Mario González Azcárate holds a PhD on local food systems and short food supply chains at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. He also holds a Bachelor in Food Engineering and a Master in Agriculture Engineering, specialized in food economics for development from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. As part of his education, he has participated in several student mobilities in Europe and abroad. He has received several awards about food waste business ideas, and he has worked as a field engineer in Asia and Latin America. He has carried out research about consumer food perceptions, alternative certification systems, local food policies, collaborative economy, social innovation, civic crowdfunding, community supported agriculture and sustainable development among others, publishing several papers in international scientific journals. He speaks Spanish as his mother tongue, English, Portuguese and French.

Jim is a graduate of BS Agriculture major in Agricultural Systems from the University Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), where his undergraduate thesis/major practice was on supply chain analysis. Jim also serves in various capacities for the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD): Philippine Country Representative; Capacity Building and Policy Officer for YPARD Asia and Pacific; and Focal Person to the Youth Alliance for Zero Hunger for YPARD Global. He was a member of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) team for the 16th HLPE Report on “Promoting youth engagement and employment in agri-food systems”. Aside from the academia, research, and policy work, Jim is involved in businesses related to agriculture (e.g. consultancy services, e-commerce platform, virtual tours creation, and agriculture 4.0).

Xander Beks is CEO, leader of the pack, of I4NATURE cooperative. An agricultural engineer (Wageningen University) who committed himself to build capacities global to enable to unlock the talent and ideas of new generations to be in the driver's seat for taking on climate related challenges. On the one hand engaging new generations and on the other hand making room through system transformation with the stakeholders involved. On both sides he developed him self with studies, research and proof of concepts and started several succesfull initiatives and building mainly with coalitions on making room for the perspective for youth to engage in the core of the transitions needed.

Amanda Namayi is a Youth Advocate for Climate Action & Zero Hunger. Currently, she is the GoGettaz Africa Lead at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The GoGettaz are the largest Pan-African community of young agri-food entrepreneurs. Amanda’s role is a pioneering role to grow and curate the GoGettaz Africa community, and deliver the high-profile and far-reaching campaign and prize at the center of Generation Africa. She sits at the heart of efforts to inspire and promote a new generation of Africans that can drive growth, innovation and job creation in the agri-food sector. Amanda’s ambition is to promote systems that can keep youth actively engaged in Agriculture both sustainably and profitably.

 

Bram Van Hecke is the president of Groene Kring, the Flemish young farmers’ organization. He was born on a farm in Belgium where his parents have dairy cows and pigs as well as some crops to feed the animals. From his young age, he has been interested in the farm and food in general. Being born on a farm at the Belgian coast of course helped him in expressing this interest.

Therefore he studied agricultural engineering at Ghent University. After that, he got a master’s degree in European Affairs in Poland, with agricultural policy as his main interest. Since then, he has been involved in rural youth organizations. In 2019, he became the president of the Flemish young farmers organization. He personally believes that young farmers need to stand up, as they are essential in the future of food on this planet. This future needs to be sustainable, healthy, and fair, but it will be with farmers. Therefore, youth need to speak now. 

Mashiri Zvarimwa is an Agri-business and Digital Innovation expert,an MBA holder, and a registered Professional Natural Scientist (SACNASP). Mashiri is passionate about building innovative entrepreneurship ecosystems that help young people to exploit the Fourth Industrial Revolution to create jobs for themselves.

Maria Giulia De Castro is currently working as Policy Officer at the International Secretariat of the World Farmers’ Organisation, a member-based organisation that brings together national farmers’ organizations and agricultural cooperatives from all over the world. As policy officer, Ms De Castro provides policy and advocacy support on global processes mostly related to sustainable development, food security, food systems, disaster risk reduction, youth and women empowerment. Previously, Ms De Castro worked at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Panama to the UN Rome-based Agencies and at the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and The Caribbean (CATHALAC). Ms De Castro graduated with honors in Political Science and International Relations in 2014. She is fluent in English and Spanish, with an intermediate command of French and Portuguese.

Samir S. Pandit is from the grape & wine capital of India, Nashik. He holds a masters degree in computer applications and he is a guest lecturer to business management students. Currently, he is the Co-Founder- Managing Director  of Voluntary Exchange platform and Agri-Money. Samir has special interest to create opportunities for market access for smallholder farmers and increase the involvement of youth and woman in food-agriculture.

Nikki is a postgraduate in Business Economics and Finance from the University of Surrey U.K. She started her journey in agriculture after getting married in a farming family in 2011. Since then she is fully engaged in farming with a major focus in Dairy. She has done intensive work in agroforestry and encouraged adoption of poplar based agroforestry by farmers in her region. She integrates fodder for her dairy with poplar trees and is committed to making dairy farming sustainable and viable for farmers. She is the Founder of Mango Dairies, India. She has been invited to speak at various national and international agricultural forums to speak about the dairy farming scenario in India. She believes that dairy farming needs huge attention and deep commitment from all stakeholders as it currently is the most backward within agriculture in India despite milk being the most important protein source for largely vegetarian country India.

