New Food Security Leadership Council to Tackle Global Hunger through U.S. Policy Reform

A newly formed Food Security Leadership Council (FSLC), under the leadership of 2024 World Food Prize Laureate Cary Fowler, is setting out to reshape how the United States engages with global food security. The council’s formation comes at a time of escalating global hunger, with over 700 million people affected worldwide. FSLC aims to develop a cohesive strategy that aligns American policy, scientific research, and international action to address the complex drivers of food insecurity.

The initiative intends to assess and influence the global impact of U.S. decisions in areas ranging from agricultural innovation to humanitarian response. Its primary mission is to create a forward-thinking blueprint for American engagement that recognises the country’s critical role in global food systems. This framework will span six core focus areas: innovation in food and agriculture, multilateral cooperation, early warning systems backed by public data, international trade policy, agricultural development abroad, and disaster-driven humanitarian efforts.

Addressing Compounding Threats through Strategic Transformation

The council’s formation responds to a convergence of threats that includes climate change, soil degradation, shrinking water supplies, and biodiversity loss. Fowler and the FSLC emphasise that these are not isolated issues but intersecting pressures that amplify one another, creating unprecedented risks to food production and access.

Adding urgency to the mission is the fallout from recent U.S. policy shifts, including the closure of USAID programs focused on agricultural research and humanitarian assistance. FSLC regards this as a turning point, highlighting that attempting to simply reinstate previous programs would be insufficient. Instead, the council seeks transformative change in both vision and action.

Supporting the FSLC are two advisory groups. One includes prominent fellows such as researchers, NGO leaders, and former government officials. The second is composed of cross-sector leaders including ambassadors, chefs, scientists, and policymakers. Together, these teams will advise FSLC as it builds a modern policy infrastructure to meet today’s global hunger challenges.

FSLC’s work is positioned as a pivotal step toward redefining the U.S. role in ensuring global food and nutrition security in a rapidly changing world.