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Defining the Path to Zero Hunger in an Equitable World

RESEARCH Report by Catherine Bertini , Peggy Tsai Yih , Roger Thurow , and Gloria Dabek
A farmer holds bananas on a farm.
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The Center on Global Food and Agriculture provides a bold vision for a 21st Century of zero hunger in a healthier and more equitable world.

During the 2022 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogues, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and The Rockefeller Foundation gathered experts and stakeholders from climate, agriculture, food security, and humanitarian backgrounds to discuss a bold vision for a 21st Century of zero hunger in a healthier and more equitable world. The white paper, “Defining the Path to Zero Hunger in an Equitable World,” reflects a summary of their views and offers a framework to reimagine a hunger-free world.

The quickened pace of extreme weather events, disruptions to agricultural markets from the war in Ukraine and other conflicts, and a fragile post-pandemic international economy rattled the global food chain. A culmination of these realities is complicating the dual imperative to both nourish the planet and preserve it from environmental threats. According to the 2022 IPCC report, without immediate changes, extreme weather will likely render large areas of crop and livestock land unsuitable by 2050, potentially pushing millions of people into food insecurity. 

The newly outlined white paper tackles some of the greatest obstacles facing the nexus of food security, climate, and humanitarian spaces, and ultimately voices hope for a better food future. It amplifies this message by providing an analysis of three major obstacles—silos, myopic priorities, and top-down decision-making—in conjunction with catalyzing ideas that address these challenges. 

About the Authors
Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture
Council expert Catherine Bertini
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.
Council expert Catherine Bertini
Peggy Tsai Yih
Former Managing Director, Center on Global Food and Agriculture
Headshot of Peggy Tsai Yih
Peggy Tsai Yih led the Council’s continued work on global food and nutrition security and in advancing a more sustainable and resilient food system. She has 20 years of experience in food, agriculture, and natural resource policy, with nearly 15 years at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC.
Headshot of Peggy Tsai Yih
Roger Thurow
Former Senior Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture
Headshot for Roger Thurow
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.
Headshot for Roger Thurow
Gloria Dabek
Former Assistant Director, Government Relations
Gloria Dabek was formerly the assistant director of government relations within the Center on Global Food and Agriculture. While at the Council, she developed publications oriented toward policy solutions for global food and agriculture challenges and lead outreach and education to both congressional offices and the administration.