organized by iRadeecal Communications

Topics:

  • South-south collaboration driving Smart Foods
  • Food trends in Africa
  • Policies impacting agriculture in Africa
  • Global food trends
  • Millets and Sorghum : The new staples and more
  • How African entrepreuneurs are building Smart Food markets and value chains?
  • How Indian entrepreuneurs are building Smart Food markets and value chains?

Progressive release of presentations from March to July 2021

Latest Releases

Panel – How nutrition can be integrated with Agriculture programmes and What are the areas for collaboration between India and Africa

Moderated by Joanna Kane-Potaka, ADG- External Relations ICRISAT; Executive Director, Smart Food

Panelists:

  • Dr S Anitha, Smart Food Nutritionist, ICRISAT and 
  • Dr. R. Ananthan, Scientist-D, National Institute of Nutrition, India
  • Dr Vilas Tonapi, Director and Dr. Venkatesh Bhat, Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIMR (Indian Institute of Millet Research)
  • Dr. Dayakar Rao, Principal Scientist; CEO Nutrihub, ICAR-IIMR (Indian Institute of Millet Research), India
  • Dr Ramadjita Tabo, Regional Director, West and Central Africa, ICRISAT, Mali; 2007 Nobel Peace prize winner
  • Dr Rebbie Harawa, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, ICRISAT, Kenya
  • Dr Moses Siambi, Former Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, ICRISAT, Kenya

Panel Discussion : How Indian entrepreneurs are building Smart Food markets and value chains in India

Moderated by Mr Ashok Jalagam, Smart Food Coordinator – Asia Pacific, Strategic Marketing and Communication, ICRISAT

Panelists:

  • Mr Arun Nagpal, Co Founder, Managing Director, Mrida Group, India
  • Mr Raj Seelam, Founder and Managing Director, SrestaNatural Bioproducts Pvt Ltd (Brand: 24 Mantra), India
  • Ms Shauravi Malik, Cofounders, Slurrp Farm, India
  • Ms Pallavi Upadhyaya, Co-Founder, Millets For Health, Consultant, SHODH, India
  • Mr Rajeev Pandey, CEO of SHODH, India

 

Panel Discussion : How African entrepreneurs are

building Smart Food markets and value chains

Moderated by Agathe Diama, Head-Regional Information – West & Central Africa Program, ICRISAT

Panelists:

  • Ms Seema Gohil, Co-founder, NYUMMS, Managing Partner, Afka Ventures, Kenya
  • Ms Agatha Laizer, Managing Director, Seasoning Palet, Dar e Salaam, Tanzania
  • Ms Halatou Dem, Director General, Des Cereales De Tatam, Mali
  • MrNicholas Musisi, Team lead, Nutri-Worth International, Director, ODDEE Foods, Uganda
  • Mr Ali S Madugu, CEO, Dala Foods, Nigeria.
  • Ms Dienaba Traore, CEO of ‘Gabougouni’, Mali

Millets & Sorghum, the new staples-Perspectives from ICAR-IIMR 

Dr. Dayakar Rao

Principal Scientist; CEO Nutrihub, ICAR-IIMR (Indian Institute of Millet Research), India

Smart Foods : We understand that quality produce starts with our farmers

Millets and Sorghum – The new staples : Perspectives from East and South Africa

28 Jun 2021

Dr Moses Siambi

Former East and Southern Africa Regional Director, ICRISAT, Kenya

MIllets and Sorghum – The new staples and more

1 Jul 2021

Dr Rebbie Harawa

Research Program Director
Eastern & Southern Africa Program,

ICRISAT, Kenya

Innovating the Crops of the Future

Dr Timothy J. Dalton 

Director, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet, USA

Profile

Dr. Timothy J. Dalton serves as the Director of the Sorghum and Millet Innovation Lab. Professor Dalton received an A.B. from Columbia University in 1988, an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois in 1992 and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 1996 from Purdue University. Dr. Dalton’s research and development experience in sorghum and millet stretches back 20 years back to a M.S. thesis on dryland sorghum and millet farming systems in the Peanut Basin of Senegal followed by an award-winning doctoral dissertation on the ex-ante economic impact of improved sorghum varieties on soil degradation in Southern Mali (partially funded by INTOSORMIL). He is well versed in interdisciplinary research and specialized in understanding the relationship between agricultural production, technological changed and the environment. He has extensive professional experience in more than 20 African nations.

