The Future of Food: The Nexus of Food and Health

THE FUTURE OF FOOD The Nexus of Food and Health A SPECIAL POST-SUMMIT REPORT PRODUCED

BY DIPLOMATIC COURIER & MARS, INCORPORATED

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Future of Food Summit 2015 WELCOME

The Future of Food Nexus of Food and Health

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he world population is expected to rise above nine billion by 2050—meaning food production will need to increase sustainably by up to 70 percent.

Simultaneously, societies everywhere must alleviate the burden of nutritional deficiencies and confront the unprecedented social and economic challenge presented by aging populations.

On May 13, 2015, 150 experts, innovators and policymakers convened at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to drive awareness of the opportunities for collaboration at the nexus of food and health. The Future of Food Summit was co-hosted by global affairs magazine Diplomatic Courier and Mars, Incorporated. The forum enabled participants to debate the link between food, health, nutrition and wellness and ways to ensure effective impact.

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Ralph Jerome, Mars’ Vice President of Corporate Innovation, opened the day’s events. According to Jerome, “The future of food is one of the defining issues of our time.” In his welcome remarks, Jerome set the stage for the day’s discussions. He noted that smallholder farmers are responsible for growing a lot of food for a lot of people. And he cited India as a prime example of a key issue, noting that these farmers earn an estimated $1,500 annual income. “We are hoping for better production, increased food quality and reduction in mycotoxins all for a price tag of around $1,500 per family.

When talking about a better future for food, we must address the stagnant smallholder farming sector.”

Jerome continued to frame the issue with some disquieting facts and figures. He noted that agriculture

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has one of the greatest impacts on global warming and emits more greenhouse gases than all the cars, trucks and airplanes on this planet combined. At the same time, agriculture demands a lot of water and is one of the world’s greatest polluters. Paradoxically, agriculture, as well as the food industry overall, will be hit hardest by the effects of climate change.

Jerome went on to discuss the quality of the food supply, stating, “A lot of today’s food supply is simply not great. Much of what is produced is high in aflatoxins, for example.”

Jerome noted that in the last 50 years, the global population has grown 110 percent, yet agriculture has grown just 10 percent. “By 2050, we will have two billion more mouths to feed. And if that were not enough, we must tackle malnutrition and obesity and address the unique needs of a rapidly aging population.”

He summed up the situation, providing a snapshot of the current food system, “One billion people are going to bed hungry and malnourished every night. While at the same time, we have two billion people who are either overweight or obese. That means that approximately two-in-five people have too little to eat, too much to eat or not enough of the right kinds of health foods.”

Jerome proposed that experts and policymakers reconsider today’s current approach to solving complex food challenges – suggesting new, collaborative practices that translate discoveries into practical applications across the entire value chain. He underscored the need for uncommon collaborations that offer the diversity and depth necessary to drive impact and ensure we have better food.

Morning Keynote Address Keynote speaker Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, United States Senator for Rhode Island, upheld Jerome’s account of the situation stating, “In the United States and across the globe, we are entering a time of rapidly accelerating change in population, demographics and environment.

Good research, thoughtful planning and responsible policy making are the headlights that will help us meet the

challenges of these fast-moving conditions, particularly when it comes to health and wellness.”

Senator Whitehouse highlighted two key areas that must serve as a primary focus when seeking solutions to the grand challenges we face at the nexus of food and health: non-communicable disease and environmental sustainability.

Whitehouse set the stage citing startling statistics: two-out-of-three older Americans are living with one or more chronic health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and lung disease. Their treatment accounts for 66 percent of the United States’ (U.S.) healthcare budget. Unfortunately, as Whitehouse pointed out, all of this spending is not getting us very far.

According to the Institutes of Medicine, compared to 17 peer countries, the United States ranks last in prevalence of diabetes among adults, and obesity across all age groups. And despite the trillions of dollars spent, the U.S. suffers higher death rates and worse outcomes for conditions such as heart disease and chronic lung disease than its counterparts.

