seeds, digital innovations and financial resources, as well as ways to store excess harvest and to prevent food loss.”

Adm. Samantha Power, USAID: “Well, our objective is to close our doors, um, and putting to, to one side our objective, the objective of the communities in which we work is to be self reliant. And I, I think the importance of what you might call customization cannot be overstated when it comes to seeds, fertilizer, and, and other inputs. And I think that there was in the past a little bit of a one size fits all, uh, approach, you know, by donors, by a variety of, uh, agricultural ministries, uh, you know, in places, uh, that were seeking to make their land more productive. I think now you see that there is this knowledge.

The week was highlighted with this year’s World Food Prize Laureate, Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, receiving her statue. She received the honor for her pioneering work in modeling the impact of climate change on food production around the world.

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, 2022 World Food Prize Laureate: “Food systems are emerging at the forefront of climate change action. We now know that climate change cannot be restrained without attention to the greenhouse gas emissions coming from food systems. But at the same time, food security for all cannot be provided without resilience to increasing climate extremes. As we move into this crucial decade of action of climate change, food needs to be at the table

For Market to Market, I’m David Miller.

Contact: miller@iowapbs.org