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Ending Hunger Will Require Compromise (Jo Luck Commentary)

4 min read

After more than two decades working alongside sustainable development experts at Heifer International, I am confident that world hunger can be eliminated with the appropriate approach and collaboration. I am frequently asked the question “When global food security (or insecurity) issues are addressed, who are the stakeholders?” My reply is anyone who eats.

However, while the goal of food security seems straightforward, the path to achieve it is complex and involves often competing demands and belief systems. Take the issue of climate change.

Consider that the global population is expected to reach about 9.6 billion by 2050. The challenge of meeting the food and nutrition needs of this growing population will be enormous under any circumstances. When you add climate change to the mix — higher temperatures, shifting seasons, more frequent and extreme weather events, flooding and droughts — the ability to produce enough food for everyone seems overwhelming.

After observing firsthand the impact of climate change in many parts of the globe, I have begun to look at the world through a different lens, one where we will continue to face more frequent and more severe weather events and patterns. Through this lens we must evaluate potential solutions and set priorities to address the food and nutrition security challenge ahead of us. We must also consider the shrinking availability of natural resources, figure out how to grow food in the midst of a more extreme climate, and recognize the importance of the farmers making the decisions. Otherwise it will not be sustainable.

Scientists, academics and seed companies are working on innovations that will allow growth in drought and flood conditions and bring greater nutritional value to crops. We need to support innovations like these as a way to ensure farmers — particularly smallholder farmers, many of whom are women — can still grow crops in a more difficult climate future. And we must make sure that these technologies are accessible and affordable for farmers everywhere.

Once food is produced it is important that it can get to where it is needed. With more people moving to cities and away from where food is grown, improved infrastructure and storage facilities will be required. In addition, a more open trade environment would ensure that men, women and children in food insecure countries have access to the global food supply.

Food waste is another critical issue we need to think about more carefully. We waste about one-third of the food we produce. In developing countries the waste usually occurs somewhere between the farm and the market. The lack of roads, bridges and proper storage is often the culprit. At home, in Arkansas and across the U.S., the waste often occurs with us as we throw away those fruit, vegetable, dairy and meat products that have “gone bad.”

In a world where our population continues to grow and unpredictable weather patterns jeopardize our ability to produce enough food to meet our caloric and nutritional needs, we simply have to take better care of the food we have. It might mean identifying local non-technological solutions that enable farmers to preserve their food on the way to markets, or scientific innovations to slow bacterial growth and spoilage, or perhaps innovations we have not thought of yet.

Participating in rich, transparent discussions regarding global priorities with smart thinkers and experts who come from diverse backgrounds and perspectives is invigorating and provocative. It may be the only way to solve these global problems. My viewpoint on these issues has been both challenged and affirmed during conversations with my colleagues throughout the years and on boards on which I am honored to participate, such as the Chicago Council’s Global Agricultural Development Initiative Advisory Committee, the World Food Prize Laureates and others.

One of my greatest frustrations regarding this country’s leadership in Washington is the unwillingness of both political parties to seek possible compromises for the greater good. With my heart in the NGO community and my mind in the scientific and information technology community, I am hopeful that they can come together to flesh out the best of each in order to address how to feed over 9 billion people by 2050. It is the greatest challenge facing us in the next 30 years, 50 years and beyond. Without the willingness of all the global food security stakeholders to come together to dialogue, the world will not be fed.

Jo Luck is the former president and CEO of Heifer International, based in Little Rock. She is a co-winner of the 2010 World Food Prize.

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