He has considerable experience with CGIAR research institutes, the Standing Panel on impact Assessment of the CGIAR, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, foundations, USAID and USDA. He is a member of the multistate research project “NC1034 Impact Assessment and Decision Strategies for Agricultural Research” and a member of the Council of Food, Agriculture and Resource Economics Blue Ribbon Panel on Development. In 2012 he led the USAID-commissioned external evaluation of the Peanut CRSP and the AquaFish CRSP. Dr. Dalton is fluent in French. 

Sorghum in Consumer Food

Mr Tim Lust

CEO, National Sorghum Producers Association

United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP), USA

Profile

Drawing on a farm background, work experience in the cattle industry and more than 25 years in the sorghum industry, Tim Lust utilizes his unique perspective to lead both National Sorghum Producers (NSP) and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP). Tim received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Angelo State University and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Texas Tech University. 

 

Millets and Sorghum – The new staples

24 Jun 2021 

Dr. Vilas A Tonapi

Director,

CAR-IIMR (Indian Institute of Millet Research), India

 

Profile

Dr Vilas is an Seed Technology Expert and is currently the Director of Indian Institute of Millet Research. He has been awarded RV Swaminathan Gold medal for his Ph.D and JN TATA endowment award & GRDC fellowship for Post-Doctoral programme. He has been the consultant to FAO on seed system development. He was part of USDA Global ergot collection and characterization mission. He has been awarded the distinguished service award to seed industry by AP Seedsmen Association. He has been associated as an expert to Dept. of Science & Technology, Department of Biotechnology, and Indian Council of Agriculture Research. Dr. Vilas A. Tonapi has also served as Head, Division of Seed Science and Technology, IARI, New Delhi. His special attainments include Planning, development and management of crop improvement programmes and strategies. He has 50 research papers to his credit in peer reviewed journals, 30 authored and edited books.

Dr. Venkatesh Bhat 

Principal Scientist  

ICAR-IIMR (Indian Institute of Millet Research)

Profile

Dr. Venkatesh Bhat is a Principal Scientist  in Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR) and is an expert in Genetics & Cytogenetics. His major contributions include

  • Development of kharifgrain sorghum hybrid Jaicar Gold (CSH 41), forage sorghum variety JaicarHariyali (CSV 38F) and sweet sorghum variety CSV 24SS 
  • QTL identification for fodder yield and quality traits 
  • Quality seed production planning and execution in the Indian sorghum and millets seed supply chain. 

He received Best Scientist Awar for Scientific Excellence from IIMR, Hyderabad (2007, 2009 and 2017) and NAIP overseas training award in cutting-edge technologies in 2009

Millets and Sorghum – The new staples : Perspectives from West and Central Africa

21 Jun 2021

Dr Ramadjita Tabo

Regional Director, West and Central Africa, ICRISAT, Mali; 2007 Nobel Peace prize winner

