Main Symposium Report Release

Location: Ronald Reagan Building
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20004
 

7:30 a.m.

Registration Open and Networking Session

8:30 a.m.

Welcome

Alesha Black, Managing Director, Global Food and Agriculture Program, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Report Video and Conversation

We’re at a critical point in history given growing populations, growing demand for food, and an increasingly more variable climate. Water touches every corner of our lives: food, health, environment, consumer goods, and leisure. How do we protect this essential and shared resource, while nourishing a global population?

Chair:
Femi Oke, Host, International Journalist and Moderator, NABJ

Speakers:
Ertharin Cousin, Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture Program, Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
A.G. Kawamura, Cochair, Solutions from the Land Dialogue
Mark W. Rosegrant, Research Fellow Emeritus, IFPRI

Flash Talk—Managing Water for a Food-Secure Future

Beth Dunford, Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Food Security and Deputy Coordinator, Development for Feed the Future, US Agency for International Development (USAID)

Water Stewardship in the Agrifood System

Every person and every sector are involved in the necessary act of water consumption by virtue of the food and water we consume each day. However, negative attention is often placed on the farm sector and global supply chains, where concentrated and large-scale water use occurs. How are farmers and food companies responding to the challenge of rising water scarcity? How are nonprofits and academics working with them to preserve this precious resource for the future?

Chair:
Nathanael Johnson, Senior Writer, Grist

Speakers:
Melissa D. Ho, Senior Vice President, Freshwater & Food, World Wildlife Fund
Roric Paulman, Owner, Paulman Farms
Pearl Gaone Ranna, Inaugural Obama Foundation Scholar, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Will Sarni, Founder and CEO, Water Foundry

Flash Talk—The Sky is No Longer the Limit

David Hertz, Founder and President, Studio of Environmental Architecture (S.E.A.)

10:00 a.m.

Mid-morning Networking Coffee Break

10:40 a.m.

Flash Talk—Saving Water Across the Value Chain

Kevin Fessenden, Senior Director, Global Engineering, Abbott Nutrition

Fireside Chat

Gilbert F. Houngbo, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Interviewed by Femi Oke, Host, International Journalist and Moderator, NABJ

Connecting the Dots: Agriculture, Climate Resilience and the Private Sector

Agriculture production and profit are heavily dependent on climate. Climate change is impacting global water and temperatures, reducing food production, and slowing food security progress. The long-term economic impact of this will be immense with projected price increases ranging from 10 to 30 percent and projected hunger rate increases of about 10 to 20 percent by 2050. Extreme climate events, such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, are also expected to increase, damaging crops, hurting livelihoods, threatening public health, and hindering economic growth. How deeply are agriculture and climate change interconnected? How is the private sector mobilizing to create resilience and sustainable access to water? How can new ways of thinking about irrigation improve resilience?

Chair:
Estelle Youssouffa, International Affairs Consultant

Speakers:
Nick Austin, Director, Agricultural Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations
Kalyan Guntuboyina, Syngenta Project Liaison; Senior Researcher, Wageningen University, Netherlands
Gilbert F. Houngbo, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Betsy Otto, Global Director, Water Program, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Steven Schonberger, Director, Water Global Practice, The World Bank

Fireside Chat—Hatching Hope: Cracking Global Hunger and Poverty through the Power of Poultry

Speakers:
Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO, Heifer International
Chuck Warta, President, Cargill Premix Business, Cargill

Flash Talk

Annah Latané, Specialist, Food Security and Agriculture, RTI

12 noon

Networking Lunch

1:10 p.m.

Networking Lunch Concludes

1:15 p.m.

Special Remarks

Ted McKinney, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, US Department of Agriculture

Fireside Chat

Speakers:
Shen Ming Lee, Next Generation Delegate 2019; BS Candidate, Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Jellie Molino, Next Generation Delegate 2019; PhD Candidate, Law and Institution, University of Turin
Jay Cammon Jr., Next Generation Delegate 2019; BA Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania
Interviewed by Cedric Habiyaremye, Next Generation Delegate 2018; PhD Candidate, Crop Science, Washington State University

Dietary Diversity and Nutritious Foods

Growing global populations, rising incomes, and rapid rates of urbanization are causing massive shifts in dietary diversity and nutrition. More people are consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and meat than ever before, changing demands for water in the agricultural sector. Can we afford the diet we want, and do we have the water and natural resources to produce it?

Chair:
Allison Aubrey, Food and Health Correspondent, NPR

Speakers:
Jessica Fanzo, Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Ethics and Global Food and Agriculture, Johns Hopkins University
Greg Garrett, Director, Food Policy and Financing, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
Ashok Gulati, Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture, India Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

Shared Interest, Shared Responsibility: Building WASH and Agriculture Collaboration

Growing water scarcity, increasing environmental degradation, and water quality constraints impose major threats to future WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) initiatives as well as food security. While water is essential to both sectors’ objectives, intensifying sectoral competition could create problems in achieving them. Are there new ways to think about both agricultural water and sanitation systems where both encourage health, good nutrition, and well-being? What are the innovations already being considered and how can we continue to build trust and collaboration for the decades ahead?