Whitehouse believes that the United States will need better coordinated care with an increased emphasis on preventive care to forestall the astronomical costs of laterin-life interventions. According to Whitehouse, “Nutrition is a vital element of preventive health. The future of food is entwined with the future of the aging population’s cost to an already bloated healthcare system.”

Secondly, Whitehouse discussed the connection between sustenance and the environment in an era of intense carbon pollution and increasing climate disruption. Whitehouse painted a picture of a world where increasingly acidic oceans from carbon pollution are dramatically impacting the fishing industry. Whitehouse noted that the agricultural industry is being hit just as hard by the disruption of our climate.

Whitehouse talked about the important role business plays in helping our world achieve food security and maintain health. He cited Mars’ coral restoration efforts to bolster ocean-based food systems and recognized companies like seafood giant Bumble Bee Seafood and healthcare leaders Intermountain Healthcare and future of food summit

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Geisinger Health System for their ability and willingness to adapt their business models – making investments in our world’s future, rather than maintaining focus on today’s bottom line. Whitehouse closed by imploring audience members to get serious now, “The longer we wait, the more costly and the less effective the solutions are likely to be.”

Panel Discussion: Uncommon CollaborationS Dr. Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of California Davis (UCD); Innovation Institute for Food and Health, World Food Center at UCD; Dr. Prabhu Pingali, Director, Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative; Dr. Jeff Welser, Vice President, IBM Research, IBM Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain; Moderator: Dr. Scott T. Massey, CEO and Founder, Global Action Platform Panel moderator Dr. Scott T. Massey, CEO and Founder of Global Action Platform, opened the discussion citing two key trends: growing populations and urban migration.

According to Massey, “These two trends will put remarkable pressure on food systems, healthcare, urban design and innovation. The challenges presented are too big and too complex for a single actor or single sector to address. Sometimes solutions come from a place that you don’t think is part of the core conversation or problem. You need to be open to surprising strategies.”

Dr. Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of Davis, (UCD) stated that the need to find solutions to feed 20 billion people is big; the need to do that in a sustainable way is even bigger. According to Katehi, solutions to complex social problems cannot be grounded solely in science. The challenges of addressing food and health issues require a firm understanding of the human condition, culture and behavior-modifying social constraints.

Dr. Prabhu Pingali, Director, Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative, spoke of the initiative’s mission to address persistent problems of malnutrition in the developing world. According to Pingali, “We are looking at agricultural ways to improve nutrition through smallholder agricultural systems and diversifying the food basket.

But agricultural solutions are not enough. Pingali also talked about looking to supplementation, fortification and biofortification; addressing gender-based food access issues through programs aimed at empowering women; and attending to the interconnected issues of access to clean drinking water and sanitation.

Dr. Jeff Welser, Vice President, IBM Research, IBM Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain, suggested that IBM’s participation in this panel discussion is among the most “uncommon” of collaborations, citing the link between IBMs areas of expertise and the issue of food security and health is not evident. Welser explained that the rise in the amount of available data in all forms has created opportunities for the company to shift focus

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from IT back office operations to helping solve real societal problems in ways IBM did not have the capacity to do before. According to Welser, “This requires great analysis, statistics, IT, applied mathematics and software, but is also requires industry and domain expertise that we don’t have. We are reliant on partnerships across various domains, particularly around areas of social importance to the world – giant challenges for the entire planet. ” Massey kick-started the discussion by asking: What are the challenges and opportunities of engaging the business sector and how do we build better relationships?

Katehi: Like many universities, we work with the business sector; however, we do so in a less traditional way. Our work with Mars over the past 40 years has enabled us to create a partnership path that is very uncommon. We coexist – our scientists and faculty are working side-by-side with Mars scientists. Physically engaging on a day-to-day basis offers ongoing opportunity for unexpected breakthrough ideas and new thinking. It also enables us to develop trust – essential to a successful partnership.

Further, our newly launched Innovation Institute for Food and Health has the potential to change the way we think about collaboration. The Institute’s mission is to close the gap between basic science in agriculture and the products needed to create solutions.

