Report Release: The Role of Fertilizer in Global Food Security and "World Phosphate Reserves and Resources"

Ms. M. Ann Tutwiler
Coordinator for the Global Food Security Initiative, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Dr. Terry Roberts
President, International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI)

Dr. Amit Roy
President & CEO, International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)

Mr. Steven Van Kauwenbergh
Principal Scientist & Leader, Phosphate Research & Resources Initiative, IFDC

Ms. Johanna Nesseth Tuttle
Director, Global Food Security Project, and Vice President for Strategic Planning, CSIS

As we look to address the challenges of feeding a world of over 9 billion people in 2050, it will be necessary to raise agricultural productivity. This will need to take place while mitigating environmental constraints, such as shrinking availability of water and arable land. One of the key factors in global food security is access to and efficient use of inputs and resources. Fertilizers have been widely used in the developed world to help raise agricultural productivity. However, much of the developing world has not been able to effectively acquire and use such inputs to raise productivity.

Given these issues, CSIS welcomed the opportunity to discuss the IFDC’s recently released report “World Phosphate Reserves and Resources,” which analyzes the outlook for phosphate reserves, a key ingredient in fertilizer for agriculture.