2012 Conference

February 29 and March 1, 2012, Tel Aviv University

Food Security in the 21st Century: Agricultural, health, economic, judicial and political perspectives

With more than 7,000,000,000 mouths to feed, ensuring a global supply of food is an increasing and critical challenge for scientists and politicians alike. Providing long-term answers to the questions of global and local food supplies needs not only advances in agricultural sciences, but also in a re-evaluation of public policy as it relates to economics, law and politics. A consistent supply of nutritious food sources and a secure supply of clean water are essential for insuring public health. Issues such as maintenance of wild gene pools, monitoring of bacterial populations, and economic significance of use of arable land have implications that start in academia and end in public policy. International cooperation at all levels is essential for tackling these difficult issues.

Food Security in the 21st Century: Agricultural, health, economic, judicial and political perspectives aims to bring together a diverse audience to discuss the interdisciplinary aspects of Food Security. Videos of the talks can be found here.

Guest speakers

Mr. Harris Sherman, Undersecretary of Agriculture (USA) for Natural Resources
Prof. James Birchler, University of Missouri-Columbia
Prof. Debbie Delmer, Professor Emeritus, University of California Davis, formerly Associate Director for Food Security at the Rockefeller Foundation
Prof. Wilhelm Gruissem, Chair of the Department of Biology, ETH, Zurich
Prof. Molly Jahn, University of Wisconsin, member of the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change
Dr. Segenet Kelemu, Director of the Eastern and Central African Hub of Biosciences, Kenya.
Prof. Philip Pardey, University of Minnesota, Director of the International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP) center
Prof. Ziad Abdeen, Director of Al-Quds Nutrition and Health Research Institute
Dr. Gidon Bromberg, EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME)
Ambassador Daniel Carmon, Head of MASHAV - Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation
Prof. Yoram Kapulnik, Director, Agricultural Research Organization (Volcani Center)
Mr. Abraham Tenne, Head of Desalination Division, National Water Authority

Topics Covered

Food Security in a interdisciplinary context
Crops to feed an expanding and richer world population
Food Security in the Third World
Food Security in Health and Nutrition
Food security and public policy
Water resources: Sustainable use and reuse
Ethical dilemmas around Food Security
Round-table: Food Security from a Local Perspective

Speakers from Tel Aviv University

Prof. Gadi Algazi, History
Dr. Aliza Belman Inbal, Hartog School of Government and Policy
Prof. Daniel Cohen, School of Public Health
Dr. Assaf Distelfeld, Institute for Cereal Crop Improvement
Prof. Bernard Epel, Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants
Prof.Yehuda Kahane, Akirov Institute for Business and the Environment
Prof. Judith Rishpon, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
Dr. Yofi Tirosh, Faculty of Law
Ms. Yael Ben-David (Zilberstein lab), Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants