Global Food Security Symposium 2022

PAST EVENT VIDEO

Leading experts discussed action needed to meet unprecedented global food security crises arising from climate change, the pandemic, and conflict.

Three women harvest vegetation in a field in India.

Reuters

Event Date

June 23, 2022

About This Event

Overlapping crises from climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and conflict have brought unprecedented levels of disruption, from all-time high food and fuel prices to record rates of hunger and food insecurity impacting the world’s most vulnerable. How can inclusive agricultural development foster localized solutions to promote food and nutrition security? And what infrastructure, investments, and partnerships are necessary to create more locally-led, sustainable, and resilient food systems to combat food insecurity?

The Council welcomes leading experts to discuss the global food and nutrition crisis, and the urgent action and coordination they recommend addressing it.

Event Schedule

Time	Agenda
10:00 am CDT	Welcome and keynote interview
10:15 am	Panel begins
10:45 am	Q&A session
11:00 am	Adjournment

Welcome & keynote interview speakers

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.

Cindy Hensley McCain

Permanent US Representative to the UN Agencies in Rome

Cindy McCain is an honored diplomat, businesswoman, and humanitarian. She has served on various boards of directors, including for Project C.U.R.E. and as board chair at the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. She was the chairman of Hensley Beverage Company and earned an undergraduate degree in education and a master’s in special education from the University of Southern California.

Panel Speakers

Cherrie D. Atilano

Founding Farmer and CEO, AGREA Agricultural Systems International, Inc.

Cherrie D. Atilano is an agricultural scientist, agri-economist and environmental advocate. She is the founder and CEO of AGREA Agricultural Systems International, Inc. and a partner of TAEL Impact Fund. Atilano completed her undergraduate studies at Visayas State University, an executive education degree at Wageningen University, Netherlands.

Enock Chikava

Interim Director, Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Enock Chikava leads the foundation’s work to reduce poverty for millions of farming families in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by promoting inclusive agricultural innovations that drive productivity and income growth for smallholder farmers in a sustainable way.

Asma Lateef

Policy & Advocacy Lead, SDG2 Advocacy Hub

Asma Lateef is policy and advocacy lead at the SDG2 Advocacy Hub. She has served as director of Bread for the World Institute, interim executive director of the Alliance to End Hunger, and director of policy and programs at Citizens for Global Solutions. Lateef holds a master’s in economics from the University of Maryland, and degrees from the London School of Economics and McGill University.

Thin Lei Win

Multimedia journalist specializing in food and climate issues

Thin Lei Win is an award-winning multimedia journalist specializing in food and climate issues. Her global experience includes nearly 13 years as an international correspondent for the Thomson Reuters Foundation covering climate change, resilience, food insecurity, refugees, and displacement. Born and raised in Myanmar, Lei Win has lived and worked in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Italy.

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Perspectives on Urgency and Action

As part of the symposium, we asked experts to participate in our "Perspectives on Urgency and Action" video series by answering a question on the global food security crisis.

Screenshot of Jo Puri speaking on-screen

Jo Puri, Associate Vice-President, Strategy and Knowledge Department, IFAD
How do climate change, pandemics, and conflict underline the need to invest in smallholders and local production?

Maximo Torero, Chief Economist, FAO
Global food prices have reached an all-time high, while food and fuel production have been disrupted due to the conflict in Ukraine. How are the compounding crises affecting the most vulnerable people, and what can we learn from the 2008 crisis to better support smallholders amid these shocks?

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