Asia—home to more than half of the world’s population—has made strides in staving off hunger and boosting the nutrition of its billions of residents. But food security challenges facing the region—from volatile food prices and urban-rural disparities to land and water constraints and climate change—call into question how the world will manage to feed the continent’s growing population.
On September 27, IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan will participate in a high-profile conference that grapples with this question. Hosted by The Economist, Feeding The World: Asia’s prospect of plenty brings together leaders in all sectors—including Melinda Gates, Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—to devise solutions to the continent’s “perfect storm” of problems.
Fan will share his expert views on the region’s trade, agriculture, and health and nutrition challenges as part of the keynote panel. He’ll join Daniel Balaban, President of the Brazilian National Education Development Fund and the Head of Brazil’s Center of Excellence Against Hunger; Percy Misika, FAO Representative in China, DPR Korea, and Mongolia; and Anil Jain, Managing Director of Jain Irrigation Systems. Later in the day, Fan will lead a breakout session on Asia-Pacific trade, which emphasizes food, labor, and markets.
The conference, which will take place in Hong Kong, is closed to the public, but the Bonn-based Global Donor Platform, a network of 34 donors, international financing institutions, and intergovernmental and development agencies engaged in poverty reduction and sustainable development, will conduct an online interview with Fan immediately following the event. Follow @ifpri or @donorplatform to find out when it will be posted on the Platform website.
For more information about the food security situation in Asia, specifically India and China, read the Global Food Policy Report chapter on regional developments.
