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12/06/2013 - Around 850 million people worldwide are undernourished, mostly living on less than a dollar a day. Two-thirds of the world’s poor live in rural areas where farming is the principal economic activity. OECD analysis stresses that agricultural development remains a key element in efforts to generate the incomes needed to ensure global food security. With world population expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, the global food and agricultural system needs to boost productivity while also ensuring sustainable use of natural resources, such as land and water.

Two new OECD reports highlight policies to support food security and agricultural innovation:

• Global Food Security: Challenges for the Food and Agricultural System examines how coherent and effective policies can increase the availability of food sustainably, improve poor people’s access to it and ensure better nutrition.

• Agricultural Innovation Systems: A Framework for Analysing the Role of the Government looks at how governments can contribute to agricultural productivity and sustainability by fostering innovation in the agri-food sector.

The reports will be presented on 19 June 2013 by Jonathan Brooks and Catherine Moreddu, senior economists in the OECD Trade and Agriculture directorate, during a seminar at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels.  The event, which runs from 12:30 to 14:30, is open to the media.

To participate in the seminar, please register online at the CEPS website: www.ceps.eu/event/global-food-security-and-role-innovation-systems.

For further information, including requests for interviews or copies of the reports, contact Lawrence Speer in the OECD Media Office (+33 1 45 24 79 70) or the OECD Media Office (+33 1 45 24 97 00).