Guest speaker talks poverty, supplying a green future
Published: Friday, January 25, 2013
Updated: Friday, January 25, 2013 23:01
Yesterday, Prabhu Pingali, Deputy Director of Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke at LaSells Stewart Center.
His lecture entailed a discussion about Green Revolution 2.0 and how technology in agriculture can help reduce poverty by increasing the food supply worldwide.
Pingali said that the Green Revolution 2.0 is highly needed because it “reverses productivity stagnation, corrects unintended consequences, and enhances sustainable productivity growth in areas left behind.”
He explained the Green Revolution 2.0 is needed in Africa and Asia.
“Hunger and poverty is still such a big problem and we need to address the problem or we’re not going to see overall economic development,” Pingali said.
The major challenges that the Green Revolution 2.0 needs to address are: poverty reduction, nutrition security, marginal lands and environmental sustainability.
Nutritional security is one area that needs to be addressed because there will be an increase in obesity levels in India over the next 25 years.
Todd Bertwell, a student at OSU, was interested in the full lecture because it’s the field he wants to go into when he graduates. He even gets to travel to India.
“I liked how [Pingali] addressed the gap between the rural and urban workforce,” Bertwell said. “I agree because in India and everywhere people have been moving into cities because they think there will be more employment opportunities. Only when they arrive do they realize that there aren’t that many opportunities. If there are more opportunities provided, it would be a better society as a whole.”
“What I found interesting about the lecture is how optimistic Prabhu is,” added Steven Strauss, event organizer. “Despite the rate of poverty and hunger, he is determined that we can reduce this problem. He’s so excited about it and at the same time golden rice, which could give poorer people a chance, is just sitting on the shelf.”
Hannah Johnson, news reporter
news@dailybarometer.com
is a member of the 