Profile

Dr Ramadjita Tabo is a cropping systems agronomist with a PhD in Agronomy and Plant Genetics from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA in 1985. He is currently the Research Program Director-West and Central Africa and Country Representative, Mali. Prior to his current position he was the Deputy Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) based in Accra, Ghana (September 2009 to February 2014). Prior to that he was the Assistant Director of ICRISAT-WCA and cropping systems at ICRISAT-Niamey, Niger. Ramadjita worked and was based at various ICRISAT locations including Hyderabad/Patancheru, India; Kano, Nigeria; Bamako, Mali and Niamey, Niger.  He is a member of several  committees amongst which is the Pan-African START (a global Change for Change System for Analysis, Research and Training) Regional Committee (PACOM) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He won several awards one of which is the prestigious 2007 Nobel Peace prize as a member of the IPCC.  He also chaired the Advisory Board of the IDRC funded AfricaInteract  project (Enabling research-to-policy linkage for adaptation to climate change in Africa). He coordinated the Desert Margins Program (DMP) GEF funded project on arresting land degradation and conserving biodiversity in sub-Saharan Africa and the Challenge Program on Water and Food funded (CPWF) project on enhancing rainwater and nutrient use efficiency in the Volta Basin. His previous research work also included evaluation and promotion of fertilizer microdosing technology and warrantage system, intensification of integrated crop-livestock system. He has published several papers in scientific journals and proceedings.

Odisha Millet Mission

10 Jun 2021

Dr Saurabh Garg 

Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha, India

Profile

Dr Garg held several important positions as an Indian Administrative Service Officer : Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India; Commissioner – cum – Secretary, Government of Odisha and currently serving as Principal Secretary Government of Odisha. He received his education from pretegious institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology, NewDelhi, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad where he received Gold Medal for Academic Excellence and received his PhD in International Economics and Development from John Hopkins University. He also contributed research articles to books including Indian Infrastructure Vision:- Financing Challenges Some Intervention and experiences in improving service quality through Govt. Delivery systems Development projects and impoverishment Risks

Karnataka Millet Mission

14 Jun 2021

Profile

Mr. Seshu Kumar, National Head Buying & Merchandising –Big Basket had graduated from IIM Ahmedabad in 1991. At Big Basket, Seshu is instrumental in providing strategic direction, building supply linkages with farmers, processors and Consumer Product Companies, and setting up Systems and Processes for scaling up to a multi city national Business. Prior to joining Big Basket, Mr. Seshu Kumar was Head of Rural Retailing in ITC – Agri Business Division where he was running the “Choupal Saagar” chain of Rural Hypermarkets. ITC Choupal Saagar were a unique chain of 24 Rural Stores in small towns with two way flow of products to and from the Rural Customers. Prior to ITC, he joined a startup team in 2000 in e-commerce industry with Fabmall.com (then Fabmart.com). When Fabmall expanded to opening Supermarkets, Mr.Seshu Kumar spearheaded Fabmall’s foray into setting up the chain of Fabmall Supermarkets. Seshu had an initial grounding in Sales and Distribution in Asian Paints Ltd in Sales and Distribution before moving to the then fledgling Retail Industry as Manager – Retailing with Walt Disney India Ltd in 1995. Mr. Seshu Kumar followed up his start up experience in Walt Disney with a small stint as Consultant with KSA Technopak at KSA Technopak.

 

Feature Talk : Lets be Inspired by Our Food and Planet – Smart Food and Smart Approaches

World Environment Day – 5 Jun 2021

Dr. Chandrashekhar Birdar

Leader – GeoAgro and Digital Augmentation, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Egypt

 

Millets and Sorghum – The new staples 

World Food Safety Day -1 Jun 2021 

Dr. Anitha Seetha

Nutrition Scientist, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

&

Scientist ‘D’
Food chemistry and nutrient analysis, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN)

Global food trends

Panel – Top recommendations for supporting food systems that are “Smart” 

Good for you, the planet and the farmer

31 May 2021

Moderated by Dr Jacqueline d’ Arros Hughes

Panelists:

  • Dr Keith Wiebe, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute), USA
  • Professor Angelo Riccaboni, Lead of the Santa Chiara Lab, the University of Siena
  • Danielle Nierenberg, President, Food Tank, USA 
  • Rushina Shah, Co-Founder, Insane Grain, UK
  • Mr. Alain Vidal, Director – Science & Partnership, Food & Nature, WBCSD 

