Des Moines, Iowa
September 29, 2008
One of America’s foremost
conferences on international agriculture and food policy, the
World Food Prize’s
Borlaug Dialogue, will this year focus on “Confronting
Crisis: Agriculture and Global Development in the Next Fifty
Years.”
The Borlaug Dialogue will be held in Des Moines on October 15-17
as part of the awarding of the $250,000 World Food Prize to
former U.S. Senators Robert Dole and George McGovern. Several
hundred policymakers, industry officials and executives, and
agriculture and science experts from around the world will
attend.
“This symposium will present an opportunity for global leaders
to take stock of current trends in agriculture and assess the
extent to which current challenges or promises will impact food
production, food security, the environment, and global
development over the long-term,” said Ambassador Kenneth Quinn,
president of the World Food Prize Foundation. “With the array of
speakers attending the conference, the 2008 Borlaug Dialogue
will offer the most comprehensive look at the various elements
of the global food crisis.”
Confirmed speakers include:
• Robert Zoellick,
president of the World Bank
• Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the global
development program at the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation
• Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation
• Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique
• Ed Schafer, U.S. secretary of agriculture
• Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs
• Daphrose Gahakwa, Rwandan minister of education, science,
technology and research
• Speciosa Wandira, former Ugandan vice president and
minister of agriculture
• Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank
• Ren Wang, director of the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research
• Namanga Ngongi, president of the Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa
Other speakers and attendees will
include high-level leaders and CEOs of USDA, the World Food
Program, the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy
Council, the Alliance to End Hunger, multiple agribusiness and
food companies, and universities and research institutions from
around the world.
“This is an important gathering at an important time,” said
Rajiv Shah, director of agricultural development for the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation. “As these experts know, the world can
no longer afford to neglect agricultural development. A renewed
focus on helping small farmers increase their yields and incomes
is key to driving massive poverty reduction and helping hundreds
of millions of people lead healthy, productive lives.”
Through presentations and conversation sessions, the conference
will address various topics including: rising food costs;
climate change and biodiversity loss; trade reform and economic
growth; urbanization and development; gender equity; the role of
the private sector; and the challenge of bringing the Green
Revolution to Africa.
The annual Borlaug Dialogue is named in honor of Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug, who founded the World Food Prize
in 1986. Several heads of state have called the annual $250,000
award “the Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture” and the events
regularly draw participants from over 65 countries to Des
Moines. |
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