Under the sponsorship of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the CEGFSD organized a Global Food Security (GFSS) on September 12-14, 2022 in Atlanta, GA. The theme for the conference was “Prioritizing and Refining the Agenda for Addressing Global Food Security within the 1890 Universities System.” The summit gathered participants from all the nineteen 1890 land-grant universities together with selected food and nutrition security scholars, and stakeholders from key partner agencies. The summit also included virtual participation.
The primary goal of this summit was to engage participants in a dialogue on global food security with the purpose of developing a strong and cohesive implementation plan, which will prioritize and refine the global food security agenda within the 1890 universities system. More specifically, the summit discussed the strategic issues in the context of global food security, education and workforce development, agricultural development, new and emerging animal and plant pests, and agricultural disaster recovery; as well as global public and private partnerships and engagement.
Participants were very enthusiastic about the summit as their feedback (below) shows.
Testimonies from participants:
“I thought the discussions throughout the week were excellent. We look forward to our continued partnership in addressing critical priorities that are affecting vulnerable populations abroad. “
“Congratulations on a wonderful event that was not only interesting but inspiring and insightful.”
“Everything was well organized, and It was great seeing the level of interest and engagement of the participants.”
“Thank you for your leadership. It was indeed a great and very productive meeting. I look forward to continuing our work.”
“It was clearly evident that every aspect of the program was given very careful attention. I sincerely appreciate all of the hard work that UMES has put into the Center of Excellence initiative and your efforts to move forward our 19 Universities in the process. I look forward to our continued work in this area.”
Speakers during the opening session of the summit included: President Heidi Anderson of UMES, Dr. Paul Jones, President, Fort Valley State University (FVSU) and Chair of 1890 Universities Council of Presidents; Dr. Venu Kalavacharla, Deputy Director for the Institute of Youth, Family and Communities, USDA NIFA; and Dr. Moses Kairo, Dean (UMES) and CEGFSD Director. The session was moderated by Dr. Mortimer Neufville, President & CEO of the 1890 Universities Foundation.
The summit featured several keynote speakers including Dr. Francisco Mello, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and CEGFSD Advisory Council (AC) member; Ms. Neneh Diallo, USAID Chief Diversity Officer; Mr. Daniel Whitley, USDA Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) Administrator; and Ms. Beattra Wilson, Assistant Director, Cooperative Forestry, US Forest Service and AC member.
Other highlights included the Center’s showcase of several projects funded by the Center, plenary sessions framing the challenges; engaging USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, and USAID Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Engagement, USDA NIFA programs, and Land-O-Lakes.
Critical discussions at the summit also included the identification of the pillars of a dynamic action plan for the CEGFSD through breakout sessions led by Dr. Julie Shortridge, Virginia Tech Assistant Professor and AC member; Dr. Antonio McLaren, Vice President for Program Innovation and Implementation, 1890 Universities Foundation; and Dr. Moses Kairo.
The CEGFSD wishes to thank all who contributed to the success of the summit. Please visit us on the web: https://wwwcp.umes.edu/sans/ncoe/cegfsd/global-food-security-summit/
