Leveraging Private Sector Investment in Agricultural Value Chains to Benefit Smallholders and Reach Zero Hunger

Under an ever-expanding global economy, smallholder farmers are confronted with market landscape that can offer both promise and peril. There is a unique opportunity and critical responsibility that the private sector must play to build the capacity of value chains from inputs to exports, and this must be done in a sustainable way that ultimately benefits smallholder farmers, as well as the interests of the companies themselves. This roundtable discussion will offer an opportunity to debate best practices, anecdotes, and cautionary tales with industry leaders at the forefront of this ever-important topic.

Program

8:45 am – Breakfast and networking

Welcoming remarks

Rebecca Middleton, Executive Director, Alliance to End Hunger
Vimlendra Sharan, Director, FAO Liaison Office for North America

Panelists

Geoff Andersen, Director, Regional Ag Strategic Planning, John Deere
Jennifer Billings, Agriculture Development Leader, Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™
John O’Connell, Senior Manager, Project Design & Implementation, Land O’Lakes, Inc.

Moderator: Margaret Zeigler, Executive Director, Global Harvest Initiative

Followed by a roundtable discussion facilitated by Margaret.