World Food Prize critical to advancing important issues of our time
As we enter into 2018, there are several important issues to which Iowans pay close attention.
With agriculture so foundational to our lives in the state, continuing to improve productivity while addressing environmental and nutritional concerns remains at our forefront. And, as we do that, we strive to share those advancements with others around the world.
Another strength we have is education. While our schools are among the best in the nation, we continue to try to improve them and the outcomes they deliver.
A well-functioning government is something for which Americans aspire. Iowans can be proud that, for the most part, bipartisan progress is the objective of the Iowa Legislature.
Finally, economic progress that enables all to have the opportunity for advancing and national security is important to us.
What is remarkable, and often not recognized, is that there is an institution right here in Iowa that advances each of these important issues. It is the World Food Prize.
Almost two decades ago, the Iowa Legislature approved in bipartisan fashion the recognition of Dr. Norman Borlaug and the use of the Capitol to honor the annual laureates. Dr. Borlaug, a native Iowan, is credited with saving more than a billion lives through the Green Revolution. The $250,000 Prize is given each year to the individual who advances human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food. In fact, in 2008 senators Bob Dole (a Republican) and George McGovern (a Democrat) jointly received the prize for their efforts in fighting childhood hunger.
The Prize, and all of the events that surround the Borlaug Dialogue during World Food Prize week in Des Moines, promote agricultural productivity. This includes sharing agronomic practices that come from cultures around the world and are appropriate for the local conditions. It features conventional farming, large-scale farms and small holders, organic practices, local production, advanced technology, improvements to food and food systems, and ways in which to use water more effectively and reduce the environmental impact of food production.
Bottom line, the Prize and the Dialogue recognize that all methods and practices, based on sound science, are needed to ensure food security now and into the future.
Dr. Borlaug’s request to all with whom he interacted was to engage and educate youth. The World Food Prize “inspires the next generation” through the Iowa Youth Institute (IYI) in partnership with Iowa State University. Here, the goal is for every high school in the state to have a chance to send a student to the IYI Day at Iowa State each April. Students earn that privilege by writing a paper on agriculture/food/water/nutrition issues in a developing country, and presenting that paper to expert panels. Two-hundred Iowa high schools participate. The IYI has been successful in helping students pursue education and careers in STEM. Of all participants, 92% pursue college majors in agriculture and science; 77% follow careers in those same areas; and two-thirds are young women.
This effort has expanded to more than 20 states and now is expanding globally in Europe and in Africa. The 2017 Laureate, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, pledged his Prize to improve the opportunities for African children, including the start of a Youth Institute in Africa. Dr. Adesina is committed to improving agricultural production in Africa through the use of improved practices and access to needed inputs. Together, engaging youth and improving production can lift subsistence farmers from their cycle of poverty.
The World Food Prize brings economic development to Iowa. The economic impact to the state over the last two decades for the week of the Prize and the Dialogue exceeds $100 million. Beyond that, there is not an event that brings more participants representing heads of state, business leaders, academics and civil society organizations to Iowa than the World Food Prize. This spawns necessary dialogue and business opportunities for all who participate, and for Iowa businesses and farmers.
Perhaps the most underrecognized aspect of agricultural development, and arguably the most important, is its contribution to national security. As Dr. Borlaug said “you cannot build peace on empty stomachs.” This was recently demonstrated by Arab Spring in 2010, coming from a shortage of cereals that led to uprising in Northern Africa and the Middle East. It is accepted by most government leaders and scholars that a strong agriculture base enables economic prosperity, contributing to stability and counteracting the attractiveness of insurgents.
No doubt the World Food Prize serves a lofty humanitarian purpose and celebrates the legacy of Dr. Norman Borlaug. But let’s not forget, and in fact let’s embrace, these other demonstrable and measurable benefits that are brought to Iowa.
Paul E. Schickler is a retired president of DuPont Pioneer.