Independent thinking on international affairs
Chatham House
  Click here for tips on searching
 

Conference alerts

To receive free email alerts announcing forthcoming Chatham House conferences sign up here

Contact us

conferences@chathamhouse.org.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7957 5753

Fax: +44 (0)20 7321 2045

Conference Unit
Chatham House
10 St James's Square
London
SW1Y 4LE
UK

Corporate membership discounts

Reduced booking rates are available as a special service to employees of Chatham House corporate members.

Further information

Sponsorship opportunities

With its independent status and wordwide reputation, Chatham House is able to offer its partners with unique sponsorship opportunities.

Further information

 

 

Food Security in the 21st Century

Monday 6 October 2008
to Tuesday 7 October 2008

Location

Chartered Insurance Institute, London

book online

download brochure


Sponsored by
AON
Syngenta

To enable as open a debate as possible, this conference will be held under the Chatham House Rule.
The Chatham House Rule: Information for journalists


Conference Overview

wheat

Corporate decision makers and government policymakers are facing a future shaped by uncertainties of resource supply and distribution. Basic questions that had once receded from everyday life are reappearing as crucial issues. Faced with riots over soaring food prices, governments worldwide are struggling to ensure security of supply for their populations. Short-term solutions may well be counterproductive in the long term and the crisis in the supply of food looks set to continue for months, if not years.


Global Food Supply Governance - What is the Problem and Where are the Solutions?

  • Do the existing international institutions have the capacity to provide leadership in stemming the crisis in food supply?
  • What steps need to be taken to increase food supply? And by whom?
  • What will be the likely restructuring of food industries?
  • How will consumer behaviour towards food choices and attitudes to food production change in the face of high prices and shortages?

This conference will tackle both the short term and long term issues surrounding global food security. Among the key lines of debate will be the likely restructuring of the food industry, in the UK and globally, and the role of science and technology. The need for changes in government and EU policy, and their effects, will also be considered. The conference will assist corporate decision makers and government policymakers in understanding the nature of the changes in prospect and the response options available.

The conference forms part of a Chatham House research project UK Food Supply in the 21st Century: The New Dynamic, whose findings will be published in late 2008.


Speaker Highlights

  • Professor John Beddington CMG FRS
    Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office of
    Science
    Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, UK

  • The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
    Secretary of State
    Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK

  • Dr Joachim von Braun
    Director General
    International Food Policy Research Institute

  • Sir Donald Curry KB CBE FRAgS
    Chairman, Sustainable Farming and Food Implementation Group
    Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, UK

  • Joseph Glauber
    Chief Economist
    US Department of Agriculture

  • Peter Kendall
    President
    National Farmers' Union, UK

  • Dr David Lawrence
    Head, Research and Development
    Syngenta International AG

  • Ambassador Ali Mchumo
    Managing Director
    Common Fund for Commodities of the United Nations

  • Jeremy Webb
    Editor in Chief
    New Scientist