Public-Private Collaborations on Modeling of Sustainable Nutrition Security

The CIMSANS Round Table on Opportunities for New Public-Private Collaborations On Modeling of Sustainable Nutrition Security introduced the challenges of modeling crop productivity and genetic gain in the face of certain climate change and water availability constraints. The event also raised questions of science related to meeting future nutrition requirements.

The objective of the workshop was to identify new collaboration opportunities in the following areas: data sharing; modeling; nutrition security assessments; and collaborative adaptation responses.

Meeting Summary

The meeting summary is available here.

Round Table Objective

Presentations from public and private sector scientists introduced the challenges of modeling overall crop productivity and genetic gain in the face of certain climate change and water availability constraints and also highlighted scientific questions around sustainably meeting future nutrition requirements, including micro-nutrients.

The objective of the round-table was to identify new collaboration opportunities in the following areas:

• Data: The private sector has large data sets that are highly relevant to these efforts, which could be made available.
• Models: Individual component models require improvement (cf. new collaborative efforts underway at AgMIP).
• Nutrition Security Assessments: The key assumptions and scenarios used in integrated modeling assessments of nutrition security would benefit from review by a multi-disciplinary suite of public and private sector scientists.
• Collaborative Adaptation Responses: The imperatives suggested by these assessments (such as shortfalls in certain macro- or micro-nutrients) will likely require major new collaborative adaptation responses: such as reformulation of foods, planting of alternate crops, investments in new irrigation infrastructure, etc.

Program

Introduction: Over of CIMSANS and Challenges of Modeling Crop Productivity
Dave Gustafson, Agriculture & Food Systems Institute
Jerry Nelson, International Food Policy Research Institute
Jim Jones, University of Florida

Sustainable Nutrition Security: Public Sector Perspectives
Adam Drewnowski, Moderator, University of Washington

New Data and Modeling Needs for Quantitative Assessment of Sustainable Nutrition Security
Jim Jones and Jerry Neslon, Co-Moderators

Brainstorming on New Public-Private Collaborations
All Participants

Summary and Next Steps
Dave Gustafson