An increase in population from 7 to 10 billion by 2050 will require a 70 percent increase in food production at the same time that natural resources are decreasing. Ten exceptional United States college sophomores, each committed to finding innovative and practical solutions to world hunger, will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do just that through a unique fellowship called the Global Food Challenge Emerging Leaders for Food Security Program.
Land O'Lakes, Inc. created the Global Food Challenge Emerging Leaders for Food Security fellowship in 2014 to engage future leaders in the challenges and opportunities facing agriculture in the coming decades. The 2015 fellowship recipients were announced recently at the 2015 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue, the foremost international annual symposium that brings the world's leading experts together to discuss cutting-edge issues in food security.
The 2015-2016 Emerging Leaders for Food Security are Elizabeth Alonzi, Katie Enzenauer and Blake Schweiner, students at the University of Minnesota. Abby Adair and Sydney Gray at Purdue University; Addison Bidwell, Leah Ellensohn and Megan Schnell at Iowa State University; Diana Fu at Northwestern University; and Ayse Muratoglu at The George Washington University.
"This experience is life-changing," said Mandi Egeland, a 2014 alumna of the program and a business student from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. Another 2014 alum, Trey Forsyth from Iowa State University, said, "We need people from different professional backgrounds, countries and viewpoints to make a difference in feeding the world."
"Ag is the greatest growth industry of our era and represents the most dynamic career opportunity for this generation," said Chris Policinski, president and CEO, Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Because a broad mix of skills is needed to find new ways of feeding the growing population, students are selected through a competitive application process that includes wide-ranging education disciplines from agronomy and environmental science to nutrition, finance and marketing.
Throughout the academic year, Emerging Leaders work closely with their university professors, delving into challenging assignments designed to spur their thinking about food security issues and to educate others. The experience includes summer work in key Land O'Lakes locations, including headquarters in Minnesota and producers and rural agriculture cooperatives across the U.S.
The students also will spend time in Washington, D.C. with policymakers and agricultural experts and will travel to Africa to visit smallholder farmers in rural African communities. They address issues such as sustainability, global supply chains, ensuring broader access to new developments in agriculture, and empowering change in communities here, near and far.
Learn more about the Global Food Challenge and join the conversation at http://foodchallenge.landolakesinc.com.
