On 12th February 2010, a global conference took place in Washington D.C. looking at how the world can address future food security issues. Tackling the problems of population growth, climate change, and water scarcities, the conference discussed recommendations for developments in the agriculture industry.

A panel of experts was composed of:

• Dr. Robert Paarlberg, Professor at Wellesley College, author of Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa
• Dr. Nina Federoff, Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State and to the Administrator of USAID, author of Mendel in the Kitchen
• Dr. Calestous Juma, Pew award winner and Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government
• Mark Cantley, former head of the European Commission’s “Concertation Unit for Biotechnology in Europe” and of OECD’s Biotechnology Unit
• Dr. Gale Buchanan, former USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, and lead author of the paper Agricultural Productivity Strategies for the Future: Addressing U.S. and Global Challenges

During the conference, Dr. Norman Borlaug’s last published statement was also revealed, which is included in a new CAST paper that identifies many challenges that agriculture will face in the coming years.

You can watch the video here.