In order to organize the FAO International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers, an FAO Task Force and an external Advisory Panel have been established. The role of the Advisory Panel is to provide strategic advice and guidance to the FAO Task Force, which is responsible for taking all decisions regarding the development and delivery of the symposium.
Through its 22 members, the Advisory Panel brings to FAO a wide range of perspectives and experiences from different work areas, including civil society, donor or development agencies, extension institutions, private sector bodies, producer organisations and research institutions, and different regions of the world.
Members participate in the Advisory Panel in their individual capacity and not as representatives of their respective governments, organizations or professional affiliation (private sector, civil society etc.).
The Advisory Panel met on 11-12 June 2018 at FAO Headquarters to brainstorm, exchange ideas and provide advice and guidance to FAO regarding development of the structure and programme of the symposium. Read the Final report of the Meeting of the Advisory Panel.
The 22-person Advisory Panel is composed of the following members:
- Bernard Rey: Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to South Africa, Pretoria.
- Daniel Gad: Owner and General Manager, Omega Farms Plc, Ethiopia.
- Fatma Ben Rejeb: Chief Executive Officer, Pan-African Farmers’ Organization (PAFO), Tunisia.
- Hans Hoogeveen: Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to FAO, Italy.
- Judith Francis: Chair, the Tropical Agricultural Platform (TAP) Steering Committee. Senior Programme Coordinator, Science and Technology Policy at CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation), The Netherlands.
- Lindiwe Majele Sibanda: Vice President, Policy and Partnerships, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Kenya.
- Malu Ndavi: Lead Technical Specialist, Programme Management Department, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Italy.
- Marco Ferroni: Chair, System Management Board, CGIAR, France.
- Mohammad Hossein Emadi: Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to FAO, Italy.
- Paul Mayers: Emeritus Executive, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Government of Canada.
- Philippe Petithuguenin: Deputy Director General, Research and Strategy, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), France.
- R.S. Sodhi: Managing Director, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (AMUL), India.
- Rasheed Sulaiman V: Director, Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy (CRISP), India. Chair, Steering Committee of the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS).
- Ren Wang: Special Advisor to the Chairman, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), China.
- Robert Bertram: Chief Scientist, Bureau for Food Security at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United States of America.
- Roberto Cuevas-García: Expert International Consultant, Guatemala. Former President and CEO, Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural University, Honduras. Former FAO Representative, Peru. Former Senior Agro-industries Officer, FAO Headquarters, Rome.
- Severine von Tscharner Fleming: Member, Board of Schumacher Center for New Economics. Member, Advisory Board of Savanna Institute. Founding board secretary, Farm Hack and National Young Farmers Coalition, United States of America.
- Shadrack Moephuli: Chief Executive Officer, Agricultural Research Council (ARC), South Africa.
- Shi Yan: Founder and Chief Executive, Shared Harvest farm, China. Vice-President, International Committee for the International Network for Community Supported Agriculture (Urgenci).
- Stephanie Barrial: Knowledge management coordinator, World Rural Forum (WRF), Spain. Member, Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) Steering Committee.
- Tony Kalm: President, One Acre Fund, United States of America.
- Viviana Palmieri: Executive Secretary, Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO). Specialist in Innovation, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Costa Rica.