The Aspen Institute Launches Food Security Strategy Group

Global leaders across sectors convene to tackle long-term food security planning 

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On June 15-17 in Marrakech, Morocco, nearly 40 preeminent thought-leaders on hunger, global food markets, climate change, and population convened for the launch of a new Food Security Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute.

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This Strategy Group was launched in parallel to the annual Aspen Ideas Festival, a gathering of some of the most interesting thinkers and leaders from around the world to discuss their work, the issues that inspire them, and their ideas (in partnership with The Atlantic). A major focus within the festival is on the social, economic, cultural political, and geopolitical aspects of the Middle East, and its role in our collective fate – a key piece of our global food security challenge.

The newly launched Food Security Strategy Group aims to explore, at the highest levels of leadership, the critical challenge of how we can sustainably and equitably feed a growing world population by 2050 without exceeding the natural resource carrying capacity of the planet.

The initiative is co-chaired by Madeleine K. Albright, former US Secretary of State; Tom Daschle, former US Senator; Tony Elumelu, Nigerian banker and philanthropist; Dan Glickman, former US Secretary of Agriculture; and Javier Solana, Brookings Institution Distinguished Fellow in Foreign Policy and President of the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics.

Strategy group members—including scientists, CEOs, and economists to non-governmental organization executives and policymakers, all leaders in their fields—will be coordinating collaboration across sectors to address the growing challenge of long-term global food security.

The Aspen Institute identified an urgent need for this type of group after evaluating current food security work being done at a global level. To date, initiatives have focused on food aid, national policy, public-private partnership incubation, regional solutions, or multilateral policymaking. However, there remains a distinct need for both governments and corporations to understand the extent to which food security will be threatened in the coming decades by climate change, population growth and movement, and geopolitics, and what governments and companies can do to avert food insecurity crises. This group grew out of a perceived need for greater cross-sectoral alignment and bringing leaders out from their silos to plan long-term food security strategies.

The second of three convenings will occur this November, to build on the understandings established in the first convening and begin moving recommendations into action. The dialogue is a rigorous two-year undertaking. The Strategy Group is comprised of members whose knowledge, prominence, and affiliations will give weight and draw attention to the group's findings and recommendations.

The Strategy Group's efforts are supported by a unique collaboration within the Aspen Institute of three different departmental areas: the Institute's Energy and Environment, Global Health and Development, and Middle East Programs. Partial underwriting of the Food Security Strategy Group includes Bunge Ltd., The OCP Group, DuPont, and Land O' Lakes.

Learn more about the Food Security Strategy group at www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/food-security-strategy-group.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

SOURCE The Aspen Institute