Ebola and ISIS will be among the seemingly non-food related crises that will be discussed at the upcoming 2014 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue.

The President of Sierra Leone is scheduled to give a keynote address, Ministers of Agriculture from Sierra Leone and Liberia are slated to participate in a key panel on agriculture in Africa, and Kanayo Nwanze of the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development will also open the symposium on Wednesday, highlighting the importance of continued investment in agriculture during times of crisis.

In his keynote, Dr. Nwanze will highlight latest global crises, including that of Ebola, are a wake-up call to leaders around the world that problems in one part of the world will ultimately affect all of us, even when we live thousands of miles away. While it is imperative to deliver emergency relief to those in desperate need today, we must also look to the future if we want to prevent the war and health tragedies of today becoming catastrophes of poverty and hunger in the future.

The 2014 Borlaug Dialogue international symposium will address “The Greatest Challenge in Human History: Can We Sustainably Feed the 9 Billion People on our Planet by the Year 2050?” with special emphasis on the powers of intensification, innovation and inspiration to uplift smallholder farmers and meet the increasing demand for nutritious food. The event will be held October 15-17 in Des Moines.