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, Ethiopian-American agronomist Gebisa Ejeta will make an impassioned case for revitalizing agricultural research to improve the lives of the one billion people who still suffer chronic hunger. He will argue 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.

 

Please join us for the talk by Dr Gebisa Ejeta, “Revitalizing Agricultural Research for Global Food Security.”

 

 

 

Gebisa Ejeta is the 2009 World Food Prize Laureate, considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for agriculture. He was honoured for developing varieties of sorghum resistant to drought and striga, a weed that had inflicted devastating losses on Africa’s main cereal crop. He also worked tirelessly to ensure that farmers received the improved seeds, which yield as much as four times the amount of grain as traditional varieties. IDRC was an early supporter of his work.

 

Dr Ejeta grew up in an Ethiopian village, experiencing firsthand the hunger that he would dedicate his life to eradicating. He earned a PhD in plant breeding and genetics at Purdue University, where today he holds a distinguished professorship. His research breakthroughs have helped to increase food supplies for hundreds of millions of people, across Africa and beyond. He has also mentored and inspired a generation of African scientists. Dr Ejeta’s talk launches the Speakers of Renown series, which will be held throughout 2010 to mark IDRC’s 40^th anniversary.

 

The lecture is free but seating is limited, so please register.

 

French and English simultaneous interpretation will be available.

 

The event will be webcast live. Questions may be submitted during the talk to at www.idrc.ca/events-ejeta, and will be answered as time permits.

 

This is also a pre-conference event to the conference "Africa's New Frontier: Innovation. Technology. Prosperity." taking place at the Château Laurier, February 4 - 5, 2010, organized by IDRC and DFAIT.  For more information and to register, visit www.idrc.ca/AfricaNewFrontier.