MEDIA ADVISORY: MU to Host Obama-Appointed Food Security Experts

Story Contact(s):
Christian Basi, BasiC@missouri.edu, 573-882-4430

By Kate McIntyre

WHAT: The University of Missouri will host a public meeting of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD), a group of policy and agriculture experts appointed by President Obama to address global food hunger issues. The theme of the March 15 public meeting is “Globalization of agriculture and food research, teaching and engagement at land-grant universities.”

BIFAD members will report on outreach visits to Africa and Asia, and discuss research priorities in pest management and sustainable intensification, the practice of increasing food production while reducing water use on the same amount of land. A panel of MU researchers also will speak about the role of American research universities in international food security efforts.

WHO: BIFAD was created in 1975 under Title XII (Famine Prevention and Freedom from Hunger) of the Foreign Assistance Act. The board’s primary role is to draw on the scientific knowledge and capacity of U.S. higher education institutions, especially those with land-grant missions such as MU, to advise and serve the country’s international food security assistance efforts via USAID.

The seven members of the board are:

• MU Chancellor Brady J. Deaton, appointed by President Barack Obama as chair of BIFAD in April 2011
• Catherine Bertini, Syracuse University professor
• Waded Cruzado, president of Montana State University-Bozeman
• Gebisa Ejeta, Purdue University professor
• Jo Luck, former president of Heifer International
• Harold L. Martin, Sr., chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University
• Marty McVey, president of McVey & Associates LLC

WHERE: Fred W. Smith Forum
Reynolds Journalism Institute
MU Campus

WHEN: 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Friday, March 15. A detailed schedule is listed below.

NOTE: This event is free and open to the public. It will be streamed live. To access the live stream, please visit http://rjionline.adobeconnect.com/bifad and enter as a guest by typing in a name and clicking on the “Enter Room” button. The live stream will accept only a limited number of viewers.

Board for International Food and Agricultural Development

Public Meeting Schedule
Reynolds Journalism Institute; Fred W. Smith Forum
March 15, 2013

8 a.m.              Meeting Opens

Brady Deaton, MU chancellor and chair of BIFAD opens meeting
Recognition of new BIFAD members
Old and New Business

8:40 a.m.         BIFAD member outreach reports

• Catherine Bertini
• Marty McVey
• Bill DeLauder

9:15 a.m.         Globalization of University-USAID Partnerships: Panel Discussion on Development of New USAID Innovation Labs;

Establishment of Research Priorities in Integrated Pest Management and Sustainable Intensification

Panelists include:

• Brady Deaton, moderator
• Julie Howard, USAID
• Dale Bottrell, retired professor, University of Maryland
• Sylvie Brouder, professor of agronomy, Purdue
• Saharah Moon Chapotin, USAID

10:30 a.m.       Break (Poster Demonstration in the atrium of the Reynolds Journalism Institute)

10:45 a.m.       Agriculture Research at U.S. universities: the Global Challenge

Panel on university domestic foundation for international research priorities.

Panelists include:

• Brady Deaton, moderator
• Jill Findeis, chair of the MU Division of Applied Social Sciences
• Marc Linit, associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
• Willi Meyers, director of International Agriculture Programs at MU
• Bob Sharp, director of the Interdisciplinary Plant Group at MU
• Handy Williamson, vice provost for International Programs

Noon               Question/Answer/Comment period by BIFAD members

12:15 p.m.       Public comment period

12:30 p.m.       Ajourn