Welser: One of the most important issues for corporations is figuring out boundaries and identifying areas of research that are precompetitive, like food safety.

Universities allow for the broad sharing of the science in a consortium atmosphere; while the business community can apply the science in unique ways to make their products and services better.

Why did the Green Revolution work and what are the lessons we can derive from it?

Pingali: The Green Revolution addressed a very complex problem and required the commitment of the public sector to make it work. And the results were dramatic. Even today, food issues are not so much about having enough food; rather, they are about having the right kind of food – the right balance of calories, protein, vitamins, nutrients, and micronutrients. We have a very different and even more challenging situation today than that of the Green Revolution because the vast majority of today’s broader food system innovations come from the private sector. Getting the private sector to expand the diversity of food for the poor is a huge challenge.

Collaborations among governments, NGOs and the private sector is a critical need.

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Keynote speaker Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, United States Senator for Rhode Island.

Secretary Dan Glickman, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1995-2001), giving the Lunch Keynote Address.

Lunch Keynote address In a keynote address, Secretary Dan Glickman, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1995-2001), discussed the topic of “Medical Food and the Science of Food.” In his address he brought to light six key messages: Key Message 1: Communication between professionals in health care and research and the food and agriculture industry is lacking, and great benefit could be had through increased dialogue around food, agriculture, nutrition and health.

Key Message 2: The nature of agriculture and food production is changing due to five driving factors: The shift from supply- to consumer-driven market The increasing role of technology in agriculture ● The impact of weather and climate change on agriculture & food production ● The increasing knowledge and awareness of the relationship between nutrition, food and health ● The role of large retailers to help change consumer behaviors around food and health ● ●

Key Message 3: When compared to other research fields, there is a lack of resources allotted to food, nutrition, agriculture research in the public sector, but there is an increase in need for further knowledge in these areas and their relationship to health.

Key Message 4: The biggest part of health care costs are chronic diseases, diseases of aging, and preventable diseases, and there is a need for food and nutrition to play a bigger role to help mitigate these health care costs.

Key Message 5: Most medical doctors do not have a sufficient understanding of nutrition due to the insufficient, and often absence of, nutrition training provided in medical school.

Key Message 6: The food industry in the U.S. mostly succeeds in producing enough good-tasting, healthy food for Americans but struggles with issues of sustainability, specific consumer demands, water shortages and excessive food waste of 30-40% - these challenges are consistent with those seen around the globe.

Secretary Glickman closed his discussion with a reminder that, in order to bring about awareness and behavior change among healthcare providers, consumers, government, and members of the food and agricultural industry, education strategies that utilize storytelling and a larger narrative are imperative, as these capture and motivate audiences. Additionally, the story of innovation, technology and science in agriculture should be told to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in and continue to advance the field of agriculture. ●

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Future of Food Summit 2015 UNCOMMON COLLABORATIONS

Presenters Dr. Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of California Davis (UCD); Innovation Institute for Food and Health, World Food Center, UCD Dr. Prabhu Pingali, Director, Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative

Dr. Jeff Welser, Vice President, IBM Research, IBM Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain

Uncommon Collaborations: Solving the World’s Food Challenges

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he world population is expected to rise above nine billion by 2050–meaning food production will need to increase sustainably by up to 70 percent.

Simultaneously, societies everywhere must alleviate the burden of nutritional deficiencies and confront the unprecedented social and economic challenge presented by aging populations.

On May 13, 150 experts, innovators and policymakers convened at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to drive awareness of the opportunities for collaboration at the nexus of food and health. The Future of Food summit was co-hosted by global affairs magazine Diplomatic Courier and Mars, Incorporated. The following are five key insights of the first panel discussion.

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1. Seek “Uncommon” Collaborations.

Look beyond agriculture: Food issues are not just agricultural issues; they are also cultural and social issues.

Unlikely partnerships are essential to solving multi-faceted grand challenges.

Dr. Prabhu Pingali: “Agricultural solutions are not enough. We need to look at supplementation, fortification and biofortification; address gender-based food access issues through programs aimed at empowering women; and attend to the interconnected issues of access to clean drinking water and sanitation.”

