Global Food Security Symposium 2017

PAST EVENT VIDEO

Conference

The 2017 Global Food Security Symposium in Washington, DC focused on how the US can help lead struggling nations and turn frontier markets into thriving partners.

A farmer attends a rice field in Indonesia

Simon Fangers

Event Date

March 29, 2017

Stability in the 21st Century

Building on American ingenuity, international expertise, and historic bipartisan support for food security programming, the United States can help lead struggling nations from instability to prosperity and turn frontier markets into thriving partners.

Cochaired by Douglas Bereuter, president emeritus of The Asia Foundation, and Dan Glickman, former secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, the 2017 symposium showcases the best of business, social, and policy innovation. Top visionaries from every sector will gather to generate the productive dialogue and actions necessary to ensure strides in global food security and agricultural development, and the Council will release its recommendations in a new report.

About the Speakers

Gene Alexander

Chief Technical Officer, Body Surface Translations, Inc.

William Asiko

Executive Director, Grow Africa, World Economic Forum

Nick Austin

Director, Agricultural Development, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Kasey Bryant Bamberger

Partner/Manager, Bryant Agricultural Enterprise; Lead Farmer, Ohio, Farm Journal Foundation

Doug Bereuter

Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture

Doug Bereuter is a distinguished fellow of global food and agriculture at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. For four years, he co-chaired the Council's Center on Global Food and Agriculture. He is the president emeritus of the Asia Foundation, a non-governmental development organization, which he led for more than six years following his service as a member of the US House of Representatives.

Catherine Bertini

Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture

Catherine Bertini served as executive director of the UN World Food Program, the world’s largest international humanitarian agency, from 1992 to 2002 prior to joining the Council. She was named the World Food Prize laureate in 2003 for her groundbreaking leadership there.

Harsh Kumar Bhanwala

Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, India

Alesha Miller

Nonresident Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture

Alesha Miller is a nonresident fellow of the Center on Global Food and Agriculture at the Council. She currently advises a social impact technology startup and is an independent consultant and public speaker on food and agriculture. Most recently she was managing director of the Council’s Center on Global Food and Agriculture, overseeing strategy, research, policy development, and team management.

Euler K. Bropleh

Founder, VestedWorld

Euler Bropleh is the founder and managing director of VestedWorld, a venture capital fund focused on spurring sustainable economic growth in underserved regions around the world. In this role, he is responsible for sourcing, vetting, and structuring transactions with early-stage companies poised to achieve significant growth and impact.

Tim Brosnan

Chair, Small Foundation

John Castellaw

United States Marine Corps (Retired); President, Farmspace Systems LLC

Jason Clay

Senior Vice President, Markets and Food, World Wildlife Fund

Jason Clay leads the Market Transformation work of WWF-US for agriculture. Dr. Clay invented Rainforest Marketing, one of the first fair-trade ecolabels in the US and has spent more than 30 years with human rights and environmental organizations, is National Geographic's first ever Food and Agriculture Fellow, and the winner of the 2012 James Beard Award for his work on global food sustainability.

Ivo H. Daalder

CEO, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Ivo H. Daalder served as the US ambassador to NATO from 2009 to 2013. He joined the Council as president in 2013 and took on the new role of CEO in 2023. Previously, he was a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and served as director for European affairs on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. He is the author or editor of 10 books.

Pablo Diego-Rosell

Senior Researcher, Gallup

Bineta Diop

AUC Special Envoy on Women, Peace, and Security, African Union

Gebisa Ejeta

Professor and Director, Center for Global Food Security, Purdue University

Gebisa Ejeta is the director of the Center for Global Food Security at Purdue. He serves on the board of the Global Food and Agriculture Program at the Council, and is the 2009 World Food Prize Laureate and recipient of a national medal of honor from the President of Ethiopia. He has served as Science Envoy of the US State Department, and on the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.

Elisabeth Fischer

Head, Good Growth Plan Customer Marketing, Syngenta Corporation

Suzanne E. Fry

Director, Strategic Futures Group, National Intelligence Council

Rikin Gandhi

CEO, Digital Green

Rikin Gandhi is the CEO of Digital Green, a global development organization that empowers smallholder farmers to lift themselves out of poverty by harnessing the collective power of technology and grassroots-level partnerships.

Dan Glickman

Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture

Dan Glickman is a distinguished fellow in the Center on Global Food and Agriculture, having co-chaired the Center for nearly a decade. Currently, he's a senior counselor and chair of the International Advisory Board at APCO Worldwide; senior advisor to the US Global Leadership Coalition; and lead director of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group).

Jason Hafemeister

Acting Deputy Under Secretary, Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, US Department of Agriculture

Krysta Harden

Vice President, Public Policy, Chief Sustainability Officer, DuPont Co.

Jim Hershey

Executive Director, WISHH, American Soybean Association

Aubrey Hruby

Senior Visiting Fellow

Aubrey Hruby is a senior visiting fellow of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, and coauthor of the book The Next Africa.

