Fostering International Collaboration for Food Security and Sustainable Development:A Personal Perspective of M. S. Swaminathan's Vision, Impact and Legacy for Humanity

Arguably, no living person has done more than M. S. Swaminathan to improve the lives of the poor and the marginalized. His monumental contributions to India's Green Revolution are documented elsewhere. In this paper, I focus sharply on two little-chronicled bodies of his work: (1) the IRRI Cambodia programme which guided and supported that conflictaffected country to achieve rice self-sufficiency and exporter status; and (2) the United Nations Hunger Task Force which fundamentally changed global thinking about hunger and food security by going beyond productivity improvement to include nutrition, social safety nets, natural resource management, and an enabling policy environment. Both cases illustrate the power of international collaboration and a commitment to inclusive and sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals will carry these principles forward for humanity as an enduring legacy of Swaminathan's vision and life achievement.