On Tuesday night, in front of a packed Kane Hall auditorium, Gebisa Ejeta (Jessie and John Danz Endowed Lecturer) kicked off the College of the Environment lecture series, “Food: Eating Your Environment.” The MCDM was there to help with the strategic think-through of how these talks may extend beyond the event itself and work toward building better bridging capital. Professor Ejeta’s talk was titled, “Can Science and Technology Secure Global Food Resources?” He brought to the floor images and data that bespeak a new era of global food crisis. He argues we must embrace integrative and interdisciplinary approaches in creating holistic and scientific solutions to avert catastrophic food insecurity. He went on to illustrate through an analogy to mobile adoption how agriculture technology may impact food growth in Africa. He stated, “The remarkable IT revolution should not create an illusion for the Agricultural and Biological Sciences” and that “the rate of adoption of a New Technology in a country is a function of experience and social realities.”
At the MCDM we also believe that an effective use of digital media is rooted in the social reality of building meaningful relationships through the creation, curation, and distribution of relevant experiences and stories that bridge local communities of practice. He concluded his talk with the statement, “I am even more certain, however, that no amount of external funding will bring about a transformative change unless it is locally-led by an inspired citizenry and driven by an unequivocal support and commitment from African leaders and policy makers.” We are looking forward to nurturing and growing the relationship with the College of the Environment through this series and beyond.
About Gebisa Ejeta
Winner of the 2009 World Food Prize, Ejeta, a native of Ethiopia, has dedicated his professional career to serving international agriculture. His development of crops resistant to drought has enhanced the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a distinguished professorship in agronomy at Purdue.
Event hosted By: UW College of the Environment, UW Graduate School and UW Alumni Association
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