Kansas City’s KCUR 89.3 FM reports on the 2012 International Food Aid & Development Conference, where experts gathered this week to discuss U.S. international food aid programs. The news service writes, “The challenge for governments, aid agencies and recipient countries is to create a collaborative food aid system that accommodates both the needs of the U.S. agriculture industry and growing food insecurity among a mushrooming population,” and quotes a number of experts who spoke at the event.

Michael Scuse, an acting undersecretary of food and agriculture for the USDA, “said two of the largest programs, known as Food for Progress and the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program, are key to creating food security for a world population expected to top nine billion people by 2050,” the news service writes. “But administering the programs is challenging, and critics say politics too often plays a part in how food is delivered,” the news service adds. It concludes, “The U.S. agriculture industry is part of a global market. With a booming global population, the industry will need to continue to look for innovative solutions to the challenges of feeding the world” (5/9).