ASA’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health program and the United Soybean Board chairman participated in the Mississippi State University’s Food and Agriculture as National Security conference on March 21 in Starkville, MS. The event convened leading experts from the military, agriculture, and food sectors to examine their interconnected roles in U.S. national security. MSU included WISHH because of WISHH’s key role in developing U.S. soy markets through the improvement of global food security.
USB Chair Philip Good presented the “The Intersection of U.S. and International Agriculture”, explaining why USB supports international trade and market development programs like WISHH. He described WISHH’s food security work, which has received USB funding.
“Global food security leads to the economic stability required to grow markets,” Good said. “We need that stability for the global trade of our soybeans. For U.S. soy to fulfill its potential, we have to build the intersections that allow our crop to reach destinations throughout the world. Trade is an important tool for the construction of those intersections.”
Likewise, WISHH Executive Director Gena Perry moderated a panel focused on “Global Food Security and National Resilience Panel Discussion.” The panel included Dan Gustafson, Ph.D., Special Representative of the Director-General at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization; Narcisa Pricope, Ph.D., MSU Associate Vice President for Research, Professor of Geography and Geospatial Sciences, and Chase Sova, Ph.D., Senior Director of Public Policy and Research at World Food Program USA. WISHH has collaborated with WFP USA and FAO on multiple educational activities.
Before the dialogue, WISHH Committee Chair Morey Hill and Treasurer Bob Haselwood, joined WISHH staff to tour MSU’s Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security. The center works to create sustainable aquaculture development while creating access to affordable protein. Both MSU and WISHH have common interests in developing aquaculture, which grows markets for U.S. soybean meal. WISHH brought a trade team of Nigerian fish farmers to visit the center last August, and this visit followed up on those discussions.