Policy Dialogue Roundtable · 25 April 2024, Washington, DC
Objective: To present key findings of the current Feeding Resilience research, identify potential gaps in the research, and obtain feedback and suggestions for policy recommendations.
Background: This dialogue is part of a broader CCS project, Feeding Resilience: Climate Change and Food Insecurity Impacts on U.S. National Security. Feeding Resilience focuses on food insecurity as one of the principal linkages between climate change and instability, examining its impacts on national and global security, aiming to identify policy interventions relevant for US national security.
Note: The roundtable is held under Chatham House Rule. The organizers encourage active and open presentations and discussion from all attendees. The discussion outcomes will be presented in a Summary Report to be circulated among attendees as well as serve as inputs for a final report recommending policies at the nexus of food, climate, and US national security in July 2024
Location: 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC
Project: Feeding Resilience focuses on the nexus of climate change, food insecurity, stability, and U.S. national security interests. This project is framed under the twin premises that international stability is foundational to U.S. national security and that food security is foundational to stability. Thus, efforts to bolster the integrity of regional and global food systems can be viewed through a security lens, which is especially true in an era of accelerating climate change and conflict
Agenda
Virtual Attendees: Please access via Zoom (per the link in your email) or connect manually:
Meeting ID: 871 9700 4887
Passcode: 706195
| 8:30am | Registration, Breakfast, & Networking |
| 9:00 | Welcome Remarks & Introduction Erin Sikorsky, Director, Center for Climate and Security (CCS) |
| 9:10 | Overview of Feeding Resilience & Recommendations Tom Ellison, Deputy Director, CCS Patricia Parera, Senior Research Fellow, CCS |
| 9:30 | Key Discussants Iris Ferguson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arctic and Global Resilience, US Department of Defense [virtual] Farrah Barrios, Director for Global Food Security and Development Planning, National Security Council Anna Nelson, Global Food Security Deputy Special Envoy, US Department of State [virtual] |
| 10:30 | Coffee Break |
| 10:40 | Q&A and discussion Attendees are encouraged to react to the potential policy recommendations presented based on their perspective on the climate-food-security nexus, the security case for agri-food systems transformation, and the geopolitics of food. |
| 12:00pm | Concluding Remarks & Next Steps |
Reading Recommendations
Patricia Parera. “Addressing the Interplay of Climate Change, Food and National Security: Event Summary.” Edited by Brigitte Hugh, Erin Sikorsky, and Francesco Femia. The Center for Climate and Security, an institute of The Council on Strategic Risks. Washington, DC. August 2023. Event Summary
Patricia Parera and Brigitte Hugh. “A Review of Policies at the Intersection of Climate Change, Food Security and National Security.” August 2023. Feeding Resilience Landscape Report
FAO. 2024. “The unjust climate – Measuring the impacts of climate change on rural poor, women and youth.” Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc9680en
FAO. 2023. “The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security 2023 – Avoiding and reducing losses through investment in resilience.” Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc7900en
Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC). 2024. “Financing Flows and Food Crises Report – Analysis of humanitarian and development financing flows to food sectors in food crisis countries.” Rome. See here
Participant Biographies
Key Discussants
Farrah Barrios serves as the Director for Global Food Security and Development Planning for the Development, Global Health, and Humanitarian Response Directorate at the National Security Council (NSC) of The White House. Prior to NSC, she served as the Staff Chief focused on all food and nutrition, global food security, international trade, and credit programs totaling over $86 billion in the Office of Budget and Program Analysis at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has also served in the Obama Administration for four and half years as a Senior Budget Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Office of the Administrator, where she helped fund and create Feed the Future. She has also held senior positions as an international economist at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), at the U.S. Treasury Department, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The Federal Reserve Board of New York, and the private sector.
