Last fall, the Cornell Board of Trustees approved a new Department of Global Development, housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, focused on solving the world’s grand challenges. This department creates enhanced opportunities for Cornell to have an immediate and positive impact on the world, from improving food security for millions of people to assuring sustainable use of the world’s resources and beyond.

During this webinar, as a panel of Cornell faculty explored the ways in which the Department of Global Development will connect with the international agricultural research community, the food industry, consumers and the broader university.

Nutritional Security through Biofortification

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, in 2017 we saw a surge in the number of chronically undernourished by 35 million globally, increasing the total number to 815 million. The two main reasons attributed to this increase were violent conflicts and climate-related shocks. This has brought to the forefront the challenges climate change poses on future food security and global progress in eradicating hunger and malnutrition. Climate change affects food security through a) food availability – productivity decreases of staples and nutrient rich non-staples; b) food access – lower income to small agricultural producers in the wake of production uncertainties; c) food stability – uncertain supply of food and volatile prices; and d) food utilization – decline in nutritional content resulting from elevated greenhouse gasses. The resulting question that arises is:  does this signal the re-emergence of the Malthusian theory that posits we are too many for our planet to feed or does this reiterate that necessity will lead to policy and technological innovation that address these challenges? In order to negate the former, this paper optimistically looks at the role of technological innovation and policy in building a climate resilient food system adapted to climate change. We unpack the main components of climate smart agriculture and the role innovation plays in increasing productivity to ensure availability of food, reducing climate change induced vulnerabilities to ensure food stability and nutritional quality. Policy support is also crucial in enabling food systems to adapt to climate change. Investing in climate smart technologies and incentivizing their adoption to improve food availability, putting in place effective safety net programs, trade policy and insurance systems to mitigate effects of supply shocks and ensure food stability, all require climate change sensitive policy.

Plenary Keynote Presentation – Speeding Progress:  Accelerators in Food Systems

Prabhu Pingali’s Rapid Fire Presentation

What are the primary goals for the new Green Revolution, and what role can local and regional research institutes and policy centers play in their promotion?