Malnutrition has the potential to bankrupt countries and prevent children from reaching their full potential. Unlike other food groups, fruits and vegetables provide beneficial outcomes across all malnutrition forms. Yet, despite the nutritional punch of fruits and vegetables, current global consumption is far below the minimum daily requirements of five portions.
Join the Global Food Security Project for the release of Seeds of Change: The Power of Fruits and Vegetables to Improve Nutrition in Tanzania, a new report focusing on how the United States and other donors are trying to boost fruit and vegetable consumption in Tanzania to improve nutrition through multisectoral and public–private approaches.
The event will feature a keynote lecture by the former Tanzanian Prime Minister, the Honorable Mizengo Pinda, which will be followed by an armchair conversation. The subsequent panel discussion will explore the unique challenges to fruit and vegetable consumption and current efforts to change dietary behavior.
This event is made possible by the generous support of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nov 6, 2019
1 hr 51 min
Video
One of the cruelest paradoxes of our time is that as world hunger increases, a significant amount of food is either lost or wasted. Successfully reducing food loss and waste would make a substantial contribution to decreasing global hunger and malnutrition. We all have a part to play, not only for the resources that go into producing food, but also, and more importantly, for the 821 million who go to bed hungry every night.
Join us for a technical discussion on the key findings of FAO’s State of Food and Agriculture Report 2019: Moving Forward on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, which was released this week. Listen to distinguished experts explore how food loss and waste reduction can significantly improve global food and nutrition security, promote environmental sustainability, and lower agricultural production costs.
This dialogue is part of the joint CSIS Global Food Security Project and FAO of the United Nations, Liaison Office for North America speaker series on agricultural development.
Oct 29, 2019
1 hr 26 min
Video
Climate change is upon us. In places like Nepal, where two-thirds of the labor force rely on agriculture to earn a living, the impacts of rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and protracted droughts are becoming especially severe. The U.S. government is expanding its investment in programs that build climate resilience, but how can we ensure these investments are inclusive and beneficial to the most vulnerable populations?
Please join us for a panel discussion and the launch of our newest report, Dry Hills, Full Ponds: Climate Change, Resilience, and Agriculture in Nepal, which highlights promising approaches to placing the most vulnerable at the center of resilience-building efforts.
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Oct 9, 2019
1 hr 25 min
Video
Please join the CSIS Global Food Security Project for a discussion with a panel of experts on the relationship between climate change, political instability, and food security using current events on the African continent as a lens. The emerging consensus is that climate change poses significant national security threats. However, specific linkages between climate change and political instability are still opaque. As climate change reshapes the agricultural landscape across Africa, there is concern that higher food prices and falling yields will lead to widespread urban unrest and catalyze participation in armed extremist movements.
Preceded by a keynote from Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), the discussion will examine how climate change is interacting with demographic trends in Africa to both heighten risks associated with agriculture in rural areas and those associated with dependence on global markets in urban areas. Our panelists will explore several issues such as how averting crisis in the face of climate change and food insecurity will require:
Better incorporation of agricultural production and food prices—both global and local—into risk assessments.
Reinvestment in agricultural and transport infrastructure to reform global agricultural trade to make it more climate-resilient for consumers and producers in the developing world.
Opportunities to work with regional governments to develop more inclusive responses to manage political and economic instability.
This event was made possible through general support to CSIS.
Sep 25, 2019
1 hr 26 min
Video
The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat all rely on biodiversity – but the demands of a growing population and the practices of unsustainable agriculture are compromising access to humanity’s most basic needs. This was the message from two recent reports launched by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' (FAO) publications: Biodiversity for Sustainable Agriculture and The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture.
The reports detailed the impact of environmental degradation and the impact diminishing biodiversity has on vulnerable ecosystems and food systems, including agriculture and health. Once biodiversity is lost, we cannot recover it. What is driving these changes in nature and how will it impact daily life? What policies and practices need to be put in place to save our planet and our food security?
Join us to hear from experts on the linkages between biodiversity loss and its impact on the global food system. The distinguished panel will reflect on the importance of safeguarding biodiversity for food and agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is key to reversing trends that lead to biodiversity loss, damaged ecosystems, deforestation, and the overall deterioration of our natural resources. The event will include an in-depth, multidisciplinary discussion as well as a nuanced conversation on the two reports.
This dialogue is part of the joint CSIS Global Food Security Project and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
Liaison Office for North America speaker series on agricultural development.
Jun 25, 2019
1 hr 27 min
Video
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The CSIS Global Food Security Project invites you to join a discussion with a world-renowned expert and advocate on the opportunity for U.S. foreign policy and business to improve global nutrition. Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), was awarded the 2018 World Food Prize for his exemplary leadership in maternal and child nutrition and efforts to significantly reduce childhood stunting. Please join us to learn Dr. Haddad’s views on why and how the U.S. government should strengthen public-private engagement in its foreign policy to provide optimal nutrition for all.