Iris Ferguson serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience. In this role, she serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense and senior leadership for policy matters pertaining to Arctic Security and Global Resilience to include efforts on climate adaptation, mitigation, and energy resilience. Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Ferguson was a Senior Advisor on Arctic and climate security issues for U.S. Air Force Futures and the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. In those capacities, she authored and implemented the Department of the Air Force’s Arctic Strategy including advising on strategic initiatives, operations, and international partnerships related to the region. She was also a Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment, and Energy, focusing on energy security, resilience, and sustainability policies. She holds a B.A. from the University of Arkansas and a M.A. in International Economics and Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Anna Nelson is Deputy Special Envoy for Global Food Security at the Department of State. Previously, she served as senior advisor to the Director of Foreign Assistance, working to align resource decisions with the Administration’s climate and food security strategies. Before that, she was a Vice President at The Cohen Group, where she provided strategic advice and business consulting services to corporate clients in the semiconductor, satellite communications, biotechnology, and manufacturing industries. From 2017-2020, and from 2016 to 2017, Ms. Nelson was the Adviser for Strategy and Policy for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Security Assistance at the Department of State. In that position, she led strategic initiatives for the Department’s primary foreign military assistance program, focusing on reforming strategic planning, program development, and resourcing processes. Ms. Nelson has a BA from McGill University, a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a JD from George Washington University.
Participants:
Brigadier General J. Robert “Bob” Barnes, United States Army (Retired) is Senior Policy Advisor and member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Climate and Security, where he provides policy advice on addressing the national and international security implications of climate change. He is a recognized expert on environmental security, interagency and public-private collaboration on climate change and other environmental matters with national security implications. From 2002 to 2014, Bob served as a Senior Policy Advisor for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), focusing on the intersection of the protection, conservation, and restoration of natural systems and biodiversity and national security
Bridget Collins is the Senior Policy Advisor for Agriculture with The Nature Conservancy’s North America Policy and Government Relations team based in Washington, DC. In this role, she coordinates with TNC experts in all 50 states and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the implementation of federal agriculture and conservation programs and on advancing TNC’s regenerative crop systems and regenerative grazing lands strategies. Bridget has over 15 years’ experience advancing conservation policy and funding solutions in agricultural landscapes. Prior to TNC, Bridget directed agriculture and conservation grant programs at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and led Farm Bill advocacy on behalf of The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative. Bridget has a BA in Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies from the College of the Holy Cross and an MS in Applied Ecology from the University of Delaware.
John Conger is Director Emeritus of the Center for Climate and Security, Senior Advisor to the Council on Strategic Risks, and Senior U.S. Advisor to the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS). Mr. Conger previously served as Director and Senior Policy Advisor with the Center for Climate and Security, and as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Prior to his service as Deputy Comptroller, Mr. Conger oversaw energy, installations and environmental policy throughout DoD in three different positions: as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, as Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations & Environment, and as Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations & Environment from 2009 to 2015.
Brady J. Deaton was Chancellor of the University of Missouri 2004-2013 and now serves as Director of the Deaton Institute for University Leadership in International Development at Missouri. He was appointed Chair of BIFAD by President Obama in 2011 and reappointed through 2020. He received a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin. He was “Distinguished Guest in Residence” at New York University in 2014. He now serves on the Board of the Soybean Innovation Lab and of OCLC, an international library software cooperative. He was staff director of the Special Task Force on Food for Peace for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1978. His extensive research and international work includes leading delegations to the EU, China, and India. He was a founding board member of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. He has published broadly, including over 100 academic journal articles.
Tom Ellison is Deputy Director of the Center for Climate and Security (CCS). Prior to joining CCS, he spent a decade in the US intelligence community, where he helped expand analysis of the security and foreign policy implications of climate change for senior policymakers across the U.S. government. Previously, he received commendations for intelligence analysis of terrorist threats, insurgencies, and political turmoil during the Arab Spring. He has traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, including war zones. Mr. Ellison holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Political Science from Colgate University.
Sherri Goodman serves as Chair of the Board at the Council on Strategic Risks, Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate and Security, Senior Strategist and Advisory Board member at the Center for Climate and Security, and Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Polar Institute and Environmental Change and Security Program. Sherri serves as Vice Chair of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board. Earlier she served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CNA (Center for Naval Analyses) where she was also the founder and Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board. Sherri served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security) from 1993-2001. Sherri served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and has practiced law at Goodwin Procter, as both a litigator and environmental attorney, and has worked at RAND and SAIC.
