Chronic hunger is a problem too big to ignore. It can undermine all other development investments and compromise the political and social stability of all nations, rich and poor. The food-price crisis that peaked in 2008 served as a wake-up call about the importance of food security and sustained support for agriculture, which had suffered decades of neglect.
In a public lecture at IDRC on February 3, 2010, Ethiopian-American agronomist Gebisa Ejeta made an impassioned case for revitalizing agricultural research to improve the lives of the one billion people who still suffer chronic hunger. He argued for a renewed commitment to development assistance centred on supporting local researchers working on the ground to solve local problems. Farmers in the developing world need new knowledge and methods, so that agriculture can become part of the solution to an increasingly complex set of global challenges, including climate change and water scarcity.
The opinions expressed here reflect those of the speaker alone, and not necessarily those of the International Development Research Centre.
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