AI for Food Security Forum: AI & Food Security - The Geopolitical Moment

This panel session from the CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program’s AI for Food Security Forum will feature an in-depth conversation moderated by The Atlantic Staff Writer Vivian Salama, and featuring World Food Programme Assistant Executive Director of Partnerships and Innovation Rania Dagash-Kamara, Bayer Vice President and Special Envoy for Multilateral Affairs & Sustainability Helga Flores Trejo, and CSIS Senior Adviser (Non-resident) Joseph Glauber.

The conversation will explore global agriculture-market disruptions brought by the war with Iran, following recent disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. The panel will explore the ways AI-enabled technologies can help mitigate the impacts of these shocks on global food security—and prepare food systems to withstand future disruptions. 

This conference is made possible by generous support from Google.org.

Speaker Information

Vivian Salama is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She previously reported for The Wall Street Journal where, most recently, she covered the White House. Much of Vivian’s earlier career was spent overseas as a foreign correspondent, including as Baghdad bureau chief for The Associated Press, and she has reported from more than 85 countries. Vivian is also an attorney and a member of the District of Columbia Bar. 

Rania Dagash-Kamara is WFP’s Assistant Executive Director for Partnerships and Innovation. In this role, she leads the organization’s engagement and resource mobilization activities with global partners, international financial institutions and programme countries. She also oversees WFP’s expanding work in innovation. Prior to her appointment in February 2024, Ms. Dagash-Kamara served in senior roles within UNICEF, OCHA, IOM and the Department of Peace Operations (former Peacekeeping) including in the UN Office to the African Union and the UN Somalia Assistance Mission in Somalia. Ms. Dagash-Kamara brings close to 25 years of experience in the coordination of humanitarian emergencies and peace operations spanning Africa, Asia, the Middle East and UN Headquarters.

Ms. Dagash-Kamara holds a Masters’ degree in Vernacular Architecture from Oxford Brookes University and a Bachelors’ degree in Architecture from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. She is married and has a son.

Helga Flores Trejo is Vice President, Multilateral & Sustainability Affairs at Bayer. A seasoned foreign policy and international development leader, she brings more than two decades of experience across government, international financial institutions, foundations, think tanks, and the private sector. At Bayer, she leads the company’s multilateral affairs strategy, advancing sustainable business models, technology and innovation. She supports the company’s geopolitical strategy and represents Bayer across key international organizations and networks, including the G20, United Nations agencies, Multilateral Development Banks, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the Munich Security Conference (MSC). 

Before joining Bayer, she headed Open Innovation at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where she built and scaled global partnerships to drive innovation and address development challenges. Previously, she served as Head of External Relations at IDB Invest, promoting financial inclusion initiatives with an emphasis on SMEs across Latin America and the Caribbean. Earlier in her career, she served as Executive Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation North America, advancing transatlantic dialogue on sustainable development and global affairs. She began her professional path in the German Parliament (Bundestag) as an Advisor on Development Policy and Latin America, and later served as Chief of Staff to Hamburg’s Representative to the Bundesrat and as a European Affairs Advisor. She subsequently served in Belgrade with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a Senior Advisor. 

Helga Flores Trejo is Vice Chair of the Global Environment & Energy Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce, a Board Member of the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), a Member of the Advisory Council of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, and a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Geopolitical Advisory Group. Helga Flores Trejo holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Law from Frankfurt’s Goethe University in Germany; she speaks fluently Spanish, German, English, French, and Portuguese. 

Dr. Joe Glauber is a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and currently serves as interim secretary of the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS). He is also a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a non-resident senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Prior to joining IFPRI, Glauber spent over 30 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including as chief economist from 2008 to 2014. As chief economist, he was responsible for the department’s agricultural forecasts and projections; oversaw climate, energy, and regulatory issues; and served as chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. From 2007 to 2009, Glauber was the special Doha agricultural envoy at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where he served as chief agricultural negotiator in the Doha talks. He served as economic adviser at the so-called Blair House agreement leading to the completion of the Uruguay Round negotiations and was senior economist for agriculture at the president’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Dr. Glauber received his PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1984 and holds an AB in anthropology from the University of Chicago. In 2012, he was elected fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association and was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole by the French government.