Insane Grain

27 May 2021

Ms. Rushina Shah

Co-Founder, Insane Grain, UK

Profile

Rushina is the co-founder of Insane Grain – an INSANELY delicious, INSANELY nutritious snack made from the ancient supergrain sorghum. Before taking the leap to start her own business, Rushina was responsible for the growth of some of the biggest global brands at Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser. After five years in Brand Management, she decided to escape the corporate life and co-founded Insane Grain with Nigel Parrott after identifying a white space opportunity for a genuinely healthy yet affordable snacking range. Insane Grain is disrupting the snacking market and is available in 3 flavours across a number of stores. More recently, it has been chosen as part of The Good Food Fund as the ideal snack to appeal to lower income households with the aim of helping to tackle childhood obesity across the UK.

 

Positive nutrition : Which role for business?

24 May 2021

Mr. Alain Vidal

Director – Science & Partnership, Food & Nature, WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development), Switzerland

Profile

Alain joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) as Food & Nature Science and Partnerships Director in 2018. He is also working for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). His interests include global food, environment and poverty issues. After a decade long researcher career initiated in 1986 in Morocco, and pursued with French Research Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Engineering. He worked with FAO as Director of European and International Affairs. In 2009, he was appointed the Director of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. In 2014, he joined the CGIAR Consortium as the Director of Strategic Partnerships, under which capacity development and partnerships resided along with communications and resource mobilization. He has represented CGIAR in the preparation of COP21 and COP22, and engaged with private sector on climate-smart agriculture and food system transformation issues.

Global food trends

20 May 2021

Danielle Nierenberg

President, Food Tank, USA

Profile

Danielle Nierenberg, a world-renowned researcher, speaker, and advocate, on all issues relating to our food system and agriculture.

In 2013, Danielle Nierenberg co-founded Food Tank with Bernard Pollack, a  nonprofit organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters.

Danielle also conducts extensive on-the-ground research, traveling to more than 70 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. She has met with thousands of farmers and farmers’ groups, scientists and researchers, policymakers and government leaders, students and academics, as well as journalists, documenting what’s working to help alleviate hunger and poverty while protecting the environment.

Her knowledge of global agriculture issues has been cited widely in more than 20,000 major print and broadcast outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, BBC… and many more reputed media.

Danielle is the recipient of the 2020 Julia Child Award.

Seven global food trends in the decades ahead

14 May 2021

 

Profile

Keith Wiebe is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC, where he leads a research program on Global Futures and Strategic Foresight. Prior to joining IFPRI in October 2013, he was Deputy Director of the Agricultural Development Economics Division of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, where he managed a program of economic research and policy analysis for food security and sustainable development, and helped coordinate preparation of FAO’s annual flagship reports on the State of Food and Agriculture and the State of Food Insecurity in the World. Previously he was Deputy Director of the Resource and Rural Economics Division of the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service in Washington, DC. He received his B.A. in economics from Carleton College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His areas of particular interest include land tenure, natural resource use and conservation, agricultural productivity and food security.

Fixing the business of food

17 May 2021

Professor Angelo Riccaboni  

Department of Business and Law, University of Siena

Profile

Angelo Riccaboni is Full Professor of Management Control Systems at the Richard Goodwin School of Economics and Management of the University of Siena.

He was Rector of the University of Siena from 2010 to 2016.

He is a member of the Leadership Council of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Chair of the Regional Centre of the SDSN for the Mediterranean since 2012.

Since 2017 he chairs PRIMA Foundation, located in Barcelona to implement a 10-year research and innovation programme on food systems and water resources, with a budget of 500 million euros funded by the European Commission and 19 Euro-Mediterranean Countries.

His research focuses on the role of businesses and universities to promote the implementation of United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and on innovation in the agrifood sector.

