Can we feed a world of 9 billion people?

Public release date: 2-Apr-2012
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Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala
iqbal@ucr.edu
951-827-6050
University of California - Riverside

In free public lecture at UC Riverside this week, leading agricultural economist Prabhu Pingali will discuss how world hunger can be addressed

RIVERSIDE, Calif. With the world population already exceeding seven billion, can the fight against hunger be won in the future?

Yes, according to Prabhu Pingali, the deputy director of the Agriculture Development Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who will give a free public talk at the University of California, Riverside on Thursday, April 5, 2012.

Titled, "Malthus Is Still Wrong: We Can Feed a World of 9 Billion People," Pingali's talk, presented by the One Health Center, will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Room 1113, the CHASS Interdisciplinary Building on campus. Parking costs $6.

"Unabated population growth, rising incomes, diversion of food towards fuel production and the negative consequences of climate change are said to cause 'a perfect storm' with severe consequences for the availability and access to food at the global and local levels," Pingali said. "But we've been here before. There are significant opportunities for meeting current and future food demand by enhancing productivity in developing country agriculture. Modernizing agricultural systems and reducing the productivity gaps that currently exist is the best avenue for increasing food supplies and reducing poverty."

Pingali has three decades of experience analyzing food, agriculture and developing policy in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He has authored ten books and more than 100 referred journal articles and book chapters on food policy, technological change, productivity growth and resource management in the developing world.

He has received several international awards and recognitions for his work, including: election as a fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association in 2006 and of the International Association of Agricultural Economists in 2009. In 2007, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences as a Foreign Fellow and named the "2010 Outstanding Alumnus" of North Carolina State University. He was the president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists from 2003 to 2006.

Before joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pingali was the director of the Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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The One Health Center is a center of expertise within the University of California Global Health Institute, jointly housed at UC Riverside and UC Davis. The objective of the center is to assess and respond to global health problems arising from the human-water-animal-food interface and to design, implement, and evaluate practical, cost-effective, and sustainable solutions that focus on the foundations of health in collaboration with partners around the world.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.

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Public release date: 2-Apr-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala
iqbal@ucr.edu
951-827-6050
University of California - Riverside

In free public lecture at UC Riverside this week, leading agricultural economist Prabhu Pingali will discuss how world hunger can be addressed

RIVERSIDE, Calif. With the world population already exceeding seven billion, can the fight against hunger be won in the future?

Yes, according to Prabhu Pingali, the deputy director of the Agriculture Development Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who will give a free public talk at the University of California, Riverside on Thursday, April 5, 2012.

Titled, "Malthus Is Still Wrong: We Can Feed a World of 9 Billion People," Pingali's talk, presented by the One Health Center, will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Room 1113, the CHASS Interdisciplinary Building on campus. Parking costs $6.

"Unabated population growth, rising incomes, diversion of food towards fuel production and the negative consequences of climate change are said to cause 'a perfect storm' with severe consequences for the availability and access to food at the global and local levels," Pingali said. "But we've been here before. There are significant opportunities for meeting current and future food demand by enhancing productivity in developing country agriculture. Modernizing agricultural systems and reducing the productivity gaps that currently exist is the best avenue for increasing food supplies and reducing poverty."

Pingali has three decades of experience analyzing food, agriculture and developing policy in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He has authored ten books and more than 100 referred journal articles and book chapters on food policy, technological change, productivity growth and resource management in the developing world.

He has received several international awards and recognitions for his work, including: election as a fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association in 2006 and of the International Association of Agricultural Economists in 2009. In 2007, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences as a Foreign Fellow and named the "2010 Outstanding Alumnus" of North Carolina State University. He was the president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists from 2003 to 2006.

Before joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pingali was the director of the Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

###

The One Health Center is a center of expertise within the University of California Global Health Institute, jointly housed at UC Riverside and UC Davis. The objective of the center is to assess and respond to global health problems arising from the human-water-animal-food interface and to design, implement, and evaluate practical, cost-effective, and sustainable solutions that focus on the foundations of health in collaboration with partners around the world.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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