Blog Archives

One just needs to read the daily news to be worried – conflicts spreading, hunger not in check, climate changing.  Tragically, for millions of people around the world, these are just not headlines but a living reality; a hellish reality to be frank with lives and livelihoods devastated in apocalyptic ways. Against such a backdrop, […]

It was my pleasure to join the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) meeting hosted by OnePlanet at UNEA6 and discuss the importance of enabling all parts of the food system value chain. The food system consists of businesses small and large – from a fisher, to the food stall in a city, to global multinationals.  Together they comprise the delivery mechanism of our […]

Agriculture, which relies heavily on soil health, is the backbone of global food systems. Around 95% of our food comes from the soil. It’s not just about quantity; the quality of soil directly influences the nutritional content of crops. In a world striving to eradicate hunger, understanding and preserving soil health are paramount. Soils are […]

  January FAO-IAFN Women SME Accelerator Mentorship Programme Women agripreneurs from Africa are being supported by fellow leaders around the world through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Agri-Food Network (IAFN) jointly piloted the Women SME Accelerator Mentorship Programme to support women entrepreneurs in addressing key challenges and […]

On a personal note, I am also pleased that the Declaration included a reference to soil health, and important breakthrough in getting soils on the agenda in the climate discussion.  The announcements on regenerative landscapes furthered this commitment to soils and nature-based solutions. Throughout the week there were also major announcements on finance, particularly for […]

The Emerging Ag network in Nairobi has undergone an incredible transformation over the past seven years. It all began with a modest round table dinner in the Westlands area, a gathering of fewer than 10 individuals. Fast forward, on November 10th, 2023, nearly a hundred partners and friends convened in the middle of a Coffee […]

The African Union, in collaboration with the Republic of Kenya, is organizing the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (5-7 November, 2023). As a part of the Summit, opportunities are created for 15 side events over two days on topical technical, policy, and finance subjects related to soil health and fertilizer in Africa. A side event […]

Nuffield International has officially opened its applications for the prestigious 2024 scholarships. If you are between the ages of 25 and 45 and involved in the agriculture industry, this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss! The Nuffield International scholarships have a remarkable reputation for empowering individuals in the agricultural sector to grow their […]

The 2023 International Year of Millets is a global initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations aimed to raise awareness about the nutritional and environmental benefits of incorporating millets into our daily lives. What are Millets? Millets are a group of small-seeded grasses that are highly resilient to drought and require […]

Women empowerment is key to closing the gender gap. “Closing the gender gap could see a one-off global GDP increase of nearly 1 trillion US dollars – which means 1% of global GDP – and the number of food insecure people could be reduced by 45 million.’’ FAO Director General QU Dongyu If we are […]

The Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference (CSC) in Vancouver in 2023 showed the future is looking bright for the agriculture and food sector. This year’s crop of scholars came from all over the world and were working on projects as diverse as wildlife conservation, conflict resolution, media engagement, reducing greenhouse gases, and improving biodiversity. As I […]

I recently came across a great news article and an excellent example of how the agri-food sector is working together to reduce the carbon footprint of our food. Food companies have a lot to gain by directly working with farmers to address greenhouse gas emissions.

Registration is now open for the 50th session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)! This hybrid event will take place 10 – 13 October, with the in-person portion taking place at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, Italy. This will be the first in-person CFS since 2019. Discussions at the […]

Canadian farmers have long been making significant commitments to soil carbon sequestration. A recent report by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) demonstrates that the Canadian agriculture sector can be a source of solutions to climate change. It shows we need a science policy interface that is working effectively to enhance carbon sequestration in croplands.

Are you creative, young and passionate about our agrifood systems? Do you have a story to tell, and a vision to share about the future of our food? If so, then you are in good company. The World Food Forum Film Festival is back!

Youth are truly the future of food.  That’s why we are continually working to include youth in global discussions about the food system and encourage young people to look at agriculture and food as a long-term career. Certainly I have learned, youth must take a central and leading role in shaping fair and equitable food […]

My heart goes out to all the people caught up in conflict and to people around the world facing uncertainty. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has underscored the urgent need to place agricultural productivity and trade on the global agenda. Supply chain and logistical disruptions, restrictions on exports, and shortages in inputs supply pose a serious threat […]

Today is International Women’s Day when women worldwide are celebrated yet many women continue to face gender inequality especially in the agricultural sector. According to the FAO, 80% of the farmland in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia is managed by small-holder farmers and about 2.5 billion people in poor countries are employed within the agricultural sector. […]

After a challenging 2020 filled with lockdowns and cancellations of in-person meetings as well as travel restrictions, we looked forward to a better year in 2021 and we were not disappointed! As we adjusted to a new normal filled with hybrid meetings or new travel requirements, we also welcomed all the exciting projects, conferences and […]

One of my highlights of the past year was 2021 Borlaug Dialogue Roundtable on Nutrition-Sensitive Food Systems organised by Barbara Stinson’s team at the World Food Prize Foundation. I had the privilege of moderating a discussion between experts, farmers, and past World Food Prize winners on how to achieve better nutrition globally. It is key […]

The conversation about food has taken on a whole new meaning thanks to the UN Food Systems Summit. Food has always played a key role in our lives: from bringing family and friends together, to providing a source of income to millions of people, to shaping national and international policy. The importance of food can […]

The Food Systems Summit held on September 23 climaxed the long-standing debate on food systems transformation. The wide-ranging and inclusive process leading to the Summit and the discussions were clear: transforming food systems was the best response to addressing food insecurity, food affordability, and food accessibility.

It will be an honour to moderate a roundtable on nutrition during the World Food Prize. So, it couldn’t be more fitting to see a client collaborate with a past winner. In arid regions in Africa, smallholder sweet potato farmers often struggle to store planting material for the next season. In response to this challenge, […]

On July 6, the World Trade Organization Secretariat in collaboration with the United Nations Food Systems Summit organised a Global Summit Dialogue on Trade. During this event, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the vital role trade plays in food security. In light of this, on July 26th at the United Nations Pre-Summit, the Government of […]

In October 2019, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced formally the holding of a Food Systems Summit (FSS) and a Pre-Summit by the United Nations. It was prescient as hunger continues to rise and global food stocks have been suffering from uneven supplies. Heading toward the Summit and beyond, there is much reason to be […]

The development community needs to step up efforts to feed and nourish the more than 690 million people who are hungry today – and the additional 2 billion people the world will have by 2050.  The UN Food Systems Summit 2021 and the High Level Political Platform on Sustainable Development provide an opportunity to emphasize the role that […]

10 years ago I had a dream to start a new business focused on issues I am passionate about. That dream has been shared by the incredible coterie of colleagues we have built at Emerging ag – truly my dream team! Over the past decade, we have had the opportunity to work on exciting projects […]

I have been closely observing the impact of the pandemic on food systems and the response of agri-food actors around the world. The projections of food insecurity are devastating. However, I have found reassurance in seeing how the global food system showed tremendous resilience in such adversity. We saw many actors rising to the occasion […]

The world grows hungrier … The SOFI 2020 Report is clear – global hunger remains entrenched, large numbers of the world’s population have little or no access to regular, safe and nutritious food, a situation that has been gravely exacerbated by the onset of COVID-19. Global efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition […]