Global food production on agenda at global conference

The Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (ABIC) begins this Sunday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and will focus on the challenges facing global food production. Five keynote and 66 expert speakers in three areas — energy, health and sustainability — will present during the four-day conference, which will have about 1,000 international delegates.

Keynote speakers include Julian Cribb, who authored the recently released “The Coming Famine: Risks and Solutions for Global Food Security,” and Prem Warrior, senior project manager with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Development Program.

Biofortification of staple foods still necessary

According to a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute, the biofortification of staple foods is still relevant in poor countries, despite gains in income and urbanization. The authors of the study, titled Integrated Economic Modeling of Global and Regional Micronutrient Security, suggest that low-income rural populations will continue to derive much of their diets from staple foods, such as cereal grains in South Asia, and roots and tubers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Kofi Annan awarded Norman E. Borlaug medallion

The World Food Prize Foundation this week awarded the Norman E. Borlaug medallion to Kofi Annan during the first-ever African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Annan’s home country of Ghana. According to the World Food Prize press release, Annan was selected for the award based on his “international leadership as Secretary-General of the United Nations and as chairman of the board for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. In both roles, Annan has brought significant attention to the issue of global food security, most notably in establishing the UN Millennium Development Goals during his time at the United Nations.”