Send to a friend
The details you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited email, and will not be sold to a 3rd party. See privacy policy.
This discussion on what can be learned from COVID-19 to help build resilient food systems for the future, took place on 25 November, 2021.
High-level panellists from Asia, Africa and Europe looked at how food security can be sustained in the event of a global shock, what policies have the greatest impact, and how resilience and preparedness can be strengthened against future crises.
Panellists included:
- Daniel Elger, Chief Executive, CABI
Dr Daniel Elger has been the CEO of CABI since September 2020. Before joining CABI, he spent 25 years in the healthcare sector, mainly at biotechnology companies developing new medicines for various human diseases, where he held senior positions spanning commercial, financial, R&D and marketing functions. Daniel has a BA in Physiological Sciences (Medicine) and a PhD in cancer biology from Oxford University, UK.
- Shenggen Fan, Chair Professor and Dean, Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy, China Agricultural University, China
Dr. Shenggen Fan, Chair Professor and Dean at the Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy, at China’s Agricultural University and a member of the United Nations’ Lead Group for the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. Prior to this, he served as director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute from 2009 to 2019 and as a member, vice chair and chair of the food and nutrition council of the World Economic Forum.
- Tariq Khan, Adviser and Director General, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan
Dr Tariq Khan, is an adviser and director-general of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, in Pakistan. With a Masters degree in public administration from Harvard University, Mr Khan is a career civil servant with more than 30 years’ experience in areas including public administration, local government and rural development, and public finance. He has previously led projects at the United Nations Development Program dealing with livelihoods, poverty reduction, and integrated rural development and disaster management.
- H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture
H.E. Madam Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, an Angolan national, is a leading African Agronomist and was elected as the new Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission (AUC) in 2017.
In Angola, she was a Special Adviser to both the Minister of Environment, where she was also the Ambassador responsible for Climate Change, and the Minister of Agriculture, where she oversaw Food Security, Eradication of Hunger and Poverty Reduction. As the Secretary General of the Inter-African Coffee Organization, she successfully advocated for the empowerment of small-scale coffee farmers across the continent by setting up, among others, Regional Centres of Excellence for Capacity Building of Member States.
- Moses Mwale, Director of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL), Zambia
Mr. Moses Mwale is director of the department of agriculture, in Zambia. He says the main focus of the department is disseminating agricultural technical and other information to the farming communities, as well as providing technical services in irrigation, agricultural mechanisation, crop production and protection, and food and nutrition. Mr. Mwale was previously director of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute and has served on the National Food and Nutrition Commission board.
- Neil Willsher, Global Director for Value Chains and Trade, CABI
Neil has a unique blend of international and Africa-based experience that spans 25 years and led sustainable strategic end-to-end agribusiness value chain development and transformation in a variety of small-to-medium sized companies and farming groups. He applies this experience and passion in his role at CABI, helping to transform smallholders’ lives within agribusiness value chains in developing countries.
Originally from a high-tech engineering background, throughout my career, Neil demonstrated a versatile approach, evaluating, developing and leading start-ups, expansions, integrations and turnaround programmes to drive impactful sustainable growth.
Neil successfully delivered innovative producer-focused solutions within complex vertically-integrated end-to-end supply chains in the food and beverage and horticulture sectors. He has a deep understanding of governance and value addition in all areas of an organization through the pragmatic application of operational excellence.
Neil holds a BSc Geological Sciences and a MBA Management & Business Administration.
- Professor Afeikhena Jerome
Afeikhena Jerome is Special Adviser to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is also Professor of Economics at Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria
He has over two decades experience working on policy issues in Africa at top positions. He previously worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization (November 2015 to December 2017); the Department for International Development/ DAI assigned to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abuja (February 2011- January 2016), UNDP/ NEPAD Secretariat as Inaugural Coordinator for Economic Governance and Management, African Peer Review Mechanism Secretariat, Midrand, South Africa (June 2006 – January 2011). This was over fifteen years stint teaching in several African countries, including the Universities of Ibadan, Nigeria, Botswana, Gaborone and North-West, South Africa.
Afeikhena Jerome has held several distinguished positions including Visiting Scholar, International Monetary Fund; Visiting Fellow, the World Bank; Senior Associate Member, St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University; Research Associate, Institute for World Economics and International Management (IWIM), University of Bremen, Germany and member of the Strategic Studies Group (SSG), the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Harare, Zimbabwe. He has consulted extensively for the World Bank, African Development Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, International Monetary Fund, UN-HABITAT, ILO, UNIDO, Brookings Institute and ACBF.
As an accomplished Development Economist, he has over 100 publications as books and in accredited journals such as World Development, Journal of Banking and Finance and Journal of Infrastructure.