U.S. Government Joins Private Sector Partners to Forge Collaboration on Feed the Future Goals

With a projected population increase to more than nine billion by 2050, the world will need to more than double its productivity by 2050 to meet projected demands for food. As part of the response to this challenge, Feed the Future hosted its first Public-Private Partnership Technical Forum on February 22 at the White House Conference Center.

Like the Feed the Future Research Forum last June and regular NGO stakeholder forums, this event was held to engage critical partners in Feed the Future goals. The Forum, jointly convened by USAID, USDA, and the U.S. Department of State, included four simultaneous breakout sessions on genomics/crop and animal improvement, seed technology, agricultural extension, and agricultural finance and risk management, as well as a virtual session covering all four areas.

A plenary discussion was led by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah; Feed the Future Deputy Coordinators Tjada McKenna and Jonathan Shrier; Hillary Chen of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Dr. Catherine Woteki; and Executive Director of the Global Harvest Initiative Dr. William G. Lesher.

More than 70 private sector and 30 U.S. Government leaders and technical experts participated and identified an action-oriented set of steps to move forward potential partnerships in each area. 

Watch the videos of the opening and closing plenary sessions.