WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2014 – DuPont announced today that its Advisory Committee on Agricultural Innovation and Productivity for the 21st Century has added two new members, Jason Clay and Dr. Ruth K. Oniang’o.  Together, they bring expertise in nutrition, sustainable agriculture and addressing food security challenges in Africa, helping to expand the scope of the committee’s work. 

In 2010 DuPont formed this influential committee of experts in global agriculture, development, policy and economics in response to the global food and nutrition security challenge.  The committee has explored complex issues regarding meeting global food demand to provide recommendations on several potential solutions, including how DuPont can play a unique and catalytic role in addressing the challenge.  In June 2011 the committee released its first report and set of recommendations. 

“Adding Jason and Ruth will help our committee continue to do great work in addressing the challenges of global food security,” said DuPont Executive Vice PresidentJames C. Borel.  “We are evolving how we think about food and nutrition security and expanding the makeup of the committee will allow us to add new ideas and focus our efforts. 

Clay, senior vice president at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), works with corporations to transform the global markets in which they operate to produce more with less land, less water and less impact.  Clay's ideas are changing the way governments, foundations, researchers and NGOs identify and address risks and opportunities for their work.  Clay ran a family farm, taught at Harvard and Yale, worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and spent more than 25 years working with human rights and environmental organizations before joining WWF in 1999.

Oniang’o, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of Rural Outreach Africa, a non-profit development organization that empowers women through agriculture and entrepreneurial projects.  Oniang’o was a nominated member of Kenya’s ninth parliament from 2003-2007 and served as Shadow Minister for Education.  Before becoming a member of the Kenyan Parliament, she was professor of food science and nutrition at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology in Nairobi, Kenya and is currently an adjunct professor of Nutrition at Tufts University in Boston.  Her areas of research and consultation are household food and nutrition security, women’s nutrition, child health, and community-level agro-processing and related enterprises.  Dr. Oniang’o also is founder and editor-in-chief of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development.

Other DuPont Food Security Advisory Committee Members:

• Tom Daschle chairs the committee and is a senior policy advisor at DLA Piper, LLP (U.S.).  He is a former U.S. Senator, representing South Dakota, and former Senate Majority and Minority Leader.
• Charlotte Hebebrand serves as director general of the International Fertilizer Industry Association.
• Jo Luck is a 2010 World Food Prize Laureate and former president of Heifer International, a premier hunger-fighting, non-profit organization. 
• J.B. Penn is the chief economist of John Deere & Co.  He served as undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2001-06.
• Pedro Sanchez is a 2002 World Food Prize Laureate and serves as director of Tropical Agriculture at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802.  The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www.dupont.com. 

#   #   #

2/19/14