Dr. Linda Katehi: “Solutions to complex social problems cannot be grounded solely in science. The challenges of addressing food and health issues require a firm understanding of the human condition, culture and behavior-modifying social constraints.”

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Moderator Dr. Scott T. Massey, CEO and Founder, Global Action Platform

Dr. Scott T. Massey: “Population growth and urban migration will put remarkable pressure on food systems, healthcare, urban design and innovation. The challenges presented are too big and too complex for a single actor or single sector to address, …sometimes solutions come from a place that you don’t think is part of the core conversation or problem. You need to be open to surprising strategies.”

Dr. Jeff Welser: “IBM’s participation in this panel discussion is among the most “uncommon” of collaborations.

However, the rise in the amount of available data in all forms has created opportunities for companies like IBM to shift focus from IT back office operations to helping solve real societal problems in ways we did not have the capacity to do before.”

2. Establish Trust.

Solution seekers cannot be ruled by the need for personal gain and must be willing to share credit and innovation.

Dr. Linda Katehi: “Our work with Mars over the past 40 years has enabled us to create a partnership path that is very uncommon. We coexist – our scientists and faculty are working side-by-side with Mars’ scientists. Physically engaging on a day-to-day basis offers ongoing opportunity for unexpected breakthrough ideas and new thinking. It also enables us to develop trust – essential to a successful partnership.

Dr. Jeff Welser: “One of the most important issues for corporations is figuring out boundaries and identifying areas of research that are precompetitive.”

3. Act Locally.

We must support domestic food production internationally and localize food systems if we are to make an impact.

Dr. Prabhu Pingali: “Local communities need to organize to bring about change. That is where it will happen. The NGOs have been very strong in helping to empower local communities. The challenge is getting NGOs and the private sector to work together. We need to figure out a model that works and make it happen.”

4. Empower Rural Women.

Rural women, when given the opportunity, are powerful changemakers, yet gender-based constraints limit their ability to make impact as farmers, caregivers and consumers.

Dr. Linda Katehi: “We must make sure that our actions today are sustainable for tomorrow. I believe that one of the most important things we can do is educate women. They are in charge of food in the home and healthcare for the children.

They must be educated so they can make appropriate choices.”

5. Focus on Food Diversity and Access.

Malnutrition and obesity are polar conditions born from the same issues: lack of food diversity and limited access to nutritionally-valuable food.

Dr. Prabhu Pingali: “Food issues are not so much about having enough food; rather, they are about having the right kind of food – the right balance of calories, protein, vitamins, nutrients, and micronutrients…the vast majority of today’s broader food system innovations come from the private sector. Getting the private sector to expand the diversity of food for the poor is a huge challenge.

Collaboration among governments, NGOs and the private sector is a critical need.” ● future of food summit

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Future of Food Summit 2015 UNCOMMON COLLABORATIONS

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Future of Food Summit 2015 FOOD FOR THOUGHT - BRAIN INITIATIVES

Presenters Dr. David Dinges, Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Director of the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry, Chief of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology, Department of Psychiatry; Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Philip Rubin, Senior Advisor to the President, Haskins Laboratories; Adjunct Professor, Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine Dr. JoAnn Manson, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Food for Thought: Brain Initiatives

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The future of food is one of the defining issues of our time,” stated Ralph Jerome, Vice President of Innovation, Mars, Incorporated, at The Future of Food Summit in Washington, D.C. on May 13, 2015. Hosted by global affairs magazine Diplomatic Courier and Mars, Incorporated, The Future of Food Summit focused on the nexus of food and health and the role nutrition plays in health, nutrition and wellness. More than 150 experts, innovators and policymakers, from organizations as diverse as National Geographic, the World Food Programme, the White House and the University of California, Davis, debated opportunities to address the world’s food challenges.