Astrid Jakobs de Pádua

Minister Counselor, Food and Agriculture, German Embassy Washington, DC

Thomas Jayne

University Foundation Professor, Michigan State University

Steve Johanns

CEO, Founder, Veriown

Agnes Kalibata

Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, the Republic of Rwanda

A.G. Kawamura

Cochair, Solutions from the Land Dialogue

A.G. Kawamura is a founding member of Orange County Produce, LLC, and co-chair of Solutions from the Land, a nonprofit implementing climate-smart land management strategies. He serves on several boards and committees including American Farmland Trust Board member; Farm Foundation Board member; Western Growers Association Board member and former chair. He is the former secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (2003-2010).

Jake Kendall

Director, Digital Financial Services Innovation Lab, Caribou Digital

Anne W. Kepple

Senior Consultant, Statistics Division, UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Niamh King

Nonresident Fellow, Global Cities and Women and Global Development

Niamh King is a nonresident fellow on global cities and women and global development at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. King previously served as the Council's Vice President for Programs and Strategic Content. Prior to joining the Council, she held positions with Intel, the European Commission, FÁS, and the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Katharine Kreis

Director of Strategic Initiatives and International Development, PATH

Jesse Larios

Manager, Foster Feed Yard; Lead Farmer, California, Farm Journal Foundation

Josette Lewis

Associate Director, World Food Center, University of California-Davis

Edward Luce

US National Editor, Financial Times

Edward Luce is the Financial Times' chief US commentator and columnist based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that role, he was the Financial Times' Washington bureau chief and South Asia bureau chief based in New Delhi.

Andrew Mack

Principal, AMGlobal Consulting

John Dramani Mahama

Former President, Republic of Ghana

Before he was president, John Dramani Mahama served as vice president of the Republic of Ghana under the late President John Evans Atta Mills. He took over the reins of government on the passing of President Mills on July 24, 2012, and assumed the role of head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

John M. Mandyck

Chief Sustainability Officer, United Technologies Corporation

Jerry Moran

United States Senator, Kansas

Senator Jerry Moran is as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee. He also maintains roles on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies.

Alaa Murabit

High-Level Commissioner on Health Employment and Economic Growth, United Nations

Alaa Murabit is a medical doctor, Canadian Meritorious Service Cross recipient, one of 17 Global Sustainable Development Goal Advocates appointed by the UN Secretary General, and a United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health Employment and Economic Growth.

Wairimu Muthike

Head of Business Development, ACRE Africa

Femi Oke

International Journalist and Moderator, NABJ

Femi Oke is an international journalist, broadcaster, and moderator. Since the 1980s, she has worked for BBC television and radio, Sky TV, all UK terrestrial television networks, CNN, and US public radio. Oke’s reporting has been recognized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Communications Agency, and InterAction.

Jehiel Oliver

Founder/CEO, Hello Tractor

Lisa Palmer

Journalist and Author; Senior Fellow, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center

Rajul Pandya-Lorch

Chief of Staff, Director General’s Office, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Jerry Parkes

CEO, Injaro Investments Limited

Martin Parr

Programme Manager, GODAN Secretariat, Head of Open Data, CABI

Rhiannan Price

Senior Manager, Seeing a Better World Program, DigitalGlobe

Natalia Pshenichnaya

Head, mNutrition, GSMA

Khaoula Ramdi

Investment Director, Investisseurs et Partenaires

Sarah Richardson

Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, Ignition Genomics

David T. Ruchiu

Africa Director, Farm Concern International

Sunil Sanghvi

Senior Partner, Director, McKinsey Center for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security, McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Sharon Schmickle

Independent Journalist

Dan Schmitz

Regional Head Nutrition R&D and Scientific Affairs, Americas, Global Head of Product Development, Abbott

Liz Schrayer

President and CEO, US Global Leadership Coalition

Matt Shakhovskoy

Executive Director, Initiative for Smallholder Finance

Amb. Daniel V. Speckhard

President and CEO, Lutheran World Relief

A former US ambassador to Greece and Belarus, Daniel Speckhard has had a long and distinguished career in the public and private sector in service to his country and communities. He is currently the president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, an international development and relief organization working in over 30 developing countries to reduce poverty, alleviate suffering, and promote justice.

Anna Swaithes

Corporate Sustainability Adviser

Roger Thurow

Former Senior Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture

Roger Thurow spent three decades at The Wall Street Journal as a foreign correspondent based in Europe and Africa prior to joining the Council in 2010. His coverage spanned the fall of the Berlin Wall, the release of Nelson Mandela, the end of apartheid, and humanitarian crises. He is the author of three books.

Mark Titterington

Senior Adviser, European Landowners Organization

Mark Titterington Senior Adviser, European Landowners Organization

Ann M. Veneman

Former Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund, former US Secretary of Agriculture

Ann M. Veneman was the first and only woman to lead the United States Department of Agriculture as Secretary. She currently serves as a co-leader of the Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center. She was included on the Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women list and is a recipient of the Women Making History Award from the National Women’s History Museum.