Karan Chopra

Karan grew up in Ghana and is now helping the nation's poorest farmers reap higher profits. GADCO, which he cofounded, is now Ghana's largest producer of rice; the farm loops in 1,000 impoverished local farmers, providing seeds and fertilizer, buying their crops and selling them in a global supply chain. The efficiencies possible in a …

Meet the Fellow

Salif Niang

Salif Niang is working to revolutionize the rice industry in Mali, establishing a model for improving the livelihood of smallscale farmers upon which much of Africa depends. “In late 2012, we were the first venture in Africa to market locally grown fortified rice to consumers and we are currently building a processing center that will …

Meet the Fellow

Redstone: Food, Elixir Of Life

In hopes of gleaning some new or otherwise interesting facts about food and nutrition and expand the conversation beyond the Aspen-centric avocado toast and kale salad, I sat in on a session last week titled Food, Elixir of Life at Aspen Ideas: Health. Dan Glickman, whose many roles include working as the U.S. Secretary of …

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To fight malnutrition in Africa, embed nutrition in agriculture programs

Given its impressive track record over the last 20 years, Rwanda has rightly been considered a model for reducing poverty and hunger in Africa. Between 1990 and 2015, hunger was reduced by almost half. Yet leaders and researchers are still confronted with a puzzling fact: despite higher crop yields and increasing incomes, nutrition is not improving. For …

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Can Africa’s urban farms go vertical?

The New York region is set to welcome one of the most impressive indoor urban farming units in history.  Known as Aerofarms, it is the latest in a movement known as vertical farming that utilizes abandoned buildings, warehouses and skyscrapers to grow food. Sophisticated technology based on LED lights, water, nutrients and air dispenses with the need …

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