Festus is the current Global President of IAAS for 2021/2022, and it's his 6 years in IAAS and his 3rd term as the Global Executive Board at IAAS. He graduated with a dual BSc in Biotechnology who wants to bring the future of agriculture toward climate action to the next level. He's a digital marketing enthusiast, with another role currently held as National Head of Brand Marketing at the AIESEC United States. Festus also called himself a people development enthusiast; with his extensive organizational experience, he learned lots of talent management, human resources, and organizational development. His specialty is his organizational skills that makes him believe that "everyone has the same right to develop their leadership toward the future of the world," and he built it through IAAS by empowering more than 10,000 members to act toward the common goals.

Cassie Hayward has been involved with various agricultural organizations, including 4-H for six years and Food Secure Canada’s Youth Caucus for a two year term. Currently she is a Master’s student focusing her research on SDG 2 and food and agricultural governance systems. She is also an associate fellow at the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law.

Emily Ongus from Kenya has a background in agronomy and  has predominantly worked in rural advisory services as an extension officer in various value chains with experience in small-holder systems, climate change adaptation advocacy, and stakeholder management. She has an MSc. in International Land and Water Management (Sustainable Land Management) from Wageningen University and Research in The Netherlands.She was part of the pilot mentorship program by YPARD and successfully completed the one-year program. Read about her specific outcome here Emily Ongus YPARD mentorship. Emily considers herself a youth in agriculture advocate and is constantly immersing herself in spaces where she can contribute. In her role as the Vice President of African Students in Wageningen, she was part of the initiating team that organized a one-day seminar. It was in close collaboration with YPARD, CTA, WCDI and many more. Please read about it here Young African Academics in agriculture want to contribute to policy . With follow up world food day webinars in 2020 and 2021 on the digitalisation of agriculture. Her other contributions include g-fras annual meeting in Limbe, Cameroon Role of Young People in Rural Advisory Services, IFAD rural youth report contributing blog  Creating Opportunities for Youth , as a panellist for youth in landscapes in Wageningen Global Landscapes Forum Youth. Recently co-authoring the youth mentorship module for NELK with g-fras.

Richard Agetu is an Agribusiness Development Specialist and Analyst.. He holds a master’s degree in Global Food and Agricultural Business from the University of Adelaide, Australia. He began his career in Agriculture at the Federal Department of Fisheries, Nigeria where he worked on the growth enhancement support scheme, a subsidy programaimed at distributing farm inputs to farmers.  Richard moved on to the private sector where he co-founded a fish processing firm which saw him work with over 700 smallholder farmers, building their capacity on best aquaculture management practices and off taking their produce to process them into fish products. In 2018, he got a fully funded scholarship to study for his master’s degree at the University of Adelaide, Australia. While in Australia, he worked as a research associate, supporting international development projects in Value chain upgrade and development.

Managing Director at Moolow
 
Nhlamulo Ntabeni is a well-rounded individual who has extensive experience in governance, training, leadership development and marketing. He holds a number of qualifications and has extensive experience within the business space.

His economic footprint is within the education, property and business sector.Through his experience he continues to enlarge his territory within the Agricultural sector through the his involvement in the youth alliance and agricultural activities in the Africa.

 

Genna Tesdall is the Director of the international network Young Professionals for Agricultural Development. She is a graduate of the global oriented Iowa State (2015) and Penn State Universities (2018) with an M.Sc. in Plant Pathology and International Agriculture and Development.
Before joining YPARD, she was the federal agricultural policy officer at the German Rural Youth Association (Bund der Deutschen Landjugend) (2020). As a Fulbright Researcher at the Humboldt University of Berlin (2018-19), she focused on youth involvement in agricultural policy and was the former president (2013-14) of the International Association of Agriculture and Related Sciences Students (IAAS). She currently resides in Berlin.

 

Divine Ntiokam recognizes the critical importance of the youth in building a resilient, sustainable and prosperous agricultural sector in Africa and around the world. This passion drove Divine to start the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN) in May 2014, of which he is now the Executive Director. 

Nuffield International Scholar, Co-Founder & Executive Director at Metos Brasil

Luciano's core business is to support farmers to take better decisions based on actual data monitored from their fields. Metos Brasil operates the countries’ largest private agrometeorological weather station network, with over 2.600 remote monitoring equipment installed throughout all the major agricultural areas. The IoT (Internet of Things) devices, such as weather stations, automated insect traps and soil moisture sensors, monitor several crops including grains, vegetables, potatoes, coffee, sugar cane and fruits. The information collected helps to reduce production costs, mitigate risks, save water and inputs, better manage resources, and optimize operations. As a Nuffield Scholar, in 2016 Luciano researched the topic of Vertical Farming internationally, and investigated how the adoption of Controlled Environment Agriculture technologies can contribute to the landscape of food production and distribution in urban environments


 

Ollavo Queiroz Tinôco is a third-generation farmer from Brazil. He producers eggs, sugarcane, and beef cattle with his family in the southeast region of the country. In 2019 he was awarded a Nuffield International Scholarship with the topic of Family Succession in Agriculture.

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Duncan is a Dairy Veterinarian from the South West of England.  For the last 10 years, he has worked with farmers across four continents, providing bespoke farm management and animal health solutions.  He specializes in providing animal health and antibiotic resistance consultancy across supply chains including policy creation and farmer training.

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Duncan is a Dairy Veterinarian from the South West of England.  For the last 10 years, he has worked with farmers across four continents, providing bespoke farm management and animal health solutions.  He specializes in providing animal health and antibiotic resistance consultancy across supply chains including policy creation and farmer training.