Dr. Leon Kochian, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Global Food Security and program lead at the Global Institute for Food Security at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), was featured in The Globe and Mail’s “Next Generation Farming Report,” which explores USask research helping to enhance agricultural production and promote food security at home and abroad.
There are many mysteries about humanity, but we know at least one thing is true: people need food and water to survive. Canada is a land of tremendous bounty, especially when it comes to our food supply. With so much growing land and places to raise livestock, the agricultural possibilities, in the southern part of the country at least, have traditionally felt seemingly endless. But climate change is throwing a wrench into agricultural practices around the world, with drought, flooding and disease threatening the security of our food systems. With consistently ballooning populations and unstable growing conditions, the future of food security is a pressing concern for academics and the general population alike.
Thankfully, for both Canadians and people around the world, the topic of safe and sustainable agriculture is one of the key fields of research at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). The university facilitates a variety of disciplines coming together in programs and centres dedicated to researching agricultural resilience and food security. USask is home to the Crop Development Centre, the Global Institute for Food Security, the Global Institute for Water Security, the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence, and other programs, all working together, often with other departments and colleges within and beyond the university to tackle the issue of making sure that humankind has enough to eat in an uncertain future.