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In an exciting opportunity, the G-8 is inviting innovators to apply to present ideas that demonstrate how open data can be unleashed to increase food security at the G-8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture on April 29-30, 2013 in Washington, D.C.

The truth is there’s no silver bullet for food security. The causes of food insecurity are complex, varied, and often stubborn. So, a large component of the U.S. Government’s strategy to improve global food security focuses on learning more about which approaches are the most effective and sustainable for addressing the root causes of poverty and hunger.

A particularly important element of tracking our progress is measuring the reduction of the prevalence of poverty, one of two top-level goals of Feed the Future in the areas where Feed the Future programs are working. Through a recent webinar, Feed the Future Missions were provided guidance on establishing aspirational targets for reducing poverty in their zones of influence.

With the seven journalists accompanying me on our media tour, we said goodbye to Augustino, Fortunata, and the other farmers we had met around Arusha, and flew south to the humid, coastal climate of Dar es Salaam. We were eager to hear how the projects we had seen, along with many others across the country, are adding up to something bigger.

One thing farmers throughout the world have had to deal with is variability in climate. There are always good years and bad years, but climate change is likely to exacerbate extremes in climatic conditions in most regions of the world.

We can produce a lot of food unsustainably, if we choose. But it is a false dichotomy to say that we can produce less food sustainably.