Broadcast Date: July 28, 2023
Session Time: 1:00 - 3:00 PM Central
REGISTER
Webinar Summary
To safeguard US agriculture effectively, it is necessary to anticipate, identify and assess current and emerging naturally-occurring, accidental, or deliberate threats of a destructive or otherwise high-consequence nature; to strengthen detection and disruption of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats; and, to synchronize homeland food, agriculture, and health sectors security and supply chain planning and execution. The Health, Food and Agriculture Resilience (HFAR) Directorate within the US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Health Security (DHS OHS) is responsible for coordinating DHS activities related to defending and facilitating the resilience of these critical US sectors. HFAR, together with Sandia National Laboratories, undertook a mission-capabilities, needs, and gaps assessment to understand better the state of US HFA systems and security capabilities. DHS HFAR understands the importance and needs to engage actively with agricultural specialists in the plant (crops, forests, rangelands, natural environments) and animal (livestock, wildlife, fisheries, aquaculture) sectors. The HFAR concept has a strong foundation in the principles of One Health, in which agricultural production is critical in support of food security and human health security on a global scale. The recent blockage of wheat exports from Ukraine is just one example of the fragility of our food distribution systems. Input to DHS from APS attendees will be considered in future work of this initiative.
