Archive

Ag’s Future Lies in Information and New Solutions

The team at Farming First, a coalition I helped found, has posted a particularly insightful blog on the role of data, information, and precision agriculture. These are all areas where the Emerging team has worked extensively and you see their rise in production systems already. Read the blog post Bob Morris: Move Over Cleantech, Agtech […]

OatMeals

During my recent trip to New York, I had to visit OatMeals – a venue dedicated to oats. Of course, I ordered the Canadian – oatmeal topped with cinnamon apples, bacon, cheddar cheese, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Can’t wait to see the owner speak in at the Prairie Oat Growers Association annual meeting.

Private Sector Mechanism Meets in Rome

Almost 40 representatives from organisations all over the world came together in May during the annual meeting of the Private Sector Mechanism to the CFS (2015) in Rome. Covering virtually every sector of the agri-food value chain, we had representatives from beverages, biofuels, farmers, fisheries, forestry, inputs, livestock, grain trade, pulses, processors, and grocery products.

Adesina Elected to Head African Development Bank

It is great news for agriculture to have Dr. Akinwumi (Akin) Adesina elected to be the next President of the African Development Bank (ADB). His passion for agriculture in his past roles at Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria and at AGRA, as well as his PhD in agriculture economics from Purdue make him an expert […]

Post 2015: Zero Draft of Sustainable Development Goals

The UN has just posted the zero draft of the sustainable development goals. The goals and targets remain consistent and the co-chairs have proposed the long-discussed coherence changes to them. None of these proposed changes affect Goal 2 on sustainable agriculture, food and nutrition. The new material is the opening declaration and the section on […]

Statement at Interactive Hearing with Civil Society

During the Interactive Hearing with Civil Society convened by the President of the General Assembly on May 26-27, I had the opportunity to be the final speaker. The Post 2015 agenda will set new Sustainable Development Goals to create the world we want in 2015. My remarks on monitoring and reporting emphasize the instrumental roles […]

Asking Questions

Our dear friend, RB Halaby, is featured in Giants of the Seed Industry at my former magazine Seed World. Shawn Brook did a great job exploring how RB’s firm AgriCapital has come to be such an effective advocate for agriculture. One of RB’s answers I loved was to focus on asking questions. No one person […]

The World We Want

In my role as Director General of the International Agri-Food Network, I will participate on the interactive hearings at the UN in New York, together with representatives of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and other major groups. It was a thrill to be chosen from among 225 applicants. On behalf of the private sector, I […]

Equator Initiative Partnership Calls for Equator Prize 2015 Nominations

This year, as a special contribution to United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP21), the Equator Prize 2015 will honor 20 outstanding local and indigenous community initiatives that are reducing poverty, protecting nature and strengthening resilience in the face of climate change. The theme of this cycle of the Equator Prize is ‘empowerment, rights, and […]

Explore The Story of Agriculture’s Central Role in Sustainable Development Goals Interactively

In New York this week with a Farming First delegation to the UN negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals, it is a great time to look at the breadth of the impact agriculture has on all aspects of development, including poverty, resilience, and water use. This great new Farming First interactive essay “The Story of […]