Sustainable Food Future: Workshop Series on Ways to Boost Food Security While Reducing GHG Emissions
WRI and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are sponsoring three workshops to explore potential technical measures to both mitigate climate change and boost food security.
Workshop One: The first workshop occurred over two days, August 3-4 2021, and focused on the mitigation measures that are most commonly discussed today. It included sessions exploring the evolving scientific understanding of soil carbon, and the different viewpoints about the feasibility of increasing soil carbon on working agricultural lands. Additional sessions focused on soil health in sub-Saharan Africa, ways of mitigating emissions from rice production, including an integrated mitigation/adaptation project in Bangladesh, ways of reducing emissions related to nitrogen use, and silvopastoral systems.
Additional workshops will focus on promising livestock management changes, promising technical innovations to address each category of emissions and ways in which directly addressing food security by boosting yields can be used to reduce deforestation and emissions.
Speakers and Presentations
Day One – Monday August 4th
Summary of the food production, food security & emissions challenge
Tim Searchinger, Senior Fellow and Technical Director, WRI
The Basic Science of Soil Carbon: What is it, what do we know about what causes it to persist, and what do we know about how agricultural practices affect it?
Dr. Johannes Lehmann, Professor of Biogeochemistry, Cornell University
Dr. Margaret Torn, Ecologist and Biogeochemist, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Dr. John Kirkegaard, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO
Rice & Integrated Adaptation/Mitigation Project in Bangladesh
Tim Searchinger, Senior Fellow and Technical Director, WRI, Princeton University
Dr. Abu Syed, Senior Fellow, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies
Nitrogen
Tim Searchinger, Senior Fellow and Technical Director, WRI, Princeton University
Dr. David Powlson, Professor Emeritus, Rothamsted Research
Eileen Kladivko, Professor of Agronomy, Purdue University
Day Two – Tuesday August 5th
Dr. Johannes Lehmann, Professor of Biogeochemistry, Cornell University
Dr. David Powlson, Professor Emeritus, Rothamsted Research
Richard Conant, Professor of Ecosystem Science, Colorado State University
Challenges & opportunities regarding soil carbon in Africa
Ken Giller, Professor of Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University
Pauline Chivenge, Principal Scientist, Africa Plant Nutrition Institute
Silvopastoral systems
Julian Chara, Research Coordinator, CIPAV
Workshop Two: The second workshop occurred over two days, October 19-20 2021, and focused on livestock systems, which generate most of agricultural emissions and use most of the land. It also focused on proposed technical innovations related to nitrogen, manure management, and soil carbon with a policy discussion about how to encourage innovation.
The third workshop to occur later will focus on “produce and protect” strategies to boost yields while protecting forests and other natural habitats.
Speakers and Presentations
Day One – Tuesday October 19th
Topic: WRI and the Gates Foundation Present: Technical Opportunities for a Sustainable Food Future: Part Two
Start Time : Oct 19, 2021 06:27 AM
Introductions & Summary of First Workshop
Tim Searchinger, Senior Fellow and Technical Director, WRI
Livestock
Mario Herrero, Chief Research Scientist of Agriculture and Food; Professor of Sustainable Food Systems and Global Change, CSIRO; Cornell University
Ermias Kebreab, Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, University of California at Davis
Solomon Mwendia, Associate Scientist, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
Michael Peters, Tropical Forages Program Lead, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
Innovative methods for soil carbon increases: suberin & deep roots, silicate rock spreading, biochar, remote soil carbon measurements
Joanne Chory, Professor and Director, Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute
David Beerling, Sorby Professor of Natural Sciences, Sheffield University
Claudia Kammann, Professor, Hochschule Geisenheim University
Keith Shepard, Principal Soil Scientist, World Agroforestry Center
Innovations for using perennial crops
Morten Ambye-Jensen, Associate Professor, Aarhus University
James Astwood, Chief Technology Officer, TerViva
Day Two – Wednesday October 20th
Topic: WRI and the Gates Foundation Present: Technical Opportunities for a Sustainable Food Future: Part Two
Start Time : Oct 20, 2021 06:29 AM
Introduction to Second Day
Tim Searchinger, Senior Fellow and Technical Director, WRI
Nitrogen: Biological nitrification inhibition, microbial additions, balancing nutrients
Guntur Subbarao, Senior Scientist and Group Leader, JIRCAS
Adriana Botes, R&D Director, Azotic Technologies
Ken Giller, Professor of Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University
Panel regarding precision agriculture & timing of fertilizer application
Pauline Chivenge, Principal Scientist, African Plant Nutrition Institute
David Powlson, Professor Emeritus, Rothamsted Research
Harold Mathjis van Es, Professor, Cornell University
Innovations to address demand: food loss & waste & plant-based meats
Jessica Vieira, Senior Director of Sustainability, Apeel Science
Liz Specht, Vice President of Science and Technology, Good Food Institute
Policies to promote Innovation – Panel discussion
Daniel Vennard, Chief Sustainability Officer, Syngenta
Kathryn Zook, Program Analyst, USDA
Bill Hohenstein, Director of Office of Energy and Environmental Policy (OEEP) within the Office of the Chief Economist, USDA