One Goal - Many Voices. Writing with 2030 in mind, representatives of civil society organizations, experts from science and research, business partners and individuals who are particularly committed to the issue are active in the fight against hunger. The exchange of ideas regarding the magazine's main focus is on the diversity of the participants.
Bernd Schwang is a constitutional, social and economic historian. He has worked at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the areas of strategic communication and food policy and built up the social media department. In recent years, he has implemented the focus of the BMEL's international project work on the right to food. He currently heads the Right to Food Division and is the BMEL's representative for the right to food.
Andreas Schaumayer studied administrative sciences and earned his doctorate in this field. He worked at the BMZ on topics such as the WTO, supply chains and sustainability standards. He then moved to the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag as an economic advisor. Back at the BMZ, he is now Head of Division for Food Security and Fisheries.
H.E. Ambassador Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile currently serves as the Chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security for the Biennium 2023-2025. She is also the Ambassador in Rome, Italy, and Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations Agencies in Rome. Additionally, she serves as the Vice-Chairperson of the Programme Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and, in 2023, she was the Chairperson of the Africa Regional Group.
Mary is a development expert with 15 years of experience promoting justice through work with communities and policymakers. From 2020 to 2024, she led a project at Rural Outreach Africa in Vihiga County, which led to the creation of the Right to Food Coalition Kenya, where she now serves as coordinator. She focuses on advocacy, research, and education around the right to food. Additionally, she is the deputy editor of AJFAND and writes on food rights, nutrition, and socio-economic factors affecting food access in Kenya and Africa.
Wallace Gichunge is a journalist who has worked as a communications manager on behalf of the Kenyan government for more than fifteen years, particularly on the issues of forest conservation and tea production. He also founded the Centre for Media & Information Literacy Kenya.
Ivo Rzegotta is Senior Public Affairs Manager Germany at the Good Food Institute. He leads the work of GFI Europe in Germany and the entire DACH region. He works with stakeholders from politics and non-governmental organisations to improve the policy framework for plant-based and cultured meat and fermented foods in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He has experience in strategic planning and political communication.
Sally Roach is a Senior Manager with over 10 years of experience in the buying and sustainability fields. At the "Aldi Süd" Group, she leads Business Implementation within the International Sustainability Team. Before transitioning to the International Sustainability team, Roach spent eight years as a buyer for Fresh Produce.
Scientist Dr. Rick de Stagé has over 40 years experience working in the land sector in Southern Africa. He is part of the Land Portal knowledge engagement team working to research and develop knowledge resources for Southern, Central and Eastern Africa. Rick is also a Senior Research Associate with Phuhlisani NPC, a South African land sector NGO. He has a PhD from the University of Cape Town.
Paul Kadjo is a designer, stylist and founder of the brand bearing his name. Using an upcycling concept, Paul Kadjo produces textiles, accessories and art objects from old clothes, banana fibres and other by-products. Born in Germany and raised in the Ivory Coast, his work aims to reflect a fusion of different cultures and influences. He is a graduate of the AMD Akademie Mode & Design Hamburg and winner of the Best Sustainable Concept Award at Berlin Fashion Week 2021.
Allan Mubiru was born in Uganda and studied business administration, with a focus on finance, at Makerere University in Uganda. He is a co-founder of the Kaffee-Kooperative and is responsible for sourcing and quality control. Together with the company Rwashoscco, which is owned by six Rwandan agricultural cooperatives, the idea of Angelique's Finest was born. The coffee is grown exclusively by small Rwandan farmers who organise themselves independently in the cooperatives.
Claudia Huber is the owner and senior consultant of devImpact, a consultancy firm working on financial inclusion with a focus on the agri-food sector. Previously Claudia worked at CGAP/The World Bank and for financial institutions serving low-income households and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Claudia is also a member of the Board of Directors of the African Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund and the Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Felix Phiri is the Director for Nutrition, at the Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS, at the Malawian Ministry of Health. He is responsible for policy and technical guidance, leadership, oversight and high-level advocacy for nutrition programs.
Ebun Feludu is the founder of Kokari Coconuts & Company, a Nigerian agro-processing company which turns coconuts into food and personal care products. She has been entrepreneur from her early days in college and has worked in the creative media space with over 20 years of experience.
Nina Mannheimer is Co-Founder of Klim. As Chief Product Officer (CPO), she is responsible for digital products, working at the intersection of agriculture, design and technology. Klim is an AgriTech company whose digital platform supports farmers in the transition to regenerative agriculture, which restores soils and actively stores CO2.
Sharon Migeri is an agricultural scientist at the Sustainable Agroecosystems’ Group (SAE) at ETH Zurich. Her role is to ensure quality of products produced through RUNRES innovations.
Leonhard Späth is a social scientist at the Sustainable Agroecosystems’ Group (SAE) and Transdisciplinarity Lab (TdLab) at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. His focus is the integration of different stakeholders’ perspectives to co-design projects.
Delphine Larrousse has been Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia at the World Vegetable Center based in Bangkok, Thailand, since January 2019. Previously, she was a Senior Program Officer in Agriculture and Food Security at Canada's International Development Research Center (IDRC). Her expertise in international development is based on 15 years of experience in designing, managing, monitoring and evaluating projects around the world.
Ruth Okowa is Country Director in Kenya at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). Previously, she was Regional Director for Africa at BRAC International for 4 years. Her expertise includes agriculture and food security, water, hygiene and sanitation, youth development, advocacy and emergency response and more.
Arne Loth studied literature and environmental science and is a political specialist for the biodiversity campaign at the NABU federal association in Berlin.
