Project Scope

An ad hoc committee organized two public workshops in 2011 to help establish the dimensions of the food security challenge and explore how to sustainably meet growing food demands during the coming decades. A first workshop, Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems, examined the empirical basis for past trends, the current situation and projections for the future. The workshop reviewed the record, analyze methodological strengths and weaknesses, and discuss priorities for improving our understanding of the dimensions (quantitative, qualitative, and geographical) of the issues. A second workshop, Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Increasing Global Food Supplies, examined a set of issues fundamental to assuring that food supplies can be increased to meet the needs of the world’s growing population — now expected to grow to 9 billion by the year 2050.

Meetings & Events

Workshop 1:  Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems
Keck Center of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
500 Fifth St NW Room 201
Washington, DC 20001
February 16-17, 2011

• Meeting Information
• Agenda and Presentations
   

Workshop 2: Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Increasing Global Food Supplies
Venable LLP Conference Center, Capitol Room
575 Seventh Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
May 2-4, 2011

• Meeting Information
• View Agenda and Presentations

Committee Membership Information

The committee listed below was established by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The project's steering committee reviews all proposals and oversees the organization of the workshops.

• Per Pinstrup-Andersen (Chair)
  H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy, J. Thomas Clark Professor of Entrepreneurship, and Professor of Applied Economics, Cornell University
• Mike Bushell 
  Principal Scientific Adviser, Jealott's Hill International Research Center
• Jason Clay
  Senior Vice-President, Market Transformation, World Wildlife Fund
• Bert Drake
  Former Plant Physiologist, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center  
• William Jury (NAS)
  Distinguished Professor, Soil Physics & Soil Physicist, Emeritus, University of California, Riverside
• Phillip Pardey
  Professor of Science and Technology Policy, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, Director, International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP) Center
• Jules Pretty
  Professor of Environment and Society and Designate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (from August 2010), University of Essex 
• Marie Ruel
  Director, Poverty, Health, and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research Institute
• Emmy Simmons
  Former Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Kostas Stamoulis
  Director, Agricultural Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Dennis Treacy
  Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer, Smithfield Foods, Inc
• Laurian Unnevehr
  Director, Food Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Paul Vlek
  Professor and Director, Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn

 View the Committee Membership Information in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Current Project System

Staff

• Pat Koshel, Senior Program Officer, Policy and Global Affairs (pkoshel@nas.edu)
• Emi Kameyama, Program Associate, Policy and Global Affairs (ekameyama@nas.edu)
    
   

Sponsors

A Sustainability Challenge: Food Security for All is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.