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Following are five key insights coming out of this second in a series of three Future of Food panel discussions: Food for Thought: Brain Initiatives. The BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative) is a bold new partnership focused on revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. Government, academic institutions, technology firms, scientists and other partners have come together to explore the human mind and uncover breakthroughs in neuroscience. As dozens of key contributors to the field of neuroscience answer the call and make significant commitments to advancing this initiative, this panel examined the role that food and sleep play in the development and functioning of the brain.

Future of Food Summit 2015 FOOD FOR THOUGHT - BRAIN INITIATIVES

Moderator Dina Fine Maron, Editor, Health and Medicine, Scientific American

1. Break Down Barriers Across Research.

Complex problems require a cross-sector approach to problem solving. Uncommon collaborations can yield amazing discoveries.

Dr. Philip Rubin: “We are trying to bring together sciences across a number of areas ranging from agriculture, psychology, physics and engineering to bring the best thought on how to study, move forward and make progress on a very difficult problem.”

Dr. David Dinges: “For me, the greatest problem with attacking this issue is an academic structure that is heavily siloed. We have ownership of areas when that is not the way nature works.”

Dr. JoAnn Manson: “My overall recommendation is for the NIH and other funding agencies to encourage collaborations that would enable nutritional interventions, approaches and strategies to be tested.”

2. Bridge the Gap Between Research and Practice.

Bridging the gap between research and practice requires effective collaboration among academics, industry and policymakers.

Dr. Philip Rubin: “We created the interagency working group on neuroscience with support from congress and over 20 agencies in government on working science. What we need to do is make sure that government agencies are not stovepiped, but are working together to develop policy.”

Dr. Philip Rubin: “We don’t direct agencies or scientists in any way except as it pertains to budget. But what we do support, at a time of fairly flat federal funding, is synergy with outside stakeholders, such as public-private partnerships.

We work with many corporations and foundations.”

3. Look at the Human Being as a Whole.

We cannot isolate focus on one aspect of a human being as the body and brain are inextricably linked.

Dr. JoAnn Manson: “You need to look at the human being overall. Dietary patterns, dietary factors that can lower risk of one disease may increase risk for another. It is important to have a global comprehensive approach to looking at good health and the best marker is maintenance of physical function and cognitive health over time. We should not be focusing on using nutrition to prevent a single disease, but rather promote healthy aging.”

Dr. David Dinges: “We are talking about a new understanding of how the entire body works. How it is temporally coordinated. And that is really where we need to go scientifically. If we are to understand the role of food in health, diet, survival and prevention of obesity, we need to understand biological timing; the states the brain is genetically programmed to go through; and the consequences of a 24/7 time-is-a-commodity lifestyle.”

Dr. David Dinges: “I am passionate about determining what food the brain needs, and in particular, what food the brain needs to make good decisions and to remain healthy for life. I want to know what food will help avoid chronic conditions

that deteriorate the brain and impact quality of life as we age.

And I want to know why the brain makes certain decisions about food – when to eat and what to eat. What are the factors that influence and control that in a given population?”

Dr. Philip Rubin: “I am interested in how different sciences come together and the relationship between the brain and behavior. Though the cellular level is important, we need to keep foremost in our thinking the notion that we have to have mind in the brain. We need to think about the brain as a complex system, dynamic and in action.”

4. Increase Quality Data.

Big data offers the promise of more reliable metrics when married with intelligent analytics.

Dr. Philip Rubin: “We have an approach to science that tends to be reductionist. Let’s get more and more data, making metrics more reliable. We look at little snippets of information and then extrapolate from there. We need to move our science more in to the real world – a real world of time, change, dimensionality and spatiality. “ Dr. JoAnn Manson: “We need strong evidence-based research for any recommendations we make about diet, lifestyle and medications. It has been clear that much advice given over the years, over decades, has not been well supported by science. Often, when put to the test, the results are quite the opposite of what was expected.”

5. Explore Opportunities and Address Challenges of Biomarkers.

Biomarkers can support improved approaches to public health; however, there are also vulnerabilities and ethical challenges that must be addressed.

