DuPont Invests $3M in Ethiopia, Unveils Innovative Global Food Security Index

WASHINGTONDuPont announced two key efforts that will support collaborative, world hunger initiatives in Africa. Unveiled at the Advancing Food and Nutrition Security at the 2012 G8 Summit, DuPont said it will invest more than $3 million over the next three years to help smallholder farmers in Ethiopia to achieve food security, and the company also will sponsor an innovative Global Food Security Index being developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to measure the drivers of food security across 105 countries.

DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman said the company will forge a strategic alliance with the government of Ethiopia and the Agriculture Transformation Agency to directly benefit the productivity of smallholder farmers in the nation, thereby improving their ability to produce nutritious food for their families and communities. DuPonts commitment to grow its business in Africa and explore collaborations in the region is in support of Grow Africa and the G8s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.

Based on our work with smallholder farmers and African families, we understand that local solutions, local acceptance and community collaborations are critical to improving food security in Africa and around the world," Kullman said. DuPont will commit additional local resources, including recruiting local talent to run our research and operations in Sub-Saharan countries like Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, and ensure the solutions we develop are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable."

The Global Food Security Index will be released in July 2012 and will be a unique resource for those working to improve food security across the private and public sectors.  This interactive benchmark tool will be publicly available so governments, universities, NGOs and others can access the relevant data to help tailor local solutions regarding food security.

The index supports the continued execution of the Millennium Development Goals and the LAquila Food Security Initiative by providing a way to gauge the success of investments in a region and to hone future projects to address exact food security drivers in a particular country.

We need a clear metric that enables us to see, transparently and objectively, what were up against," she added. Governments, private and public sector entities need a common language to discuss the root cause of hunger so they can make better informed decisions that drive sustainable action at a local level.  We are pleased to support the Economist Intelligence Unit in developing this one-of-a-kind tool for promoting collaboration, generating insights and stimulating action to feed the worlds growing population."