40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World

I have the supreme privilege of having been quoted in a major work on the future of agriculture, 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World.

Released in the fall of 2013, 40 Chances is authored by Howard G. Buffett and his son, with a forward written by Howard's father Warren Buffett, of American investment infamy.

My inclusion in this work was a surprise. Working and living on the Howard Buffet Foundation's Ukulima farm was being in the right place at the right time. My coworker and I had been interviewed at least a year before the release and we had kind of forgotten about it. Now I can see my name listed in the index of this book in any bookstore I walk into. Just a couple months later I saw it sitting on a paperback table in Cape Town's independent bookstore. It was and still is surreal.

My quote shows up on page 195 in the chapter titled "Story 21: For Yields to Go Up, We Have to Look Down." The chapter centers on how improving soil health and management is one way to producing higher yields, promoting the Foundation's vision of a Brown Revolution. The quote chosen  was underwhelming considering the length of our discussion on the research ECHO was doing there, but it is still an honor to be included in such a fantastic and notable work. 

My coworker Brandon Lingbeek had a smart quote on the same page about using green manure cover crops in place of fertilizers to meet macro nutrient demands. Another Ukulima contemporary quoted in the work was Tim La Salle, former CEO of Rodale Institute. In other stories, celebrities such as Ben Affleck, Shakira, and Bono are referenced.

Check out 40 Chances when you want some hope that good work is being done in the developing world, and that some of the world's rich are a big part of seeking and funding these solutions. If you don't have time to read the book you can also learn its principles and get action steps from the book's companion website.