He chairs the Steering Committee of the Santa Chiara Lab at the University of Siena. He is Member of the Scientific Committee of the World Farmers Organisation,  Member of the International Academic Committee of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals of Tsinghua University, Member of the Board of Directors of the University Bicocca in Milan.

He is a Member of the EC sub-group on Mission Area Soil Health and Food of the ‘shadow’ strategic configuration of the Horizon Europe Programme Committee

Previously he was Chair of the CRUI Foundation, the operating body of CRUI (the Association of Italian Rectors), Member of the Board of the International Association of Universities (IAU), Head of the IAU Working Group on sustainability. He was Dean of the Richard Goodwin Faculty of Economics and Management, Chair of the Association of Deans of Italian Faculties of Economics, Management and Statistics and President of SIDREA (Italian Society of Accounting and Business Administration Scholars). 

Policies impacting food and agriculture in Africa

Panel on – What are some of the important areas to work to bring about the shift towards Smart Food

Moderated by Dr Rebbie Harawa

Panelists:

  • Dr Tobias Takavarasha, Agriculture and Food Security Adviser, Zimbabwe; Former FAO Representative for South Africa and Kenya
  • Dr Simbarashe Sibanda, Leader – Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Leader, FANRPAN, South Africa
  • Dr Michael Hauser, Leader – Markets, Institutions, Nutrition and Diversity, ICRISAT, Kenya

Transitions to sustainable food systems are as effective as the policy support 

3 May 2021

Dr Michael Hauser

Leader – Markets, Institutions, Nutrition and Diversity, ICRISAT, Kenya

Profile

Michael Hauser is an agro-ecologist specialized in farm and food system changes. In partnership with farmer associations, universities, civil society, and the private sector in Africa and Asia, Michael conducts theory-led research on critical transitions towards sustainable natural resource management, extension approaches, and marketing strategies to enable farmers to participate in markets. Before joining ICRISAT early 2017, Michael chaired AGRINATURA, the Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development representing the major European research and education stakeholders in development-oriented research and higher education. These include universities and research centres dealing with tropical and subtropical agriculture, forestry, food and human nutrition, veterinary medicine, fisheries, and environmental sciences. AGRINATURA collaborates with organisation and networks to develop research and higher education capacities, such as the GFAR, EFARD, as well as the European Commission, CGIAR, FAO, IFAD, FARA, and RUFORUM. Michael Hauser was Director of the Centre for Development Research at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. Under his directorship, the Centre brokered and coordinated inter- and transdisciplinary agricultural research for development across university departments, civil society and the private sector. Michael supervises doctoral students and teaches under- and postgraduate classes on livelihood system dynamics and change facilitation. For his courses on sustainable agriculture with East African universities, he received the University Teaching Award recognising innovative training programs.

 

Panel on – What policies are in place to support Smart Foods?

Moderated by Dr Rebbie Harawa

Panelists: 

  • Prof. Hamadi Iddi Boga, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya
  •  Mr Anthony Murethi, Director General, Agriculture and Food Authority, Kenya

Dr Tobias Takavarasha 

Agriculture and Food Security Adviser, Zimbabwe; Former FAO Representative for South Africa and Kenya

Profile

Dr Tobias Takavarasha, an independent Agriculture and Food Security Adviser, is a former United Nations Food and Agriculture (FAO) Representative for the Republic of South Africa from February 2013 to June 2016 and Acting FAO Representative in Kenya (18 November 2019 to 17 October 2020). Before this he worked as a Senior Agricultural Policy & Investment Officer at the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA) in South Africa seconded from the FAO to support the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) and agriculture and food security related programs in Africa. He also worked as Director for Strategy, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Nairobi, Kenya (2008-2010) and is a former Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture in Zimbabwe (1996-2002), having joined the Ministry in 1980 rising through the ranks. He has worked extensively in Malawi and in the SADC region within the agricultural public and private sectors including as Chief Executive Officer of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN, 2002-2004) based in South Africa where he also served as Interim CEO in 2017-18 and currently serves as Strategic Advisor to the FANRPAN Board. Tobias is also on the Advisory Board of the Zimbabwe Investment & Development Agency (ZIDA) since May 2020. Tobias holds a PhD. in Agricultural Policy (University of Zimbabwe, 1996), a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Leeds and Birmingham Universities, 1977 and 1979 respectively.

