An increase in population from 7 to 10 billion by 2050 will require a 70% increase in food production at the same time that natural resources are decreasing. Ten U.S. college sophomores, each committed to finding innovative and practical solutions to world hunger, will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do just that through a unique fellowship called the Global Food Challenge Emerging Leaders for Food Security Program.

Land O'Lakes Inc. created the Global Food Challenge Emerging Leaders for Food Security fellowship in 2014 to engage future leaders in the challenges and opportunities facing agriculture in the coming decades. The 2015 fellowship recipients were announced at the 2015 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue.

The 2015-16 Emerging Leaders for Food Security are: University of Minnesota students Elizabeth Alonzi, Katie Enzenauer and Blake Schweiner; Purdue University students Abby Adair and Sydney Gray; Iowa State University students Addison Bidwell, Leah Ellensohn and Megan Schnell; Northwestern University student Diana Fu and The George Washington University student Ayse Muratoglu.

Because a broad mix of skills is needed to find new ways of feeding the growing population, students are selected through a competitive application process that includes wide-ranging education disciplines from agronomy and environmental science to nutrition, finance and marketing.

Throughout the academic year, Emerging Leaders work closely with their university professors, delving into challenging assignments designed to spur their thinking about food security issues and to educate others. The experience includes summer work in key Land O'Lakes Inc. locations, including headquarters in Minnesota and producers and rural agriculture cooperatives across the U.S. The students also will spend time in Washington, D.C. with policymakers and agricultural experts and will travel to Africa to visit smallholder farmers in rural African communities.

Learn more about the Global Food Challenge and join the conversation at http://foodchallenge.landolakesinc.com.