Dr. David Dinges: “We have to develop an ethical scheme for using biomarkers. The medical part will be easy. Access in the general world to jobs, etc., will require good policy, good leadership and good understanding…I think there is a future here for this but it has to be done with scientific rigor, good policy and good understanding of how we use this information.”

Dr. JoAnn Manson: “Biomarkers provide a really wonderful opportunity to integrate a lot of different areas. If you had a marker of biological aging that was an integrated function of telomere length, DNA methylation, metabolomics, lipids, CRP (C-reactive protein) and inflammatory markers, you could then test different interventions in terms of how it met your biological and chronological age, and understand the effect of different interventions, lifestyle factors, nutritional factors or specific nutrient interventions over time.”

Dr. Philip Rubin: “Genomics sits at the heart of personalized medicine, along with other aspects including personal choice, personal behavior and personal information, and that raises issues of privacy. There are a host of challenges. But the reality is that these aspects are here and critical to this is to engage the private sector and the public in a way that is useful and informational.” ● future of food summit

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Future of Food Summit 2015 AFLATOXIN

Presenters Dr. Kitty Cardwell, National Program Leader, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) John Lamb, Principal Associate, Agriculture and Food Security, Abt Associates Inc.

Barbara Stinson, Senior Partner, Meridian Institute; Project Director, Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa

Aflatoxin, the Most Urgent Food Safety Challenge Facing the World

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flatoxin is a fungal toxin that commonly contaminates corn, rice, groundnuts, cocoa, spices and more than 40 other types of crops during production, harvest, storage or processing. Among the most carcinogenic substances known, aflatoxin threatens the lives of 4.5 billion people each year. Its devastating consequences span three continents, impacting public health, trade and economies.

On May 13, 2015, global affairs magazine Diplomatic Courier and Mars, Incorporated hosted the Future of Food Summit in Washington, D.C. More than 150 leaders, innovators, experts and policymakers spent the day exploring the enormous challenges we face as a society at the nexus of food and health. Dr. Howard-Yana Shapiro, Chief Agricultural Officer, Mars, Incorporated, led a

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vibrant discussion and debate centered on aflatoxin, a contaminant that is not only linked to life-long health issues and death, but one of the greatest obstacles to food security and a key contributor to economic instability in many parts of the world. Following are four key insights coming out of this third in a series of three Future of Food panel discussions: Aflatoxin, the Most Urgent Food Safety Challenge Facing the World.

1. Increase Financial Investment.

The dollars invested in aflatoxin research and mitigation do not reflect the vast global impact of this crisis.

Dr. Howard-Yana Shapiro: “If you were to add up many of the diseases in the world that have hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars of funding, it

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Moderator Dr. Howard-Yana Shapiro, Chief Agricultural Officer, Mars, Incorporated

wouldn’t add up to this total of people impacted. And yet, this [aflatoxin] is probably one of the most under-funded issues in human health, and well-being.”

John Lamb: “So, this is a major global problem; it’s underreported, under-invested, and needs to be helped. If you look at the statistics that went after a specific problem of great concern, which was HIV-AIDS, more than $15 billion now has been raised to work on HIV-AIDS. If you look at what happened in the case of avian influenza, because of the scare that we linked pandemic human influenza, something like $2 billion has been raised. If you look at the amount that’s gone officially for a single risk category in this area, it’s probably not even $100 million at this point. So, funding is needed, political will is needed, and this is the time to act.”

Barbara Stinson: “It’s a $1 billion effort.”

2. Take a Collaborative, Multi-pronged Approach.

Aflatoxin impacts multiple sectors and a multidisciplinary approach to solving this issue is essential.

Dr. Howard-Yana Shapiro: “So, it’s not just in the plant; it’s in the soil. It’s not just in the plant; it’s in storage. So, we need to have a series of solutions. Sometimes we only have to solve one part of a problem, and that’s sufficient for the entire supply chain. In this case, we have to figure out the soil issues, we have to figure out the plant issues, and we have to figure out the storage issues.”

