Feb 3 2012 --- Responding to the challenge of global hunger, DuPont announced its goals to help improve food security around the world.

An estimated one of every seven people in the world is hungry.  According to the United Nations, our global food production must increase 70% by 2050 to effectively feed a population estimated at 9 billion.  Each day, the challenge of feeding the malnourished and preventing more people from becoming hungry grows ever larger.

DuPont Food Security Goals

To help address this challenge, DuPont is leveraging our science and the energy of our people. Announcing the Food Security Goals, Executive Vice President Jim Borel said we are adopting three goals directly aimed at increasing global food security by the end of 2020:

The DuPont food security goals, to be achieved by the end of 2020, include:

-Innovating to Feed the World. Innovation is at the heart of how we will provide more and better food as the population continues to grow. We will commit $10 billion to R&D, and 4,000 new products will be introduced by the end of 2020. The work will center on producing more food; enhancing nutritional value; improving sustainability and safety in food and agriculture; boosting food availability and its shelf life; and reducing waste.

-Engaging and Educating Youth. Sustainable agriculture is only possible if we give the next generation the necessary scientific and technical knowledge. By the end of 2020, we will facilitate 2 million engagements with young people around the world to transmit that knowledge.

-Improving Rural Communities. We will work to improve the livelihoods of at least 3 million farmers and their rural communities through targeted collaborations and investments that strengthen agricultural systems and make food more available, nutritious and culturally appropriate. This is in addition to the work already being done to enhance the lives of hundreds of millions of farmers through DuPont’s normal business practices.

The DuPont food security goals were developed following a report issued last year by the DuPont Advisory Committee on Agriculture Innovation and Productivity for the 21st Century chaired by former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle.

“I’m pleased that DuPont is marshaling its resources to address key issues from the committee’s findings,” Daschle said. “We need to follow the lead of organizations like DuPont, who commit to doing something about global food security, because they know hunger is at the heart of all other global issues.”

DuPont’s food security goals will be tracked along with DuPont sustainability goals.  DuPont was one of the first companies to establish sustainability goals in the 1990s and has consistently surpassed its commitments.