How have the United States and its premiere aid agency changed their approach on improving food security?
It’s become a “very multidisciplinary approach,” Paul Weisenfeld, RTI International’s vice president for global practices, told Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar in a video interview on the sidelines of the first Devex Partnerships and Career Forum in Manila.
One of the architects of Feed the Future — U.S. President Barack Obama’s signature development initiative — Weisenfeld recounted that when he started working in development 20 years ago, what the U.S. Agency for International Development might have done is train farmers how to increase yields and productivity. Back then, broader market dynamics weren’t a factor.
“Now the approach is figure out what the market wants,” Weisenfeld said, “and then figure out how to not necessarily grow better corn but how to meet exactly what market demand is.”
Watch the video above for more insights from the RTI senior official on how a multidisciplinary or systems approach can create sustainable food security interventions.
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