Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In this regular series, we profile advisors to the Nourishing the Planet project. This week, we feature Hans Herren, President of the Millennium Institute.

Name: Hans Herren

Affiliation: The Millennium Institute

Location:  Arlington, VA, United States

Bio: Hans Herren is President of the Millennium Institute (MI). Prior to joining MI, he was Director-General of the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya. He also served as director of the Africa Biological Control Center of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Benin. At ICIPE, Hans developed and implemented programs in the area of human, animal, plant, and environmental health (the 4-H paradigm) as they relate to insect issues. At IITA, he conceived and implemented the highly successful biological control program that saved the African cassava crop, and averted Africa’s worst-ever food crisis. Hans also was a chair of the International Assessment for Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD), a four-year long assessment of world agriculture. Over the years, Hans has moved his interests toward the policy aspects of integrated sustainable development, in particular, linking environmental, plant, animal, and human health issues.

On Nourishing the Planet: There has been much talk about local empowerment in making development policy decisions from the international donor community. It is now high time to follow the talk with action, to strongly support capacity and institutional development in integrated and systemic planning in developing countries.

What do you see as the relationship between agriculture and the environment? Sustainable agriculture depends fully on its environment, into which it has to be “organically and harmoniously” integrated. In the medium and long term, agriculture will be more dependent on the biodiversity it has been destroying, the water it has been overusing, and the people it should have trained to nourish a growing and more demanding population. A change in paradigm, as recommended by the IAASTD report, is no longer an option; it’s a prerequisite to the future of humanity.

What role can agriculture can play in alleviating poverty and hunger worldwide? Agriculture is multifunctional; it services the many different needs of humanity, including the provision of jobs, which will help on both counts, hunger and poverty. Agriculture is at the basis of any development agenda and needs to be given the appropriate importance by investments in the many facets of this key economic sector.

What sort of policies and projects would you like to see implemented immediately to address issues of global hunger and poverty? Major investments must be made in sustainable agricultural research and development, in particular agronomy and soil sciences. No matter what crop varieties with high-yield potential exist, the number one issue is soil fertility. Soil restoration and permanent rebuilding are essential to produce food where it is demanded, and by the people who need both the food and job opportunity.

What could be done to encourage greater agricultural investment to help alleviate poverty and hunger? Make it clear to policymakers at the international and national levels that hunger and poverty will only be overcome by a sustainable agriculture, supported by knowledge, science, and innovations.

Why should food consumers in the United States care about the state of agriculture in other countries? The consumption pattern in the U.S. is not sustainable in the short and long term. The Earth is one, and what happens in one part of it inevitably affects others. From many different angles, from climate change to world peace, there is a need to assure food security and sovereignty in developing countries, while also assuring sustainable agriculture in industrialized nations.

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A recent Roll Call piece highlights the top challenges for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) as both Parties begin preparing for the 2010 Senate elections.

At the dawn of the 2010 election cycle, opportunities abound for Senate Democrats to add to their 58-seat majority.

In Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania -- even in Kansas, where they have not won a Senate election since the 1930s -- a combination of open seats, shaky Republican incumbents, top-flight potential Democratic candidates, or changing political dynamics guarantees that Democrats will be on offense in several states for the third straight cycle.

Republicans, on the other hand, could face a depressing rerun of 2008, when they only went on offense in one state -- Louisiana -- and lost a minimum of seven seats (with the outcome of the Minnesota race still up in the air).

"You can't have a cycle like 2008, when you were only playing defense," fretted one GOP strategist.

Even the most optimistic Republicans concede that they have only one obvious pickup opportunity in 2010: in Nevada, where Sen. Harry Reid (D) will face the voters in his swing state for the first time since becoming Majority Leader and being closely associated with the national Democratic agenda.

But even there, the GOP is facing some difficulty. Republicans' preferred candidate, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, was indicted last week for allegedly mishandling state funds -- a prosecution that Krolicki and his allies insist is politically motivated.

