The world is changing: populations are expanding steadily, while food sources and natural resources are dwindling.

Of the world's 194 nations, 54 currently do not meet their citizens' need for food and other basic staples of life. Among the environmental challenges facing our planet are pollution, erosion, scarce and non-potable water and soil depletion. These conditions are exacerbated, and in some instances created, by climate change. In some parts of the world obesity and diabetes are on the rise while in other locales, people suffer from chronic hunger and malnutrition.

With our collective future at stake, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel's leader in agricultural and animal sciences as well as in biochemistry, microbiology and veterinary medicine, conducts vital research at its Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment in Rehovot. The purpose is to feed the world.

Achieving sustainable agriculture requires an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to scientific research along with sound public policy responsive to environmental threats. Nothing short of a full-scale paradigm shift - one that treats agriculture as a process and organizes it in new ways to protect our planet - will enable scientists to develop renewable means of feeding growing global populations now and for generations to come.

To implement this paradigm shift, the Robert H. Smith Faculty embraces a far-sighted organizational model that unites a powerful intellectual community of scientists. Leading faculty members with expertise in diverse fields are combining their strengths to foster the goals of the Green Revolution.