Earth Institute News Archive
posted 12/12/03
Sanchez Addresses the New York Academy of Sciences on Ending World Hunger
Pedro Sanchez on the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus. Photo by Bruce Gilbert
When Pedro Sanchez spoke at the New York Academy of Sciences on December 9, 2003, he was mindful of reaching a new audience. “We have to get our information to the greater scientific community so that more scientists can understand how they themselves can have an effect on global hunger through their own research and advocacy,” he said.
Ellis Rubenstein, head of the New York Academy of Sciences, welcomed Sanchez and Jeff Sachs with a similar message, saying that he was grateful to them for bringing larger world issues into the scientific community, and bringing science out into the larger world. Rubenstein’s invitation to Sanchez to speak, as well as a conference co-hosted last month by the Columbia-Unesco Joint Program on Biosphere and Society (CUBES) and NYAS, is part of an NYAS decision to put on more multi-sectoral programs. “The New York Academy of Sciences is more than just microbiology,” he said.
Sachs picked up this theme with comments about how the Earth Institute at Columbia is trying to use science for the public interest, to make a difference in the developing world and end dire problems plaguing developing nations through the application of truly competent science.
Sanchez’ speech emphasized six “critical policies” that could go far toward ending world hunger: provide fertilizer in environmentally safe and less expensive ways, encourage good small-scale water management, support quality seed supply, diversify small farms with high-value product, encourage participation in finding solutions to hunger at a community level, and continue to research new agriculture and resource management methods.
“For the first time in history,” he said, “the world has enough food. The problem is that there are still hungry people.” Sanchez went on to discuss the Millennium Compact and the Hunger Task Force, part of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Project. Sanchez is a co-chair of the project’s Hunger Task Force, which is working on an action plan for halving world hunger by 2015.
Sanchez also highlighted the connection between hunger and environmental degradation by quoting Dr. Norman Borlaug, with an addition by Dr. Cheryl Palm: “It’s impossible to be an environmentalist with an empty stomach or an empty pocket,” he said.
Halving hunger by 2015 is possible; it is a political choice, Sanchez said, and it requires a global commitment, from resource-rich countries and poor countries alike.
Sanchez and the Earth Institute's Tropical Agriculture Program which he heads have recently launched a new website, www.earth.columbia.edu/tropag.
The Earth Institute at Columbia University is among the world’s leading academic centers for the integrated study of Earth, its environment, and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence in the core disciplines—earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences—and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Through its research, training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world’s poor.
"Ending Hunger in Africa and the UN Millennium Goals"
"We have never lived in such a world of plenty, and yet 800 million people don't know where their next meal is coming from." So begins Pedro Sanchez's lecture on the cycle of poverty and hunger as he presents the results of his groundbreaking research on tropical agriculture. Sanchez is Director of Tropical Agriculture and Senior Research Scholar at the Earth Institute of Columbia University in New York City. He serves as Co-Chair of the Hunger Task Force of the Millennium Project, an advisory body to the United Nations. Sanchez served as Director General of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya from 1991-2001. He was named a Macarthur Foundation Fellow in 2003, and received the World Food Prize in 2002.
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