Chair:
Ertharin Cousin, Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture Program, Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Speakers:
Elizabeth Ellis, CEO, iDE
Peter G. McCornick, Executive Director, Daugherty Water for Food Institute, University of Nebraska
Winston Yu, Principal Researcher and Senior Advisor, International Water Management Institute

Emerging Solution—Bhungroo: Ensuring Food Security with Dignity

Trupti Jain, Founder and Director, Bhungroo

Conversation—Dietary Diversity and Nutritious Foods

Chair:
Allison Aubrey, Food and Health Correspondent, NPR News

Speakers: 
Jessica Fanzo, Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Ethics and Global Food and Agriculture, Johns Hopkins University
Speakers: 
Greg Garrett, Director, Food Policy and Financing, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
Speakers: 
Ashok Gulati, Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture, India Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)
 

Emerging Solution—Drawdown Solutions for Nutrition and Climate-Secure Future

Mamta Mehra, Senior Fellow, Project Drawdown

10 Year Reflections

Speakers:
Doug Bereuter, Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture Program, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Ivo H. Daalder, President, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Dan Glickman, Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture Program, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Interviewed by Alesha Black, Managing Director, Global Food and Agriculture Program, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Way Forward

Water impacts all of us—farmers, scientists, advocates, architects, businesspeople, emergency responders, policy-makers—because water is for all of us. In order to protect this essential and shared resource, we must implement collaborative, proactive approaches to improve water quality, reduce water scarcity, and create more resilient and efficient food systems through new technologies and innovations as well as through transformative new policies. How can everyone play a part in protecting water in a way that ensures benefits across sectors?

Speakers:
Fola Aina, Next Generation Delegate 2019; PhD Candidate, Leadership Studies in Security and Development, King's College London
Khalid Bomba, CEO, Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency
Roy Steiner, Managing Director, Food, Rockefeller Foundation
Interviewed by Alesha Black, Managing Director, Global Food and Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Closing Remarks

4:00 p.m.

Symposium Adjourns and Networking Reception Begins

5:00 p.m.

Networking Reception Adjournment

Report Presentation and Reflections

We’re at a critical point in history given growing populations, growing demand for food, and an increasingly more variable climate. Water touches every corner of our lives: food, health, environment, consumer goods, and leisure. How do we protect this essential and shared resource, while nourishing a global population?
 

Water Stewardship in the Agrifood System

Everyone is complicit in the necessary act of water consumption by virtue of the food and water we drink each day. However, attention is often placed on the farm sector and global supply chains where concentrated and large-scale water use occurs. How are farmers and food companies responding to the challenge of rising water scarcity and how are nonprofits and academics working with them to preserve this precious resource for the future?

Connecting the Dots: Agriculture, Climate Resilience and the Private Sector

Agriculture production and profit are heavily dependent on climate. Climate change is projected to impact water and temperature, therefore reducing food production and slowing food security progress. The economic impact of this will be immense with projected price increases ranging from 10 to 30 percent, hunger rate projected increases rates of about 10 to 20 percent by 2050. Extreme climate events, such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, are also expected to increase, damaging crops, hurting livelihoods, threatening public health, and hindering economic growth. How deeply are agriculture and climate change interconnected? How is the private sector mobilizing to create resilience and sustainable access to water?

Shared Interest, Shared Responsibility: Building WASH and Agriculture Collaboration

Growing water scarcity, increasing environmental degradation, and water quality constraints impose major threats to future WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) initiatives as well as food security. While water is essential to both sectors’ objectives, intensifying sectoral competition could create problems in achieving them. Are there new ways to think about both agricultural water and sanitation systems where both encourage health, good nutrition, and well-being? What are the innovations already being considered and how can we continue to build trust and collaboration for the decades ahead?

Dietary Diversity and Nutritious Foods

Growing global populations, rising incomes, and rapid rates of urbanization are causing massive shifts in dietary diversity and nutrition. More people are consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and meat than ever before, changing demands for water in the agricultural sector. Can we afford the diet we want, and do we have the water and natural resources to produce it?

Way Forward

Water impacts all of us—farmers, scientists, advocates, architects, businesspeople, emergency responders, policy-makers—because water is for all of us. In order to protect this essential and shared resource, we must implement collaborative, proactive approaches to improve water quality, reduce water scarcity, and create more resilient and efficient food systems through new technologies and innovations as well as through transformative new policies. How can everyone play a part in protecting water in a way that ensures benefits across sectors?