PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (October 28, 2020) – Earlier this month, Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) and its College of Agriculture and Human Sciences (CAHS) hosted World Food Day 2020, an annual event commemorating the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Nearly 250 attendees registered for this year’s celebration on October 16, which featured six presenters and four breakout sessions.
Gerard D’Souza, Ph.D., CAHS Dean and Director of Land Grant Programs, opened the event by acknowledging its “historic” nature since it was held virtually for the first time ever as a result of the pandemic.
“It has brought us closer to other parts of the globe to address hunger locally, but also globally,” said D’Souza, calling on the Zulu word for ‘synergy’—bambisanani—to underscore that the work to end hunger “must be done together.”
D’Souza discussed how CAHS is leading the way in agricultural innovation and community distribution by presenting a model for farm-to-fork implementation through various food security initiatives on campus, naming the CAHS as “the only comprehensive agricultural college” in the greater Houston area.
“In the college, we focus on food insecurity, nutrition-related issues, fighting cancer, diabetes, and other food-related diseases, and improving quality of life in general,” said D’Souza. “World Food Day allows us to put the spotlight on one of life’s most essential needs, food, in ways that matter. This year, we’ve turned challenges from the pandemic into an opportunity to help spread awareness beyond our campus, state, and country.”
Event presenters addressed many of the challenges that result in food security and agricultural sustainability issues faced around the globe. Not surprisingly, the effects of COVID-19 on food production and distribution dominated the conversation.
“Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the main focus of this year’s World Food Day event was on adverse effects of the pandemic on food and nutrition and how to respond to it,” said PVAMU’s World Food Day 2020 Committee Chairperson, Mahta Moussavi, Ph.D.
COVID-19 has reshaped the world’s food infrastructure, critically hampering food access to billions of people. However, the current crisis has only added to the world’s food shortages, which were already under siege from the looming threat of climate change, stated several presenters.
“This current crisis is one which we were not prepared for,” said keynote speaker K.D. Kokate, Ph.D., who participated via Zoom from India. Kokate is a former deputy director general of Agricultural Extension for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. “The number of people in extreme poverty will increase, and this makes the current food crisis” an even bigger challenge. “You can’t have peace without food security,” he added. Parenthetically, it is no coincidence that the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations World Food Program.
Kokate illustrated through a graphic that 30 percent of worldwide crop production would be at risk by 2025 due to water shortages. However, the changes in climate and population patterns are affecting the world disproportionately. While hunger is currently a severe problem for some 250 million people in Africa, that number is expected to jump to 433 million by 2030, while populations in areas like South Asia are expected to experience a decline in hunger.
But through innovation and initiative efforts highlighted in the University’s World Food Day event, global and local communities have been able to band together and provide much-needed sustenance for hungry populations. These accomplishments were highlighted in this year’s theme: “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together.”
Kwaku Addo, Ph.D., CAHS associate dean for Academic Programs and department head, said that PVAMU is “preparing the next generation of agricultural scientists” by “expanding the curricula to address new and developing issues involving agricultural sustainability and food security.” He said the university is accomplishing this by using GPS-driven data to improve crop sustainability and develop innovative technologies that will help better manage resource systems and solve environmental problems. Addo said the successful implementation of such initiatives would occur through engagement in community-based learning.
USDA Agricultural Liaison Horace Hodge echoed the need for community involvement.
“This was a snapshot, primarily for our agriculture students, into food production and the impact the lack of food can have on any one person in society,” said Hodge. “It has been these community-based organizations that have played a really important role in getting the food out to the people.”
Hodge said that USDA Deputy Administrator of Commodity Procurement David Tuckwiller served as the “ideology guru” behind the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, an effort that led to the distribution of 30,000 healthy food boxes to the Prairie View, Texas, community—with more than 106 million food boxes distributed across the country.
Hodge said the program helped farmers and families by contributing to more healthy eating habits during one of the worst periods of our country’s history. “It was a win-win-win situation,” said Hodge.
The university’s event was one of many celebrated in more than 150 countries around the globe, marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
“We need to continue our efforts to address national and international crises by having such programs and events to help affected communities,” said Moussavi. “Also, the outcomes of such programs need to be shared with governmental bodies to improve the response and recovery plans.”
Kokate said the way forward involves the creation of a robust food value chain and healthcare system, the development of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures, initiation and strengthening of social protection programs, the prediction of future shocks and likely impacts, and the promotion of innovations and entrepreneurship.
“To manage anxiety and emotional stress, this is the time for compassion,” he said. Quoting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kokate ended with, “’Together we can overcome this crisis and build inclusive and sustainable societies for all.’”
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By Kerry Laird