John Lamb: “So, this affects agriculture and trade; it affects agriculture, nutrition and health, and it affects economic growth through the problems of reduction in GDP. So, I would say the best way to look at this is picture three circles within an Olympic symbol; the three core circles are agriculture, health and nutrition. Right in the middle of that is food and water safety, and right smack in the bull’s-eye, in my view, is aflatoxin. Surrounding those are the other two circles: one is economic growth; the other is commerce and trade.”

Barbara Stinson: “We believe that the approach to managing aflatoxin in Africa is going to be one of a comprehensive approach where countries have regulatory schemes that they can enforce; testing and monitoring; an array of biocontrol materials available for affected areas in the soil, storage, and handling facilities; and technology that

can assist the farmers to all scales. So, it’s a comprehensive approach. You really have to cover all of that to manage aflatoxin.”

3. Scale Low-tech Solutions.

There are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of aflatoxin and their importance should not be discounted.

John Lamb: “… and the solution should include the scientific ones that you mentioned, the research ones, but also very simple things. Don’t dry on the ground; put it up on a tarp. Use moisture testing to figure out the right temperature, and the right moisture level for maize. Do sorting in groundnuts, because sorting is a relatively effective method in groundnuts. Sorting, sampling – a whole panorama of very simple, low-tech solutions have to be promulgated massively.”

4. Incentivize and Educate Farmers.

Farmers need to know that aflatoxin is even an issue, before we can encourage them to participate in practices that will help solve for this crisis of epidemic proportion.

Dr. Kitty Cardwell: “But the industries - the agri and businesses that are helping in Africa - are the ones that want to buy clean product, and so they’re creating that incentive that I was talking about for growers to change their practices. They make it worthwhile, so if Nestlé, or Mars, or whoever is there wanting to buy clean maize, then that starts kick-starting, and creating the market demand, which is what we need to get the farmers engaged to do what they need to do.”

Barbara Stinson: “Where you get a good [biocontrol] application, you can knock toxin production out almost 100 percent. …One of the problems in Africa is that they have to grow the fungus on something, so they’re growing the fungus on sorghum, which is also a food. It increases the price. It isn’t that the technology is a problem. It’s the dissemination. We have hundreds of millions of farmers that need to use it, and the technology has to have an incentive for people to do it.

If there is no benefit at the market for this, because nobody’s talking about the fact that there’s toxin, why would farmers use it? So, we have a real incentive issue, and I think that’s a bigger issue than the technology itself.” ● future of food summit

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Future of Food Summit 2015 AFLATOXIN

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Future of Food Summit 2015 INTERVIEW

Interviewer Dan Stone, Editor, National Geographic Magazine

Interview with Jon Brause, Director, United Nations World Food Programme

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n 2000, the United Nations set a series of goals called the Millennium Development Goals, many of which relate to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. And while the target of reducing extreme poverty rates by half was met five years ahead of the 2015 deadline, one in nine people remain hungry. Now, the World Food Programme is shifting to what are called Sustainable Development Goals. They include ending hunger and ensuring access to safe and nutritious food all year round; doubling the agricultural productivity and the incomes of small farmers; and increasing investment in rural infrastructure, research and technology.

On May 13, 2015, Daniel Stone, editor at National Geographic, sat down with Jon Brause, Director of the United Nations World Food Programme’s Washington

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Liaison Office, to talk about the issue of world hunger and the World Food Programme’s Sustainability Development Goals. This conversation was featured at the Future of Food Summit in Washington, D.C. Hosted by global affairs magazine Diplomatic Courier and Mars, Incorporated, the Future of Food Summit brought leaders, innovators and experts together to examine the complex global challenges of food sustainability and nutritional deficits and their long-term impact on human health. Following are key excerpts and insights from this one-on-one conversation.

1. Explore Local Interventions.

We do not need to move food around the globe to the markets in need.

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Jon Brause: “What we’ve seen as the global economy and markets have developed, is that actually you don’t need to move the food from the United States to the people. There are different types of interventions that you can undertake, such as local and regional procurement; cash and vouchers; and different ways of giving people the assistance they need for food, but allowing them to engage the markets or shopkeepers.