Brigitte Hugh is a Global Resilience Policy Advisor in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy. Her current role is an Intergovernment Personnel Act (IPA) assignment from the Center for Climate and Security (CCS), an institute of the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR), where she was a Research Fellow focused on the broad range of security risks associated with a changing climate, including those related to food security and migration. Ms. Hugh has also worked an array of climate security topics at the Woodrow Wilson Center, the United Nations Foundation, and the International Water Management Institute. Ms. Hugh holds an M.S. in Political Science with an emphasis in Anticipatory Intelligence, and a B.A. in Political Science from Utah State University. During her Master’s degree she was part of the inaugural cohort of the Center for Anticipatory Intelligence (CAI) at Utah State, which emphasizes the importance of cross-disciplinary knowledge and cooperation for anticipating and building resilience against future security risks..
Dr. Molly Jahn is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she holds appointments in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, the Nelson Institute, and the Global Health Institute. She is also appointed Joint Faculty at the US Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) where she chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate and sits on the Lab Director’s SAC. From 2006-11 she served as Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Director of the Wisconsin Experiment Station. In 2009, she was called to Washington to serve as Deputy and Acting Under Secretary of Agriculture, overseeing four USDA research and statistical agencies. She consults globally for business and finance, governments, philanthropic organizations, and international multi-lateral institutions focused on agriculture, food, life sciences and environment. She is currently on an Interagency Personnel Agreement to the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
Dr. Kiersten Johnson directs the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) program in USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. FEWS NET forecasts acute food insecurity in the world’s most vulnerable countries by integrating data on conflict, climate, agricultural production, livelihoods, and markets to produce evidence-based projections that enable early warning and early intervention in evolving humanitarian crises. Dr. Johnson’s work is grounded in more than two decades of methodological development, implementation, and research involving in-depth analyses of population, health, food security, and satellite remote sensing data for USG and UN agencies.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Kirby is a civil affairs officer currently attached to the Undersecretary of Defense- Policy (OSD-P), Counternarcotics & Stabilization Policy (CNSP). A graduate from Virginia Tech, with a Master in Natural Resources Management, his capstone project looked at water resources issues in western India. Richard has spent over 16 years in the Army serving both Active and in the Reserves. His prior assignments include time with the 82nd Airborne and various Civil Affairs units. On the civilian side Richard has spent time working with environmental engineering firms and non-profits. Most recently he was a project manager for a landfill technology company that optimized methane capture.
David Michel is the senior fellow for water security with the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). His work explores the emerging challenges and policy solutions to growing pressures on the world’s interdependent water, food, energy, and climate systems. Before joining CSIS, he served as senior researcher with the Environment of Peace 2022 initiative at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, supporting governments and social institutions to anticipate, evaluate, and address complex ecological risks. As senior manager in the Transboundary Water Department with the Stockholm International Water Institute from 2017–2019, he worked to promote cooperative resources governance in major river basins across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. From 2010–2015 he was founding director of the Environmental Security Program at the Stimson Center. He was educated at Yale University, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Zoran Mihailovich recently retired after a 30-year career with the CIA. For the last seven years, Zoran served as a senior analyst on climate change and energy transition issues. He co-authored the Intelligence Community’s first National Intelligence Estimate on the security implications of climate change and has briefed all levels of government on various climate change topics.
Kayly Ober is a Senior Advisor, Climate Fragility, at the Bureau of Conflict Stabilization and Operations, US Department of State. She specializes in navigating strategic, long-range, complex policy challenges for a rapidly changing world. She is an expert on climate change and migration issues and has experience in risk analysis and planning around this issue as well as national security, gender, international development, and sustainable futures. She has more than 15 years of hands-on work experience with international organizations, think tanks, and donors in diverse policy settings, including Washington, DC, EU, and ASEAN.
Patricia Parera is Senior Research Fellow with the Center for Climate and Security (CCS) where she leads on the nexus of climate change, ecological security, and food security. Previously, she served as Associate Director for Partnerships and Global Initiatives at Virginia Tech where she also was a lecturer on sustainable development. Parera was previously a senior operations officer and social safeguards specialist with the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Division for Latin America where she managed and supervised agricultural technology projects and operations to improve seed production systems to increase food security and nutrition in Nicaragua. Before the World Bank, Ms. Parera was a policy officer for the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and a BA in Linguistics from the National University of Cordoba, Argentina. She is also a graduate of the Harvard Block School of Education Certificate Program.
