Former U.S. President Barack Obama headlined at the Seeds and Chips Conference in Milan, Italy, this week, His message was that we’re not going to make the widely-accepted deadline of 2050 for getting our house in order to feed the world’s growing multitudes. And he says we must act now!
Obama addressing the 2017 Seeds and Chips Conference in Milan, Italy.
The former President has a stark message for those attending the conference:
“For all the challenges that we face, this is the one that will define the contours of this century, more dramatically perhaps than any other. No nation […] will be immune from the impacts of climate change.”
He also called for creation of a new, “food culture that introduces a demand for more healthier, more sustainable food.” That should mean healthier population and a reduced demand for health care services, which are still skyrocketing.
Obama cited technology, creativity and entrepreneurship as motive forced behind the effort that must be made, and made without further delay.
“The path to a sustainable food future will require unleashing the creative power of our best scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs, backed by public investment and private investment to deploy new innovations and climate-smart agriculture. Better seeds, better storage. Crops that grow with less water. Crops that grow in harsher climates. Mobile technologies that put more agriculture data […] into the hands of farmers so they know what to plant and where to plant, how to plant and how it will sell.”
A pretty ambitious mandate, Obama’s throwing out to the agriculture space. But he’s confident the players there can fulfill it…
~ Maggie J.