April 4, 2019
April 10 Press Club event examines global food insecurity
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – By 2050 the planet's population will grow by 35 percent, increasing the need for food production in a world already facing food security challenges. And while agricultural technologies exist to meet this rising demand, the ability to bring those advances to bear has been elusive.
An April 10 event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., will address the hurdles of scaling up technologies to meet global food demand and mark the online launch of the Scaling Up Sourcebook, written for those wanting to develop an action plan to bring agricultural innovations to the world. The "Innovations in Agriculture: Scaling Up to Reach Millions" event is sponsored by Purdue University, the African Development Bank and Catholic Relief Services. The event, which takes place from 3-5 p.m., is targeted at a broad audience that includes government policymakers, academia, research institutions, lending institutions and the business community. Purdue’s College of Agriculture has long been a leader in developing and delivering agricultural innovations, and this event, which grew out of the Scale Up Conference held last fall at Purdue, aims to provide specific strategies for scaling up interventions to address food insecurity.
According to Gerald Shively, an agricultural economist and associate dean and director for the Purdue College of Agriculture's International Programs in Agriculture, “adoption of new agricultural technologies isn't always as rapid or widespread as we would like. The sourcebook and this event will help to answer some basic questions about constraints to large-scale adoption such as what features make things scalable? How to build partnerships with finance agencies, governments and non-government organizations? And What has worked, what hasn't and why?”
The Scale Up Sourcebook was co-authored by Larry Cooley, president emeritus of Management Systems International, and Julie Howard, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They will be among the experts speaking at the Press Club event. The sourcebook will be available for download on the Scale Up Conference homepage at https://ag.purdue.edu/scaleup.
Journalists interested in attending the National Press Club event should email Howard at jhowardfoodsec@gmail.com or Shively at shivelyg@purdue.edu. The Press Club is located 529 14th St. NW.
Media contact: Maureen Mainer, mmanier@purdue.edu
Sources: Gerald Shively, 765-494-4218, shivelyg@purdue.edu
Julie Howard, jhowardfoodsec@gmail.com
Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;
Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu
