Dr. Cary Fowler, president of the Food Security Leadership Council, delivered a keynote address in a Crawford Fund conference in Canberra.(Photo by Crawford Fund)
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA [TAC] – The Crawford Fund for Food Security welcomes the establishment of a new US initiative, the Food Security Leadership Council (FSLC), urging a transformative rethink of how the world confronts hunger and malnutrition.
The said initiative, launched in Washington on July 22, calls for a bold new blueprint to solve global hunger that is rooted in innovation, trade, multilateral policy, humanitarian action and local agricultural development.
According to a statement, the Council will “help redefine America’s global role in food and agriculture to address the demands of a rapidly changing world”. Their emphasis is on restoring soils and water systems, boosting investments in agriculture research and development, leveraging trade and multilateral cooperation and advancing nutrition security alongside food availability.
“FSLC’s message resonates deeply with our mission,” said Shaun Coffey, chief executive officer of the Crawford Fund for Food Security, an NGO dedicated to increasing Australia’s engagement in international agriculture research and development for global food security.
“Food security is world security. When people are hungry, the world becomes less stable,” said Coffey. “With over 700 million people hungry and agricultural systems under threat from climate change, soil degradation and water scarcity, the time for incremental responses has passed. We must rebuild our policies, investments and partnerships.”
He believes that the US tariffs and shifting aid policies are creating uncertainty but emphasized that the world is unlikely to return to the systems developed over the last few decades.
“These shifts create volatility, but they also demand the re-think called for by FSLC,” Coffey said. “This is not only the right thing to do—it is in the interest of a stable and secure world.”
The FSLC is headed by Dr. Cary Fowler, president of the Council, and a former US special envoy for Global Food Security and 2024 World Food Prize Laureate.
