Global Food for Thought

Senate Confirms Rajiv Shah's Nomination as USAID Administrator

The United States Senate approved the nomination of Rajiv Shah to head the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Dr. Shah was the under secretary for research, education and economics and chief scientist at the U.S. department of agriculture before being tapped by President Obama for his new appointment.  

Expert Commentary - Climate, Copenhagen and Food Security

In response to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Global Agricultural Development Initiative solicited commentary by leading agricultural development, food security, and climate change experts to provide expert analysis of the Conferences's proceedings.

Brian C. Murray

Director for Economic Analysis at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Research Professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.  Bio

It is 10 pm Friday in Copenhagen as I look out my window at the Bella Center, where world leaders are still trying to hammer out an international agreement on climate change.  Today President Obama addressed the assembled leadership and argued that failure to forge an agreement would not only create profound environmental threats to our society, but would represent a demonstrable failure of global collective action to address large existential threats. 

At this stage, I feel a bit like a sports reporter filing his story before the game has ended. But deadlines loom and there is a lot more to the story than the final score.  Among the key sub-plots of Copenhagen is how global agriculture and food security will be affected by the success or failure of the global agreement.  One can look at this from the three lenses through which climate policy is traditionally viewed. 

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

President Obama with Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao, across from him, the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, right, and other world leaders at the Copenhagen climate summit on Friday. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Please click here to view this week's edition of the Global Food for Thought news brief, featuring special coverage of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

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Thank you, and have a great weekend!

 

Expert Commentary - The Post-Copenhagen Agenda for Agricultural Science

In response to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Global Agricultural Development Initiative solicited commentary by leading agricultural development, food security, and climate change experts to provide expert analysis of the Conferences's proceedings.

 David Lobell

Assistant Professor at Stanford University in Environmental Earth System Science, and a Center Fellow in Stanford's Program on Food Security and the Environment. His research focuses on identifying opportunities to raise crop yields in major agricultural regions, with a particular emphasis on adaptation to climate change.   Bio

Revamping the global energy system and adapting to climate change will be huge tasks involving trillions of dollars.  It should be no surprise, therefore, that millions of businesses, NGO’s, and others will be clamoring for a piece of the mitigation and adaptation pies. Like most people who have chosen a career focused on agriculture and food security, I am inclined to think that agriculture should feature prominently in both mitigation and adaptation efforts. But looking at the science, it is clear that we could do a much better job defining the potential benefits and costs of investing in agriculture, and pinpointing the particular investments that are most worthwhile. 

Expert Commentary - Copenhagen Meetings Bring Unprecedented Push for Action on Agriculture and Forestry Issues

In response to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Global Agricultural Development Initiative solicited commentary by leading agricultural development, food security, and climate change experts to provide expert analysis of the Conferences's proceedings.

Mark Rosegrant

Director of the Environment and Production Technology Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, DC. He currently directs research on climate change, water resources, sustainable land management, genetic resources and biotechnology, and agriculture and energy.  Bio

The build-up to the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen united a variety of groups eager to ensure that agricultural adaptation and mitigation are included in a final agreement at the COP-15. The world’s poor people, most of whom live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for a living, will be devastated by climate change’s effects on crop yields and livestock, and only if a Copenhagen accord represents their voices can a crisis be averted. Farmers will require assistance adapting to climate change—both in terms of policies and financing—while developing country agriculture also provides a significant opportunity to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through improved farming methods, with potential income benefits for farmers. At the same time, despite the challenge of climate change, crop production must meet the needs of a global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2020. 

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

Please click here to view this week's edition of the Global Food for Thought news brief, featuring special coverage of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

If you have not signed up to receive Global Food for Thought by email, please do so by clicking here.

Thank you, and have a great weekend!

Lew, Eikenberry Testify on Role of Agriculture in Obama's Afghanistan Strategy

Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today on Obama's Afghanistan strategy.

Lew said that as part of the new strategy, the State Department would "continue to expand our programs to bolster Afghanistan’s agricultural sector – the traditional core of the Afghan economy - focusing on increasing farmers' productivity and ability to enter higher value markets," as well as "greatly building the Ministry of Agriculture’s capacity to deliver extension and other services." With regard to Pakistan, Lew said that State would "assist Pakistan to address the country’s profound infrastructure needs with highly visible projects in energy and agriculture."

Ambassador Eikenberry remarked that "development specialists at USAID, joined by experts from multiple departments and agencies of our government, are focusing on key sectors, such as agriculture." Calling the rebuilding of the Afghan farm sector "essential," Ambassador Eikenberry noted that the U.S. governments estimates that "at least 80 percent of the Afghan population derives their income, either directly or indirectly, from agriculture." He also said that he would be working with the Afghan Agriculture Ministry to reinforce the administration's "good governance strategy." 

Please click here for more information about the Obama administration's policies towards agriculture in Afghanistan, and here to view more Congressional testimony concerning agricultural development, food security, and other related issues.  

Nomination for USAID Designate Rajiv Shah Goes to Full Senate

The nomination for President Obama's choice for USAID Administrator, Dr. Rajiv Shah, advanced to the full Senate today after receiving a unanimous voice vote from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

Click here to view this week’s edition of the Global Food for Thought news brief.

Have a great weekend!

Obama Says New Afghan Policy Will Focus Assistance on Agriculture

In an address last night outlining his strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., President Barack Obama identified agriculture as an area where his administration will focus its assistance on to enhance its civilian strategy and "make an immediate impact in the lives of the Afghan people." Additionally, the White House released a fact sheet entitled, "The Way Forward in Afghanistan," which notes that the administration's "top reconstruction priority is implementing a civilian-military agriculture redevelopment strategy to restore Afghanistan’s once vibrant agriculture sector."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday at a hearing entitled, "Afghanistan: Assessing the Road Ahead," said the administration will be "delivering high-impact economic assistance and bolstering Afghanistan’s agricultural sector – the traditional core of the Afghan economy" in an effort to "create jobs, reduce the funding that the Taliban receives from poppy cultivation, and draw insurgents off of the battlefield."

For more information on the administration's polices towards agricultural development in Afghanistan, visit our Ag & Food Policy Library.