Food Security Roundtable Highlights Innovation as Key to Advancing Goals of Feed the Future and U.S. Exporters

The U.S. Department of State and Department of Commerce co-sponsored a roundtable conferenceon March 1, titled “Promoting Food Security through Innovation.” The event, which aimed to advance goals of both Feed the Future and the National Export Initiative, featured opening remarks from USDA Deputy Under Secretary Darci Vetter, along with other officials from State and Commerce. 

The conference drew an audience of some 85 people from government agencies, private companies, non-profit organizations, foreign embassies, and academia to highlight the important work being done by large and small U.S. companies to advance agricultural production, distribution, storage, processing, and systems around the world, and to improve not only the quantity but also the nutritional quality of food available in developing countries.

Conference presenters discussed progress and innovations in aquatic micro-cropping, genetic mapping of staple crops in Africa, hermetic sealing systems to reduce post-harvest loss, small-scale food processing machinery, crop bio-fortification, and new business models for strengthening the full agricultural value chain, from farm to fork.