Dr. William H. Danforth, chairman of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, wrote an op-ed for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that outlines the challenges the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) must meet, and argues that first-rate science is critical to addressing these challenges.

He writes that America must promote innovation and science in order to increase productivity with fewer inputs, lower costs and new value added. This call to action connects to the second challenge: the 1 billion people who are undernourished worldwide. He also addresses the challenge of climate change, and stresses the importance of sustainable agriculture practices and preserving the environment for future generations.

Dr. Danforth also reflects on Dr. Norman Borlaug’s success bringing about the Green Revolution, which saved over 1 billion people from hunger and starvation, and communicates the need for similar food production advances today. Dr. Danforth writes, “An agricultural revolution to provide what’s needed on land able to produce for generations is a tough but noble goal. Our modern scientific and technological tools are allies.”

Read Dr. Danforth’s entire op-ed here

The Financial Times published an editorial calling for more agriculture and food security aid in the declaration that will be signed at next week’s World Food Summit. They write that more attention must be paid towards the 1 billion chronically undernourished people in the globe, and the challenges to the future of food production, including an increasing population and climate change.

They also write that developing countries “need investment in research on agricultural techniques” in order to significantly increase food production in the developing world.  

Read more of the Financial Times’ editorial here (subscription required)

In a recent paper, the FAO is predicting that in order to properly feed an additional 2.5 billion people while striving towards eradicating poverty and hunger, food production will have to increase by 70 percent over the next forty years.

The FAO will be hosting a High-Level Expert Forum in Rome on 12-13 October to discuss “How to Feed the World in 2050″. The Forum will bring together around 300 leading experts from academic, non-governmental and private sector institutions from developing and developed countries.

The complete paper can be read here.