Biotech Updates

Can Public-Private Partnerships Feed the Poor?

October 30, 2009

Agriculture needs to be more productive if it is to feed a much larger world population. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), farmers need to double food production by 2050. But with crop yields declining the past years because of climate change among other things, how will we do it?

Speakers at the Crawford Fund's World Food Security conference said that global food security will only be achieved through public- private partnerships. The Conference, held in Canberra Australia last week, sought to explore ways in which the private sector can engage in international agricultural research, development and extension to the benefit of the rural poor. It also tackled the longstanding problem of the persistent failure of the private sector to develop and introduce agricultural products, technologies and services so badly needed in the poorest developing countries. Representatives from multinational companies and agricultural experts attended the conference.

"The most successful partnerships will create clear accountability. They will fully capture the strengths of each partner organization, have clear goals, inputs and timelines in place, and offer distinct benefit to all parties to ensure sustainability of the effort," said William S. Niebur, vice president of DuPont Crop Genetics Research and Development. He cited several "effective" partnerships, including DuPont's collaboration with the African Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project Consortium led by Africa Harvest and the Scientific Know-How and Exchange Program (SKEP) partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), that are working to increase the nutrient value of food in the developing world and boost crop yields.

Other conference speakers included Dyno Keatinge, Director-General of the World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC), Thomas Lumpkin, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Marco Ferroni, Executive Director of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture in Switzerland and Prabhu Pingali, Head of Agricultural Policy and Statistics of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read the press release at http://www.pioneer.com/web/site/portal/menuitem.2fc7542313d78369e6a4e6a4d10093a0/ For more information, visit http://www.crawfordfund.org/events/conference09.htm