The "most optimistic Republicans" (and, after the last two cycles, "optimistic" Republicans may be at a premium) only see one obvious pickup opportunity, and a very flawed opportunity at that.  Sure, a tough map is a big obstacle for Republicans looking to rebound from horrendous 2006 and 2008 Senate race results, but the tough map might just be a contributory factor to a larger problem.  Roll Call continues (emphasis added by me):

But where are the NRSC's top recruiting opportunities -- and what's the pitch to possible candidates when the GOP is so deeply in the minority?

What is the pitch to potential candidates?  Commit 12 to 18 months of your life to an effort that may very well be in vain, where you beg your friends and colleagues for campaign cash, see your family less, sleep less, put yourself under intense media scrutiny, and basically surrender the routine of your life.  And, if you actually win, you get to spend six years in a deep minority where you will accomplish little and where "success" is synonymous with "legislative obstruction."

Beyond the pitch to potential candidates, something that Roll Call doesn't touch on is: what's the pitch to potential Republican contributors? After giving thousands upon thousands of dollars to the NRSC and to Republican Senate candidates in 2006 and 2008, only to see Republicans lose the majority in '06 and approach an un-filibuster-able minority in '08 (and fail to shift a single Democratic seat into the Republican column), we want you to pour thousands more of your hard-earned dollars during a worse economy into our political activities for 2010, which features a Senate battleground that is arguably tougher for Republicans than both 2006 and 2008.  Please, flush your money down the NRSC toilet.

Success begets success and failure begets failure.  And the NRSC is in a downward spiral.  The DSCC absolutely crushed the NRSC in fundraising during the 2008 cycle and was able to substantially support Democratic candidates, contributing significantly to the success of candidates like Oregon's Jeff Merkley and North Carolina's Kay Hagan.  The NRSC simply can't offer Republican candidates that degree of support.

For instance, it's not unreasonable to suggest that Republicans' only prayer for competitive races against North Dakota's Senator Byron Dorgan and Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye are both states' Republican Governors, John Hoeven and Linda Lingle, respectively.  But how will the NRSC pursuade them to spend half their lives on airplanes between their home states and Washington D.C., accomplishing little along the way, missing their families and spending much less time in the states they serve?

Further, does new NRSC Chair John Cornyn have the salesmanship, creativity, tenacity, and all-around Schumerosity to turn around the Senate GOP's steep slide?  I strongly doubt it.

For daily news and updates on the U.S. Senate races around the country, regularly read Senate Guru.

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I thought I'd pass along some exciting news for our chances in November; we've got former Republicans who are now gladly donating to the Democratic party- another nail in the coffin for McCain?

Hot off the wire:

Beverly Fanning is among the campaign donors who'll be joining President Bush at a gala at Washington's Ford's Theater Sunday night, but she says that won't dissuade her from her current passion: volunteering for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

She isn't the only convert. A computer analysis, incomplete due to the difficulty matching data from various campaign finance reports, found that hundreds of people who gave at least $200 to Bush's 2004 campaign have donated to Obama.

Among them are Julie Nixon Eisenhower, the daughter of the late GOP President Richard Nixon and wife of late GOP President Dwight Eisenhower's grandson; Connie Ballmer, the wife of Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer; Ritchie Scaife, the estranged wife of conservative tycoon Richard Mellon Scaife and boxing promoter Don King.

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But I don't think this is what Senator Clinton had in mind:

More than 70 top Clinton donors wrote their first checks to Obama in March, campaign records show. Clinton's lead among superdelegates, a collection of almost 800 party leaders and elected officials, has slipped from 106 in December to 23 now, according to an Associated Press tally.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042503707. html?hpid=topnews

dripdripdrip

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If Hillary is going to find a path to victory, which no person has been able to find, she is going to have to address the salient concerns of people who are not voting for her and other high placed backers.  Singing to the choir, having the same three diarists on the rec. page, over and over, really has not moved your ball.  And only the person not already in the end zone needs to move the ball.  

Hence, one should take note of The Wall Street Journal's Deputy Editor, Daniel Henninger, who points out why he thinks Obama is going to win and, most importantly, why Hillary isn't.  

Instead of jumping up and down and echoing that which has yet failed her, a new day better get dawning with HRC and her supporters.  Mere traction at this point in the game is useless.

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