Members of the Feed the Future Innovation Labs for Collaborative Research are in Des Moines, Iowa for the 2013 World Food Prize. This year’s conference is being held from October 16^th to 18^th. The theme of the event is “The Next Borlaug Century: Biotechnology, Sustainability and Climate Volatility.” The World Food Prize will honor its three 2013 Laureates: Dr. Marc Van Montagu (Belgium), Dr. Mary Dell-Chilton (United States), and Dr. Robert T. Fraley (United States) for their individual contributions in founding, developing, and applying modern agricultural biotechnology

The Innovation Lab Council met on October 14, to share progress and discuss future activities. The BIFAD meeting on “Research Challenges in Agriculture” and its associated event on Human and Institutional Capacity Development, previously scheduled for Tuesday, October 15^th, were cancelled due to the US Government shutdown.