DES MOINES, IOWA, U.S. — Cargill Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Greg Page on Oct. 14 called on governments, agricultural leaders and farmer groups to work together to increase food security by ensuring smallholder farmers in developing countries have four essential ingredients for them to prosper. Speaking at the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialog in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., Page outlined four items critical to smallholder success: growing the right crop on the right soil and then trading those crops freely; clarifying property rights; providing smallholders with increased revenue reliability to moderate price extremes; and ensuring access to open markets and the global food trade.

"At Cargill we believe it is possible to feed the world's growing population — and the smallholder farmer, who is growing crops to sell into markets, plays a key role in this equation. Increasing the productivity of this smallholder, who farms in a country where the Green Revolution has not yet occurred, is essential to ensuring food security and alleviating hunger," said Page

Page said Cargill's heritage is working with smallholder farmers, and that today, Cargill businesses on the ground in developing countries provide technical know-how, training and practical support for smallholder farmers to help them increase their productivity and raise their living standards. Cargill trains smallholder farmers in best practices, provides credit, establishes fair and transparent pricing policies and increases their access to markets.

To hear Greg Page discuss food security in a short video, visit http://www.cargill.com/cs/cr-report/overview/index.html. A transcript of Greg Page's speech at the 2010 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialog will be available shortly on the company's website.