Dr. Simbarashe Sibanda

Leader – Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture FANRPAN, South Africa

Role of Millets and Sorghum in achieving the SDGs

Prof. Prabhu Pingali

Chair, ICRISAT Governing Board

Founding Director of The Tata-Cornell Institute

Professor – The Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, USA

Policies impacting food and agriculture in Africa

15 Apr 2021

 

 

Mr Anthony Murethi

Director General, Agriculture and Food Authority, Kenya

Profile
Mr. Muriithi holds a Master of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics from Egerton University. He has strengths in agricultural development, policy advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, impact measurement, strategic planning, project design, development and management.

Mr. Muriithi has over 25 years of professional experience in both private and public sector, most of which have been spent in the Agricultural Sector. He joined the Ministry of Agriculture in 1989 as an Assistant Agricultural Officer and rose through the ranks to become a Principal Agricultural Officer.

Among his notable achievements in the Agricultural Sector are producing the best national small scale farmer while working as the District Extension Research and Liaison and Training Officer in 2006 in Butere – Mumias Districts. He has authored and co- authored several scientific papers on diverse socio – economic issues and sustainable resource use, some of which have been published in refereed journals and proceedings of international conferences.

Policies impacting food and agriculture in Africa

19 Apr 2021

Prof. Hamadi Iddi Boga

Principal Secretary

State Department for Agricultural Research Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya

Profile
Prof. Hamadi Iddi Boga is the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Agricultural Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. He is the former founding Principal of Taita Taveta University and was its Vice Chancellor between 2007 and 2017. He was a Professor in the Department of Botany at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. His skills and interests are in biology, agricultural science, sequencing, microbiology, molecular biological techniques and RNA genes. He also has an interest in microbial ecology of insects’ guts, soils and soda lakes and has worked with termites, the soda lakes of Kenya, mangrove swamps, agricultural and forest soils and also on Mount Kenya glacier. He has a PhD in Biology from Universität Konstanz in Germany.

Panel – Influencing what consumers eat : How much of this influence is coming from SMEs in Africa as opposed to large companies

 12 Apr 2021

Moderated by Dr Moses Siambi

Panelists:

  • Julie Bouedy, Head – Consumer Sensory Insight and Ideation, Nestle, Cote D’Ivoire
  • Moyosola OKOYE, Director – Strategy, Product Innovation & Insights, Danone, Paris
  • Dr Jemimah Njuki, Africa Director, IFPRI, Kenya
  • Joanna Kane-Potaka, ADG, ICRISAT; Executive Director, Smart Food

Food trends in Africa

5 Apr 2021

Moyosola OKOYE

Director – Strategy, Product Innovation & Insights

Danone, Paris

Profile
Moyosola has 20 years of success in training, coaching and delivering innovative marketing strategies, product strategies and trade activations. She has a creative blend of technical, commercial and analytical skills that enables her to create approaches that helps decodes people’s behaviors, interpret research results and build successful business models that are dynamic and relevant to the context. She has honed her expertise over the years by garnering experience in local, regional and global roles across various industries/categories like healthcare, personal care, baby care, household products, professional services, automobile, tech and FMCG. With Moyosola, you have a curious mind with an insatiable thirst for knowledge which she also strives to infuse as a mindset into her team members. This mindset has enabled success stories in great business results delivered by her teams.

