Global Food Security, Poverty and Malnutrition: The Critical Role of Plant and Soil Science Research and Education.

This presentation will provide perspective on the global challenge to science and international development assistance created by continuing poverty and malnutrition. Examination will be made of USAID targeted strategies aimed at the poorest of the poor communities of the world through its Feed the Future and sustainable intensification strategies. The critical role of household decision making, the need for transdisciplinary research, and the particular role of plant and soil science research and education will be analyzed. Supportive efforts by other federal agencies and private sector entities will be identified and their implications for global food security addressed. The critical nature of the Whole of Government approach adopted by USAID will be assessed as a means of advancing science, sustainable food systems, and foreign policy. Whether these are compatible approaches and whether the scientific principles can be simultaneously maintained or strengthened will be analyzed. Challenges for professional societies will be identified.