The FAO LEAP Secretariat is pleased to announce the names of the leaders of the new Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Circular Bioeconomy Approaches. The TAG has 33 members and will meet for the first time on 18 April to launch the work programme.

Barbara Amon

“I am convinced that the future of sustainable agro-food systems needs to be based on circular bioeconomy principles. Livestock supply chains are an essential backbone in providing food for the growing global population. At the same time, we are facing serious environmental impacts. However, we are also on the cusp of unimaginable new opportunities: progress in technology, robotics, sensors, digitization, data science, systems modelling and management offer great potentials for sustainable and nature-supported farming. The definition of methodologies and metrics to account for Circular Bioeconomy approaches in an international and interdisciplinary team will bring us a decisive step forward towards solutions to the Grand Societal Challenges”.

Barbara is an Associate Professor in Environmental and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Zielona Góra, Poland, and a Senior Research Scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy of Potsdam, Germany where she coordinates the research programme “Precision farming in crop and livestock production”. After many years of research and practical experience in agriculture, she completed her habilitation in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria in 2007. Barbara also participates in many panels dealing with sustainable agriculture, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the European Innovation Partnership-AGRI and the FAO LEAP Partnership. She is also Co-Chair of the Agriculture and Nature Panel under the UNECE Task Force on Emission Inventories and Projections and the Expert Panel on Mitigation of Agricultural Nitrogen under the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen.

Philippe Becquet

“Livestock production is a key element of the circular bioeconomy, allowing the up-cycling of agricultural products that cannot be consumed by humans, into valuable and nutritive food. Furthermore, the bio-circular economy based on the use of co-products in animal nutrition will further support the reduction of waste related to food systems and improve the efficiency of agricultural resources and surfaces around the globe”.

Philippe is an animal nutritionist at the Institut National Agronomique in Paris, France. He has spent his last 40 years in the animal nutrition and feed environment holding various positions in different companies, ranging from feed production and marketing to the marketing and regulatory support for feed additives. In recent years, Philippe has built his own business and now supports IFIF as a technical expert. During the last few years, he has contributed to activities around the sustainability of livestock production, including the development of the Product Environmental Footprint of compound feed for livestock in the European Union, the FAO LEAP guidelines on feed additives and the FAO LEAP report on methane.

Tim McAllister

“Integrated livestock – cropping systems are essential to the sustainability of global agriculture. Viewing the relationships between livestock and crop systems from the perspective of a circular bioeconomy will ensure economic, environmental and social benefits from agriculture in the face of the threat that climate change poses to food security.  I am looking forward to working with this outstanding group of experts to develop guidelines on how the provision of ecosystem services within a circular bioeconomy can contribute to achieving the FAO sustainable development goals in food and agriculture”.

Tim McAllister is a Principal Research Scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, Alberta where he leads a diverse research team that has published over 900 scientific papers studying strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, improve water use efficiency, curtail antimicrobial resistance, improve food safety and enhance biodiversity. His recent interests include studying the role of livestock in provision of ecosystem services within a circular bioeconomy. He is the past chair of the FAO Livestock Environmental Assessment Partnership (LEAP) steering committee and currently co-hosts the popular “Cows on the Planet” podcast with Kim Stanford.