2024 World Food Prize Week: Seeds of Opportunity - Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy

The 2024 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue will assemble an array of policy makers, international leaders, farmers, non-governmental organizations and academic experts to address the critical issues facing the global hunger crisis on October 29-31 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. This year's theme, "Seeds of Opportunity: Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy," addresses the future of crop growth and intersectional issues of conflict and food security. Topics will include agricultural innovation, climate survival, investment in seed development and scientific contributions to agriculture.

The full agenda and speaker list can be found at www.worldfoodprize.org/agenda.

This year's Borlaug Dialogue is at the Iowa Event Center in Des Moines. Side events to the Borlaug Dialogue are taking place virtually and onsite.

Highlighted speakers include:

• Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President, United Republic of Tanzania

• H.E. Julius Maada Bio, President, Sierra Leone

• Hon. Reuben Mtolo Phiri, Minister of Agriculture, Zambia

• Hon. Henry Musa Kpaka, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Government of Sierra Leone

• Hon. Laura Suazo, Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock, Republic of Honduras

• Alice Albright, CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

• Hon. Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group

• Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture

• Qu Dongyu, Director-General, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

• Eric Mitchell, President, Alliance to End Hunger

• Agnes Kalibata, President, AGRA

• Ajay Banga, President, World Food Bank

• Billi Hunt, Executive Director, America's Cultivation Corridor

• John Olajide, Founder and CEO, Axxess Chairman, Cavista Holdings

• Ty Vaughn, Head of Plant Biotechnology, Bayer Crop Science

• Jason Wargent, Founder and Chief Science Officer, BioLumic

• Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director, Crop Trust

• Lindiwe Sibana, Chairperson, CGIAR System Board

• Bram Govaerts, Director, Climate Change Adaptation Mitigation

• Rikin Gandhi, CEO and Co-Founder, Digital Green

• Ertharin Cousin, CEO and Managing Director, Food Systems for the Future

• Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

• Ingrid Fung, VP of Enterprise Ops and Strategy, Greenlight Biosciences

• Alejandro Jaramillo Truijillo, CEO, Grupo Bios Animal Nutrition

• Jim Schweigert, President, Gro Alliance

• Surita Sandosham, President and CEO, Heifer International

• Jehiel Oliver, Founder and CEO, Hello Tractor, Inc.

• Jim Snee, President and CEO, Hormel Foods

• Manuel Otero, Director General, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

• Soon-Kwon Kim, President, International Corn Foundation

• Gérardine Mukeshimana, Vice-President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

• Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General, International Livestock Research Institute

• Alexey Rostapshov, Head of Business & Sustainability Solutions, John Deere

• Elsa Murano, Director, Norman E. Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture

• Jorge Fernández Vidal, Managing Director and Head of Agriculture & Food, Liechtenstein Group

• Scott Raubenstine, VP of Agricultural Services, Perdue AgriBusiness LLC

• Ben McLean, Chief Executive Officer, Ruan Transportation Management Systems

• Tim Bucher, CEO and Co-Founder, Agtonomy

• Laura Turner Seydel, Director, Turner Foundation

• Tim Bardole, Farmer and Director, United Soybean Board and Iowa Soybean Association

• Han Chen, Co-Founder and CEO, ZeaKal

• Sejiro Michael Oke-Tojinu, Aquaculture Farmer, Sej Farms

• Judith de Vor, Farmer, Netherlands Global Farmer Network

• Stella Thomas, Farmer, Nigeria Global Farmer Network

In addition to mainstage speaking engagements, there will be seven press conferences:

Tuesday, October 29

• 2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Global Ministers Press Conference

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security at the Government of Sierra Leone, Hon. Henry Musa Kpaka; Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock at the Republic of Honduras, Hon. Laura Suazo; Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United States of America, H.E. Amb. Elsie S. Kanza

• 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - USAID and MCC Press Conference

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with representatives of the U.S. Agency for International Development and Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Wednesday, October 30

• 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - USDA Press Announcement - Food Aid

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with the Under Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, Alexis Taylor

• 10:45 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. - 2024 Laureate Press Conference

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with 2024 World Food Prize Laureates Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler.

• 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. -Press Conference: Call to Action by all World Food Prize Laureates

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with Laureates of the World Food Prize Foundation.

    • Maria Andrade, 2016 World Food Prize Laureate

    • David Beckman, 2010 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Howarth Bouis, 2016 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Gebisa Ejeta, 2009 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Geoffrey Hawtin, 2024 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Gurdev Khush, 1996 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Heidi Kuhn, 2023 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Lawrence Haddad, 2018 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Jan Low, 2016 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Pedro Sanchez, 2002 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Per Pinstrup-Andersen, 2001 World Food Prize Laureate

    • Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, 2021 World Food Prize Laureate

• 3:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. - Zeakal Press Conference

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with representatives of ZeaKal Inc.

Thursday, October 31

• 10 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - Press conference

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with Hon. Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

• 10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Press Conference: Bold Measures to Feed Africa

  • Press will have the opportunity to speak with the President of Sierra Leone, H.E. Julius Maada Bio; the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E.. Samia Suluhu Hassan; Former President of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, H.E. Sahle-Work Zewde; President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina; and Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programming at USAID, Hon. Isobel Coleman.

Event organizers cannot guarantee entry to media personnel that have not registered ahead of time. Verified members of the press will need to produce a valid press badge onsite in order to collect their credentials for access to any events during the World Food Prize Week of Events.

• Members of the media can apply for press credentials at www.worldfoodprize.org/pressregistration.

• The full agenda and speaker list can be found at www.worldfoodprize.org/agenda

• Press can view the Laureate Award Ceremony at www.worldfoodprize.org/live.

Additional Events Surrounding the 2024 Borlaug Dialogue will include:

• Borlaug Lecture "So Our Children Can Eat: Conserving and Protecting Crop Biodiversity" (October 28, 5:30 pm at Iowa State University, Great Hall, Memorial Union). The 2024 Laureates, Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler will present the annual Borlaug Lecture, moderated by Iowa State University President, Wendy Wintersteen. This event is free and open to the public.

• Laureate Award Ceremony (October 31): This year's Laureates, Dr. Geoffery Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler, will be awarded and officially recognized by the World Food Prize Foundation during this event. This ceremony is by invitation only. Limited space is available, so it will have limited media access. If you are interested in covering the event, please note the interest on your registration form. Media granted access will be notified the week of events and can pick up their credentials in the Press Room at the Iowa Events Center. The ceremony will be shown live on IowaPBS and via webcast.

• 30th Anniversary Global Youth Institute Celebration (October 31, 12:45 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center): 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the Global Youth Institute. Each year, more than 200 carefully selected high school students and their teachers from across the world are selected to participate in the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute. This event encourages the next generation of changemakers to present and discuss their solutions to global food security challenges with peers and international experts. This program connects students around the world with new technologies, research facilities and discussion related to industry and policy. This event is open to the media.

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