How India is building Smart Food markets and value chains 

World Health Day – 7 April 2021

Dr Raj Bhandari

Pediatrician;

Member, National Technical Board of Nutrition, Government of India

 

Food trends in Africa

22 Mar 2021

 

Ms Julie Bouedy

Head – Consumer Sensory Insight and Ideation, Nestle, Cote D’Ivoire

Profile
Julie Bouedy is the Head of Consumer Sensory Insight & Ideation Department at Nestle CRD Abidjan, based in Côte D’ivoire. Julie provides support to projects with her team in areas of Sensory Consumer Experience Trends and Foodhabits Understanding as well as recently in Ideation and Consumer new approaches with the set up of Nestlé’s Innovation Accelerator at CRD Abidjan .​

​Julie holds a Master degree in Biochemistry from University of Abidjan , and Engineering of Foods Science Diploma from ENSIA SIARC SUPAGRO Montpellier, France​

​Julie has vast experience (24years) in FMCG, encompassing technical expertise in diverse functions (Packaging, Production, Marketing, Quality & ISO certification, Foods Safety and R&D) in several global companies such as UNILEVER, BARRY CALLEBAUT & DANONE.

Towards inclusive and healthy food systems in Africa

25 Mar 2021

Dr Jemimah M Njuki

Africa Director,

IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute), Kenya

Profile

Rodrigo is a Peruvian economist with experience in project management for sustainability and development. After working for several years in Apoyo, a local economic consultancy firm in Lima, Rodrigo joined the staff of the Vice President and later, Primer Minister of the Republic of Peru, HE Mercedes Araoz. During this period, he was appointed as a member of the Special Delegation of Peru to join the OECD, focusing on environmental and biodiversity-related issues. Since 2018, Rodrigo is the Campaign Manager of the Food Forever Initiative, a global campaign to raise awareness on the importance of safeguarding and using agricultural biodiversity for food and nutrition security, promoted by the Crop Trust, FAO and the governments of Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. Since October 2020, Rodrigo is also the Strategic Partnerships Manager at the Crop Trust and in this role coordinates the organization’s efforts to strengthen stakeholder relations, increase resource mobilization and build strategic alliances.

Seeds for resilience

29 Mar 2021

Mr Rodrigo Barrios

Food Forever Campaign Manager, Global Crop Diversity Trust, Germany

Profile

Dr Jemimah Njuki is a globally renowned Gender and Agriculture expert. For the last 18 years she has led and supported projects and carried out gender research, managed women’s economic empowerment programs in Africa and Asia, trained researchers, NGO staff and extension officers on gender equality. She has worked in numerous countries in Africa and Asia including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana, the Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, India, Bangladesh, Canada and the US.

Dr Njuki is the incoming Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Previously she led the Growth and Economic Opportunities (GrOW) program at Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Prior to that, she was Senior Program Specialist in the Agriculture and Food Security program at IDRC for 7 years driving IDRC’s agenda on agriculture, food security and gender equality in Africa. And between 2003 and 2009, she managed a multi-country program called Enabling Rural Innovation at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture working with research and development partners in 9 countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

She is convener of the East Africa Gender and Livelihood Network and has been the chair of the Women in Agriculture Thematic Working Group of the African Green Revolution Forum for the last 6 years.

She sits on several committees. Currently she is deputy chair of the Advisory Committee of the African Women in Agriculture Research and Development (AWARD), a program empowering women scientists to develop their scientific and leadership skills. She serves as advisor on Women’s Economic Empowerment to the UN Women Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa. She is in the technical group supporting the development of a national measure for women’s empowerment to be included in agriculture surveys globally.
Dr Njuki has published widely on gender and agriculture. She is the founding and current Editor of the Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (www.agrigender.net) and has co-edited three books on gender and agriculture in the global south.

