Cornell University and the Core Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Agreement to explore new ways to promote food security and agricultural innovation in Peru and across Latin America.

The five-year agreement signed in June will enhance research collaboration and academic exchange and accelerate Cornell’s scientific involvement in food issues in the region. Ricardo Torreblanca, president of the Core Foundation which was founded in 2015 to work on world economic development challenges, especially those faced by the Americas, said the project will spur economic growth and agricultural production in Peru and will expand across both South and North America. He said Cornell is positioned to play a leading role with them in helping countries achieve zero hunger goals set by the United Nations. Political instability and lack of resources have hampered Peru’s agriculture sector for the past four decades, Torreblanca said. Approximately 22 per cent of the country’s population lives below the poverty line and struggles to access nutritional food, according to the World Food Programme. He pointed to modern technologies such as satellite mapping and soil testing that have not been widely adopted in Peru but could benefit that country.

‘Collaborations with Cornell scientists will help expand technology in the agricultural sector and address food insecurity while making farming more profitable and productive. Core Foundation wants the Americas to feed the world by 2030, and this collaboration will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills,’ he said.

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