Who will feed the world? Public panel discussion on "Global Agriculture between Population Growth, Business, Sustainability, and Poverty"

June 1, 2015 | 18:00 h - 19:30 h

The Mayor of the City of Bonn and the Director of the <link http: www.rightlivelihood.org index.html external link in new>Right Livelihood College Anwar Fazal cordially invite to this panel discussion followed by an informal get-together. The panel is part of an international workshop of the <link http: www.rlc-bonn.de external link in new>Right Livelihood College (RLC) Bonn taking place in Bonn from May 30 to June 4, 2015.

Date: Monday, June 1, 2015, 6 p.m.
Venue: Old Town Hall of the City of Bonn (Gobelinsaal), Markt, 53111 Bonn.

Program: 

Welcome by Reinhard Limbach, Deputy Mayor of City of Bonn and Sharan Srinivas, Programme and Research Manager, <link http: www.rightlivelihood.org external link in new>Right Livelihood Award Foundation, Stockholm. 

Speakers:
-  Dr. <link http: www.millenniuminstitute.net about hans.html external link in new>Hans R. Herren, Right Livelihood Award (“Alternative Nobel Prize”) Laureate 2013, President of the  Millennium Institute (Washington DC), President of Biovision Foundation (Zurich), “World Food Prize” Laureate 1995
-  Timo Beiermann, Food First Information und Action Network (FIAN)
-  Dr. Stephan Krall, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Facilitator: Mirjam Gehrke, Deutsche Welle Academy

Background
The United Nations forecast nine billion people will be living on our planet by the mid of this century. To feed the world's rapidly-expanding population, agriculture must not only produce substantially more - but also in different ways. Agricultural land is increasingly scarce and contested; the same applies to water and other natural resources. Many ecosystems that form the backbone of food production are already overused and depleted. Additionally, increased climate variability and market price fluctuations create uncertainties. In most countries, agriculture is still a ‘poor man’s business’. 90 percent of the rural population in the Global South depends on smallholder agriculture for their livelihoods, and those who produce food are often the most food-insecure. At the same time, consumer demands and habits are rapidly changing worldwide. The trend towards meat-rich diets causes more global competition and higher prices. Combined, all this poses fundamental challenges to the agricultural sector in the coming years - especially for smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia.

The event will be held in English. Please confirm your participation by email to:
<link>event-office-international@bonn.de by May 29, 2015.
The event is kindly supported by the City of Bonn, BMZ, and the German Exchange Association (DAAD).

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<link https: www.youtube.com external link in new>Watch the video on our youtube-channel.

<link http: www.zef.de external-link-new-window external link in new>Some impressions of the day.