Ļć½¶Ö±²„continues role in helping universities work toward global food security
Contact: James Carskadon
STARKVILLE, Miss.āĻć½¶Ö±²„ leaders recently helped guide a new report from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities that identifies ways public research universities can lead in domestic and global food security.
The APLUās Challenge of Change Commissionās report, titled āHarnessing University Discovery, Engagement and Learning to Achieve Food and Nutrition Security,ā centers on the vast academic, research and leadership capabilities of public research universities to address the interdisciplinary challenges and opportunities for collaboration on food and nutrition security.
Ļć½¶Ö±²„President Mark E. Keenum, who last fall addressed the United Nations on the expertise universities have to address world hunger, served on the Challenge of Change Commissionās executive committee.
The Challenge of Change Commission, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, encouraged public universities and their partners to identify specific challenges they can undertake. For more on the report, visit .
āAs our stateās leading research university and land-grant institution, Mississippi State is committed to solving the problem of hunger. It is one of our central research priorities, and an area where we have unmatched expertise and capabilities,ā Keenum said.
āIām very proud of our contributions to APLUās Challenge of Change Commission report,ā he said.
The report also featured the work of Kathleen Ragsdale, an associate research professor at MSUās Social Science Research Center.
Ragsdale served on the commissionās Nutrition, Human Development and Health working group. She is working with colleagues from four other universities on a project aimed at enabling small-scale farmers to meet the rising demand for soybeans and to feed their families. The researchers are evaluating gender empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa to help rural women farmers increase food security and health in their families and communities.
As a former Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and in his current role as Ļć½¶Ö±²„president, Keenum has dedicated a significant portion of his professional career to global food security issues. At the USDA, he was responsible for aid programs administered by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and worked closely with USAID, and the United Nationās Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Food Programme.
Since coming to Ļć½¶Ö±²„in 2009, Keenum has worked to establish the universityās International Institute and partnerships with the U.N.ās Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme.
For more information on MSUās global good security initiatives, visit .
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities is a research, policy and advocacy organization representing 235 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems and affiliated organizations.Ģż
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiās leading university, available online at .Ģż