In honor of World Food Day, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student group hosted two UW-Madison faculty speakers Tuesday, who talked about their involvement in international agricultural improvement projects and how college students can help.
The One Acre Foundation is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help East African farmers improve their crop yields and avoid “hunger seasons.” Students founded the UW-Madison chapter of the organization in fall 2012.
The faculty speakers, Dr. Jeremy Foltz from the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics and Dr. Philipp Simon from the Department of Horticulture and USDA-ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit, presented stories of their research experiences at the event.
Foltz spoke about his work to create new, hardier breeds of sorghum, a type of grain, which he said will increase grain production to improve economies in the region.
“We need a crop that is actually going to help people who live in a place like [Mali] actually grow something,” Foltz said. “And that’s what’s going to help push people out of poverty.”
Similarly, Simon said he is working to breed carrots and garlic that can grow in areas prone to drought and improve their nutritional value for impoverished people in these places.
To keep UW-Madison students informed about poverty issues, OAF members said they plan to host more speakers and have panel discussions featuring faculty involved in relevant fields. They also plan to host film viewings and start a book club.
Members of the OAF UW-Madison chapter Stella Salvo and Hannah Goodno said they hope to involve many students around campus to get the word out about their organization.
“We are definitely going to be pulling people from campus from a lot of different kinds of departments,” Salvo said.
