World Food Prize Foundation
2009 Borlaug Dialogue
October 14-16, 2009 – Des Moines, Iowa
Food, Agriculture, and National Security in a Globalized World
Global leaders are increasingly viewing food and nutrition as critical factors underpinning national and international security in the face of economic, political, and environmental crises worldwide. The same challenges confront experts working in international agriculture and rural development, while food insecurity and malnutrition continue to rise around the world. These challenges and the reactions they have drawn from world leaders have led some to call into question the effectiveness of existing global institutions and systems in ensuring the availability of food on community and national levels.
In that context, the 2009 Borlaug Dialogue 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
Transcripts by Agenda
Special Video Message
Hillary Rodham Clinton – U.S. Secretary of State
Opening Keynote Session:
Food, Agriculture, Energy, and Threats to Global Security
Patricia Woertz – Chairman, CEO, and President, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Transcript)
Ellen Kullman – CEO, DuPont (Transcript)
Her Excellency Gerda Verburg – Minister of Agriculture, The Netherlands (Transcript)
Conversation: Global agricultural yields: Trends and Threats
Margaret Catley-Carlson – Chair, World Economic Forum Advisory Council on Water
Jason Clay – Senior Vice President Market Transformation, World Wildlife Fund
William Dar – Director General, ICRISAT
Seyfu Ketema – Executive Director, ASARECA
Jeff Simmons – President, Elanco
Weibin Yan – CEO, Longping High-Tech Agriculture
Conversation: Poverty, hunger, and food security in crisis areas
Per Pinstrup-Andersen (Moderator) – 2001 World Food Prize Laureate
Tom Arnold – CEO, Concern Worldwide
Chelston Brathwaite – Director General, IICA
Ambassador James Michel – Counselor, USAID
Her Excellency Faida Mitifu – Ambassador, The Democratic Republic of Congo
Frances Stewart – Director, Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, Oxford University
Keynote: Support the World’s Poorest Farmers
Bill Gates – Co-Chair, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Transcript)
(includes Q&A session with 2009 World Food Prize Laureate Gebisa Ejeta)
Conversation: Intelligence & security perspectives on agriculture
Mathew Burrows – Counselor, National Intellegence Council (NIC)
Raymond Gilpin – Associate Vice President, United States Institute of Peace
Dennis McGinn – Vice Admiral, United States Navy (ret)
Keynote Presentation: Food at the Center of Global Crisis
Jeffrey Sachs – Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University (Transcript)
Symposium Luncheon Keynote Address
Indra Nooyi – Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo (Transcript)
Video Message
Pascal Lamy – Director-General, World Trade Organization
The Secretary’s Roundtable: Ministerial perspectives on cooperation in food & agriculture
Hon. Tom Vilsack – Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture
H.E. Amin Abaza – Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt
H.E. Gerry Ritz – Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Canada
Carlos Vazquez – Minister-Counselor for Agriculture, Embassy of Mexico, Washington
Roundtable Discussion: (Transcript)
Conversation: Will a food-secure world require new global institutions?
Sir Gordon Conway (Moderator) – Professor of Intl. Development, Imperial College London
Mark Cackler – Manager, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank
Louise Fresco – Professor, University of Amsterdam
Kanayo Nwanze – President, International Fund for Agricultural Development
Richard Williamson – Former U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan
Symposium Breakfast Keynote Address
Roger Thurow – Co-author, “Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty” (Transcript)
Keynote: Agriculture and Security in Africa
Joaquim Chissano – Former President, Mozambique
Conversation: Gender in agriculture, nutrition, and health
Catherine Bertini (Moderator) – 2003 World Food Prize Laureate
Namanga Ngongi – President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Geeta Rao Gupta – President, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
Mahabub Hossain – Executive Director, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)
Conversation: Assessing progress in global agriculture
Joachim von Braun – Director General, IFPRI
Marco Ferroni – Executive Director, Syngenta Foundation
Brian Halweil – Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute
Hans Herren – 1995 World Food Prize Laureate
J.B. Penn – Chief Economist, John Deere
The Laureate Lecture: The African Green Revolution need not be a mirage
Gebisa Ejeta – 2009 World Food Prize Laureate (Transcript)
Conversation: Agriculture and climate change – Being part of the solution
* Co-organized by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) and the United Nations Foundation
Hans Herren (Moderator) – 1995 World Food Prize Laureate
Peg Armstrong-Gustafson – Founder and Owner, Amson Technology
Michael Hansen – Senior Staff Scientist, Consumers Union
Anita Idel – Mediation and Agrobiodiversity
Helena Paul – Co-Director, EcoNexus
John Reganold – Professor, Washington State University