This has many impacts that go beyond just the provision of food. You’re stimulating the economy in those countries, too.

You’re empowering the farmers in those countries as well.

You’re diversifying diets because it’s not necessarily just a grain and a pulse [bean] and an oil that you’re giving people, but you’re giving them access to vegetables, maybe eggs, and even some meats if that’s what’s available in their area.”

2. Focus on Access and Waste Reduction Over Production.

We have enough food; that is not the issue.

Jon Brause: “We produce enough food in the world to feed everybody not just 1,800 calories a day, but we can make everybody basically fat if we wanted to. The issue is that we waste, again an FAO statistic, 1.3 billion tons of food a year. When we talk about sustainable, that’s an important number, because what that means is about 28 percent of the agricultural land that is in production today actually produces food that goes to waste….What we need is to use the food we have more wisely and more equitably. And that’s really the key to the future, a sustainable future.”

And I think you’ve all heard when women go out and have to gather wood, that’s a risk. That is a time during which they’re at risk of being attacked. So the World Food Programme always makes effort to ensure that women are safe when they’re dealing with our programs.”

3. Build infrastructure. Functioning roads are critical to local economies Jon Brause: “Yeah, roads are expensive and roads take time. I think there are probably some areas where you need roads. What comes to mind right now is that Nepal didn’t need very much of WFP’s food assistance before, although we did have a program in the country. But when roads are impacted, it does cut off the private sector’s access to its markets. So you absolutely have to make sure that roads are functioning. But the private sector is really the best driver of maintaining the roads and fixing the roads. It’s a government function as well.

It’s not something that WFP does.”

5. Invest in Breaking the Cycle of Stunting in Children.

Malnutrition has devastating consequences on individuals and economies.

Jon Brause: “One of the questions for the Food for Thought - Brain Initiatives panel was, does what you eat impact your brain? And I can tell you that during the developmental phase of a child - from the time a woman becomes pregnant until the child’s about two years old - if they don’t get an adequate diet, their brain function is permanently impaired.

So WFP, together with the African Union, has supported a study that we call the Cost of Hunger Study. And the purpose is to assess the impact of malnutrition on the economic potential of a country. We have found that in some countries they lose 5 to10 percent of their potential GDP because of the generational impact of malnourished people. Having said that, we know how to deal with malnutrition. It’s a science we’ve studied. The Lancet has had a number of series on nutrition - maternal child nutrition. So we have the ability to break the cycle of stunting in the world, and we haven’t done it. Now, it’s a resource issue, of course. But to me it’s the greatest human tragedy because you don’t get to recover from malnutrition when you’re a child. It’s just done.”

4. Empower Women, While Keeping Them Safe.

Women are critical to eradicating hunger because they work the field and handle the food.

Jon Brause: “Well, we believe the impact is sort of unlimited, and it’s one of the primary issues we focus on in every program that we have. In the Purchase for Progress program, we really try to engage the women because they tend to be the ones who work the field. They handle the food. So we really want to make sure we train them. Women tend to come and receive the food at a traditional food distribution, so we need to learn how to engage them there.

But the issue for us is, you have to ensure that by the action that you’re taking, you’re not endangering the women or creating protection issues that cause problems for them..

6. Maximize Yield Through Education.

Education can help save commodities and impact lives and livelihoods.

Jon Brause: “What we realized is they [smallholder farmers] can produce enough for themselves, but they do lose some of their harvest every year. And some would tell you that on average, 30 or 40 percent of what they harvest goes to waste. So we try to teach them little techniques to clean and dry and properly store their commodities, so that they get more out of their production. And we have seen that you can increase a farmer’s income by 30 to 50 percent or more, simply by helping them not lose the commodities that they produce. So, again, they don’t produce any more. They just don’t lose those commodities.” ● future of food summit

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Future of Food Summit 2015

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DIPLOMATIC COURIER

Future of Food Summit 2015

future of food summit

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The Future of Food Summit The Nexus of Food and Health A joint project of Mars, Incorporated and Diplomatic Courier Magazine.