Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

In just a few short weeks State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet will be launched! We’re excited to share with you a sneak preview of Chapter 1 entitled, “Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger,” authored by co-project directors Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg.

State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet will illuminate a new generation of innovative approaches to hunger alleviation that has emerged from farmers’ groups, private voluntary organizations, universities, and agribusiness companies. After traveling to 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and visiting over 200 projects, groups, and individuals, we found that while these organizations span a large variety of industries and disciplines, they all share the common goal of equipping farmers with the tools to improve their livelihoods and feed their communities while also protecting local ecosystems. And many of their solutions are working.

These projects and voices from the field have been combined with expert input from over 60 contributing authors, creating a roadmap to help guide policy-makers, farmers, NGOs, agribusiness, and development agencies in making more informed decisions regarding food production and food security goals.

Our research has illustrated that there is no one single solution. The first chapter of State of the World 2011 describes three major shifts to be made within the food system, moving beyond new seed development as the default solution to hunger and poverty and focusing more broadly than just increasing production to find the solutions in making better use of what we already have. Click HERE to download Chapter 1 and read them for yourself.

We’ll be launching the book in New York City at WNYC Radio’s The Greene Space on January 12th, followed by a State of the World Symposium on January 19th at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace  in Washington, DC. We hope many of you can join us at both events, which will also be broadcast live on www.nourishingtheplanet.org. Stay tuned for more information.

For information on how to pre-purchase the book now click HERE.