Erin Sikorsky is Director of the Center for Climate and Security (CCS), and the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS). She is an expert in geopolitical risk, strategic forecasting, and the national security implications of climate change, particularly the nexus of geopolitical competition and climate change. Previously, Erin served as Deputy Director of the Strategic Futures Group on the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the United States, where she co-authored the quadrennial Global Trends report and led the US intelligence community’s environmental and climate security analysis. She was the founding chair of the Climate Security Advisory Council, a Congressionally mandated group designed to facilitate coordination between the intelligence community and US government scientific agencies. Prior to her position on the NIC, she worked as a senior analyst in the US intelligence community for over a decade. Erin earned a Master of International Affairs at Columbia University, and a BA in government from Smith College.
Colonel Neil Snyder, PhD serves as Assistant Deputy Director for Counter Threats and International Cooperation in the Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy, the Pentagon. The deputy directorate advises the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on all global and functional matters pertaining to stability and humanitarian engagement, security cooperation activities, the Chairman’s mission to the United Nations, countering weapons of mass destruction, countering violent extremist organizations, climate, arctic, and maritime operations. He was commissioned in 1998 as a Field Artillery Officer from Duke University through Reserve Officers Training Corps. His operational experience includes combat deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. COL Snyder earned a Master of Science in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), and a Doctorate of Political Science (International Relations, American Political Science, Quantitative Methods for Political Analysis) from Stanford University
Maximo Torero, PhD is the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He joined the Organization in January 2019 as Assistant Director-General for the Economic and Social Development Department. Prior to joining FAO, he was the World Bank Group Executive Director for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay since November 2016 and before the Bank Mr. Torero led the Division of the Markets, Trade, and Institutions at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). His major research work lies mostly in analyzing poverty, inequality, importance of geography and assets (private or public) in explaining poverty, and on how technological breakthroughs can improve the welfare of households and small farmers. His experience encompasses Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. Mr. Torero, holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Pacific, Lima, Peru.
Ginya Truitt Nakata serves as the Director of Global Agriculture and Food Systems Policy for The Nature Conservancy. In this role, she leads TNC’s efforts to accelerate the transformation of regenerative and resilient agriculture and food systems through strategic policy initiatives. Ginya is an expert in food security, a global coalition builder, and is passionate about generating bottom-up approaches that tackle barriers to policy effectiveness. Throughout her three-decade career spanning the Inter-American Development Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The Nature Conservancy, The International Potato Center, and as an independent consultant, Ginya has played a pivotal role in shaping policy development across four continents. She has contributed to publications including the World Bank Group’s “Future Foodscapes” and the World Wildlife Fund’s “Living Planet Report,” and co-authored the IDB’s “Next Global Breadbasket” report. Ginya was named a New Vision for Agriculture Ambassador with the World Economic Forum.
Caitlin Welsh is the director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she analyzes the drivers and consequences of food and water insecurity around the world, including for U.S. national security. Her specific areas of focus include the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global food security and nutrition, food insecurity in the U.S. military, and the coherence between U.S. global water security policy and U.S. global food security policy. Prior to joining CSIS, Ms. Welsh served for over 12 years in the U.S. government, including at the National Security Council and National Economic Council as director for global economic engagement with responsibility for the G7 and G20, and at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Food Security, where she served as acting director.
Ethan Wong is a Research Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security (CCS), an institute of the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR). Prior to joining CCS, he researched and worked on a range of environmental, climate, and security issues at The Arctic Institute – Center for Circumpolar Security Studies (TAI) and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He continues to contribute to TAI, where he monitors recent developments in the Arctic for the Institute’s weekly news analysis publication. Ethan graduated from American University with a major in International Studies and a minor in Data Science. He also studied Politics and International Relations as a visiting student at the University of Oxford.
Joe Younkle serves as an Advisor in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Water & Science and is a descendant of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. In his role, Joe provides policy support to Department leaders on a wide range of issues including natural resources management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, climate security, indigenous issues, ecosystem restoration, and climate finance. Joe led coordination of the Department of the Interior’s participation at multiple major international conferences including UNFCCC COP 27, UNFCCC COP 28 and the 2023 UN Water Conference. He also serves as co-coordinator for the US Global Change Research Program’s Working Group on National Security.