Biofortification : Driving markets for more nutritious food

1 Apr 2021

Jenny Walton

Senior Specialist, Demand Creation and Business Development, Harvest Plus, USA

Profile

Jenny Walton – Food partnerships & commercialisation, HarvestPlus

Based with the HarvestPlus global team, Jenny’s role at HarvestPlus is to establish ways to scale up the use and reach of biofortified foods via partnerships across the value chain. Working with the public and private sector her objective is to find the incentives to commercialise biofortification and work in partnership to overcome the barriers to scale. Jenny is a registered nutritionist with 20 years’ experience working in the food industry for well-known brands such as the Co-op, Danone, United Biscuits and Kellogg’s. She has worked in various nutrition related roles including food policy, nutrition science, food regulations, nutrition communications and marketing.

Panel – What are the top priority activity for India and Africa to collaborate build markets for Smart Foods (18 Mar 2021)

Moderated by Dr Jacqueline d’ Arros Hughes

Panelists

H.E. Willy K Bett, High Commissioner of Kenya to India

Dr Tarun Bajaj, Director, APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products. Export Development Authority), India

Dr Venkat Maroju, CEO, Source Trace Systems, India and USA

Dr Rebbie Harawa, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, ICRISAT, Kenya

South South Collaboration Driving Smart Foods (continued..)
15 Mar 2021

Dr Rebbie Harawa

Research Program Director
Eastern & Southern Africa Program,

ICRISAT, Kenya

Profile

Dr Rebbie Harawa is an agricultural research and development expert with extensive work experience across Africa. Before joining ICRISAT, she worked for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa as Head of the Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Systems program based in Nairobi, Kenya. Previous positions include Country Team Leader and Science Coordinator for United Nations Development Programme Millennium Villages Project and On-farm Research Specialist for World Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Malawi. Rebbie holds a PhD in Soil Science with minor in Extension from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA and a Master of Science Degree in Agronomy from Bunda College of Agriculture, University of Malawi.

Specialization: Soil Science, Agronomy, Agricultural Extension, Climate Smart Agriculture, Sustainable Food Systems and Program Management.

Dr Tarun Bajaj

Director

Agricultural and Processed Food Products. Export Development Authority (APEDA),

Government of India

Profile

Dr. Tarun Bajajis currently the Director in Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) setup by Government of India. He leads the export promotion and development of Animal Products division, Processed fruits and vegetables division, and APEDA’s schemes for Quality Development.

South South Collaboration Driving Smart Foods
11 Mar 2021

H.E. Willy K Bett

High Commissioner of Kenya to India

Profile

Amb. Willy Kipkorir Bett is the 14th High Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya to the Republic of India having presented his Letters of Credence on 11th July, 2018 to His Excellency Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of the Republic of India. Amb. Bett is also the High Commissioner-Designate to the Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka, the people’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of Singapore. Amb. Bett has over 27 years of experience as a senior Bank Manager, Managing Director and senior government official.

Amb. Bett holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Sociology; and Master of Business Administration (MBA) marketing both from the University of Nairobi. He has also undergone several professional courses including in Banking, Market Research and prestigious Advanced Management Programme (AMP) jointly organized by Strathmore Business School (Nairobi), Lagos business School (Nigeria) and IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Marketing Society of Kenya and the Kenya Institute of Management.

Ashish Sinha

Deputy High Commissioner of India to Kenya

Panel – How nutrition can be integrated with Agriculture programmes

22 Jul 2021

Moderated by Joanna Kane-Potaka

Panelists:

  • Dr S Anitha, Smart Food Nutritionist, ICRISAT and 
  • Dr. R. Ananthan, Scientist-D, National Institute of Nutrition, India
  • Dr Vilas Tonapi, Director and Dr. Venkatesh Bhat, Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIMR (Indian Institute of Millet Research)
  • Dr Ramadjita Tabo, Regional Director, West and Central Africa, ICRISAT, Mali; 2007 Nobel Peace prize winner
  • Dr Rebbie Harawa, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, ICRISAT, Kenya
  • Dr Moses Siambi, Former Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, ICRISAT, Kenya
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