2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Food security, sustainability, health, nutrition, obesity, and hunger are fundamental, intertwined concepts with important implications for national and global policies and economics. Food insecurity threatens health, education, and workforce readiness. Although yields of most staple crops have doubled (at least) since 1950, global per capitayield has plateaued since the 1980s and malnourishment remains a persistent problem. Global population growth drives the increasing need for food and socio-economic development in emerging economies drives the increasing demand for meat, dairy, and horticultural crops. With a world population of up to 9 billion by 2050, estimates indicate that total food production must increase by 70%.

Global food security faces multiple challenges in addition to population growth. Globalization has increased the competition for land and fertile, well-positioned land has become increasingly attractive for energy production, mining, industrial sites, real estate, or tourism. Rural migration causes a loss of manpower, which might be compensated through technological advances, but also causes the loss of farm-management skills and agricultural knowledge. Climate change exacerbates these challenges, changing precipitation patterns and increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, which can destroy crops. Many developing countries are highly exposed to the negative consequences of climate change as they have less technical and financial resources to mitigate its impacts.

Agriculture must also reduce its negative effects on the environment. For example, agriculture accounts for approximately one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. The ongoing industrialization of agriculture has caused over-exploitation of soils, altered pest and pathogen populations, decreased agrobiodiversity and increased demand for synthetic inputs. Soil degradation, fertilizer runoff, water shortages, and other environmental issues further threaten the sustainability of agriculture and thus food security. Horticulture offers many opportunities for resource-poor small-scale farmers around the world, including an opportunity to make a significant income off a small plot of land, enhanced opportunities for women, and the potential for diet diversification and reduction of malnutrition. However, production of horticulture crops is knowledge intensive and has challenges associated with pest management, availability of irrigation water, and the perishable nature of fresh produce. The Horticulture Innovation Lab was created by USAID to address these challenges through support of a research portfolio in collaboration with U.S. university researchers and their developing country partners

Food security is under threat globally, in developed and developing countries. Therefore, scientists and world leaders must develop crop management systems that deliver abundant, healthy and nutritious food while efficiently using agricultural inputs such as land, water and fertilizer, and minimizing harmful environmental effects. Horticultural crops can meet all these requirements and will consequently play a central role in food security in the 21^stcentury.

In this colloquium, the leaders of several projects will present promising results and continuing challenges in food security, followed by a group discussion with a panel of speakers.