The current state of all three forms of malnutrition—underweight, overweight or obese, and micronutrient deficiency—is unacceptable. With one in three people experiencing malnutrition, every country faces the damaging effects malnutrition has on country-level prosperity and security.
Although the current food system faces many challenges today, the private sector must be part of the solution to decrease malnutrition. Industry can play a more integral role in making nutrient-dense food more affordable and available to all populations; this means maximizing profits and prioritizing food and nutrition security and health. U.S. policymakers should build an environment that fosters public-private engagement, fortifies accountability, and shares decision-making.
This event is made possible by the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Jun 11, 2019
1 hr 19 min
Video
The CSIS Global Food Security Project and the CSIS Africa Program invite you to join a discussion on the economic decline and food insecurity crisis in Zimbabwe. According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee’s 2018 Rural Livelihoods Assessment, nearly 2.4 million people in rural Zimbabwe were projected to be severely food insecure by March 2019. In the wake of Cyclone Idai, Zimbabwe's dire condition seems poised to worsen. If the current trends continue, Zimbabwe could be facing a severe humanitarian crises that rivals some of the worst in the world. Is Zimbabwe prepared to reform its economy, address its food security challenges, and develop a sustainable strategy to response to natural disasters? How can the international community and the U.S. government support peace and prosperity in the wake of this disaster? Panelists Ashok Chakravarti, Jason Taylor, and Peter Thomas will tackle these questions and shine a light on the escalating situation in Zimbabwe to the Washington policy community.
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
May 1, 2019
1 hr 26 min
Video
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been widely hailed for his promises to open political space, usher in economic liberalization, and remake the country’s poor record on human rights. However, to truly transform his country, Dr. Abiy must first transform agriculture, which is the nucleus of the Ethiopian economy and by far the largest employer.
Please join us for the launch of our newest report, Building a Big Tent for Agricultural Transformation in Ethiopia, which examines the past wins, current endeavors, and future challenges of Ethiopia’s Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA). Following a keynote message from ATA’s CEO, Khalid Bomba, an expert panel will compare and contrast Ethiopia’s experience in agricultural transformation to that of other countries and explore the role that donors like the United States government can play to support such efforts for country-led development.
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Apr 24, 2019
1 hr 25 min
Video
Please join the CSIS Global Food Security Project for the launch of our newest report, Risk and Resilience: Advancing Food and Nutrition Security in Nigeria through Feed the Future, by Julie Howard and Emmy Simmons. The report examines what the new Feed the Future strategy's emphasis on resilience means in Nigeria, one of the newly-designated target countries. Nigeria, with the continent’s largest economy, is arguably the most important partner for the United States in Africa and is on the verge of a critical presidential election. Through the lens of Nigeria, especially the northeast, the report examines the risks and opportunities related to extending the highly-regarded U.S. global hunger and food security initiative to more fragile countries.
The event will feature a dialogue on why the United States’ leadership on global food security, particularly in fragile, climate, and conflict-affected regions, is critical to U.S. national security and reducing global poverty and malnutrition. How can the U.S. adapt its successful experience with facilitating inclusive, private sector driven agricultural development to more fragile environments? Can boosting resilient systems, jobs, incomes, and nutrition in the agricultural sector – where most people live and work – help address the root causes of fragility and conflict in Nigeria and other regions?
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Feb 13, 2019
1 hr 54 min
Video
For 25 years, the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte has been an unsung hero in the fight against food insecurity. As Dr. M. Jahi Chappell put it, “The course to universal food security will never run smooth[ly], but steps forward have and can be made. Belo Horizonte has walked a bit farther down the path than most.” Annually, the municipal government’s Under-Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security spends upwards of $27 million running affordable “Popular Restaurants” that serve 14,000 meals per day; supporting retail “Food at Low Cost” outlets that annually move 50 million kilograms of produce; and making lunch from scratch for 150,000 schoolchildren. In addition, the government procures nearly all the produce required for these programs from small- and medium- sized family farms in the peri-urban area.
Please join us for a keynote address from Belo Horizonte’s Food and Nutrition Secretary, Ms. Maíra Colares, as we examine the promise, challenges, and determinants of durable municipal governance in food security policy. The keynote will be preceded by a special video message from Olivier de Schutter, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, and followed by a panel discussion with Secretary Colares and Chris Shepherd-Pratt from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Drawing on the experiences of Belo Horizonte, the panel will explore a number of issues:
What special role can municipal governments play in food security, compared to regional, national, and international governments?
What enables government institutions to maintain their commitments to food security over the long-term?
How can U.S. development policymakers best support local governance?
Join us after the event for a holiday celebration with food and drink.
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dec 11, 2018
1 hr 27 min
Video
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