Dr. Rana Samara is an Associate Professor and Researcher in the field of Entomology and Biological Control. She is working at Palestine Technical University since 2009. She is responsible for the development and implementation of biological control technologies for management of insect pests and diseases, supporting crop management practices for greenhouses and horticultural production.
Simeon Kambalame is a Project Officer at Timveni Child and Youth Media Organization, he holds a Bachelor of Social Work Degree (BSW) and is passionate about youth empowerment.
Abbas Milhem is the current Executive Director (since 2014) of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union, providing technical guidance and full supervision on project development and implementation processes. He previously worked with the Sudan Civil Society and Youth Participation (CSDY) Program as a Country Director for Sudan.
Dr. Muriel Asseburg is a Senior Fellow in the Africa and Middle East Research Group at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). From October 2006 to June 2012, she headed the research group "Middle East and Africa" at the SWP.
Ms. Elmi is the Special Representative responsible for managing programmes and operations covering humanitarian, development, and normative areas of activity for UNICEF State of Palestine. Prior to assuming her current responsibilities in August 2020, Lucia served amongst other roles as Representative of UNICEF in Mali and Tajikistan.
Victor Raballa reports for Daily Nation in Kisumu Bureau. He previously worked for The People Daily newspaper before joining Nation Media Group in July 2017. Raballa writes on a wide range of issues, including business, politics, environment, governance and human rights. He holds a degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Journalism from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.
In a world facing crises – from pandemics, armed conflicts, and climate change – how do we ensure everyone has a healthy diet within planetary boundaries? A new podcast by Food4Transformation discover solutions talking to government officials, scientists, NGOs and farmers around the world. To all episodes of the F4T Podcast.
Dr. Jacqueline Mkindi, president of the Agriculture Council Tanzania (ACT), Member of Food & Agriculture Delivery Committees of the Tanzanian president, CEO of the Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA).
William Madudike is a potato farmer with 12 hectares of land he rents together with his partners. The 29-year-old Zimbabwean is the National Youth Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union.
gebana is a pioneer company of fair trade in Switzerland. What began with the so-called banana women and fair bananas in the 1970s is now a company with sustainable supply chains in Burkina Faso, Togo, Tunisia and Greece. gebana buys directly from almost 12,000 farming families in these countries and employs 850 people worldwide, 92 percent of whom work in countries of the global South. The company's vision is fairer and more sustainable world trade.
Carolin Schaar studied International Economics and Development as well as Agricultural Economics. After various positions in the agricultural and food industry, she has been working in marketing for gebana since 2018 - a Swiss pioneer company in fair trade.
Felix Chiyenda is a Programme Officer for Youth Participation and Economic Empowerment at the National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM), a statutory body of the Republic of Malawi established in 1996 by the National Youth Council of Malawi Act.
Ally-Raza Qureshi is the Representative and Country Director WFP Iraq Country Office. He is a national of Pakistan and has a background in accounting. He has worked with WFP for over 20 years.
Dr Harry Hoffmann ist Senior Forschungsmitarbeiter für Governance of Food Systems Harry Hoffmann is Senior Research Associate for Governance of Food Systems Transformation at TMG Research gGmbH as part of the TMG Think Tank for Sustainability. His research interests are in food and nutrition security, natural resource management, bioenergy, and food systems transformation.
Nathalie Demel is Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy at Welthungerhilfe. She has been advising Welthungerhilfe programs in their advocacy work around nutrition issues for more than 2 years.
Dr Niladri Sekhar Bagchi teaches economics at the University of Galgotias in India. His research areas include agricultural value chains for smallholder farmers, rural livelihoods and migration.
Dr Olayinka Idowu Kareem is a food economist from Nigeria. His research areas include international trade, trade policy, regional integration and development.
Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem holds a PhD in economics. She works as a senior researcher at AKADEMIYA2063, Rwanda, in her research area of development economics.
The multimedia report first appeared on RiffReporter on 5/26/2023, as part of the "Lessons from Africa" series on sustainable development goals and tech-based solutions from Africa. It has been translated into English and French.
The project was funded by the European Journalism Center, through the Solutions Journalism Accelerator program. This fund is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Leonie March reports as a freelance journalist from southern Africa for public broadcasting and German print media. She is a member of the correspondent network weltreporter.net. Since 2009, she lives in the South African port metropolis of Durban.
The initiative CompensACTION for food security and a healthy planet was launched in July 2022 under German G7 Presidency by the BMZ within the Food Security Working Group.
Sara Worku is a development professional with 15 years of experience. She has been Coordinator of Alliance2015-Ethiopia since 2019. Sara Worku’s role involves providing strategic intelligence and steering, facilitation, coordination, representation and advocacy competencies to Alliance2015 members.
Dr. Alisher Mirzabaev is Senior Researcher at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and former Chair of the Production Economics Group, Institute for Food and Resource Economics (ILR), University of Bonn. He also works as Senior Agricultural Economist for Unique Land Use. He was an observer at the Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB58) in June 2023.
Dr. Bettina von Reden has been Head of International Project Cooperation and Fundraising at Fairtrade Germany since 2022. Previously, she headed the Policy and Development team for almost five years and was a consultant for international project partnerships.
Dr. Christine Chemnitz has been co-director of the Berlin-based think tank Agora Agrar since May 2022. Previously, she headed the international agricultural and food policy unit of the Heinrich Böll Foundation for 16 years. During this time, she advised 30 of the foundation's international offices on agricultural and food policy issues, among other things, and closely followed international processes in the areas of climate and food policy.
Friederike Bauer studied American Studies, Communication Science and Politics in Munich, Los Angeles and Morelia. She worked at the FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) for 14 years, first as a trainee, later as an editor, correspondent and as a member of the commentary team. After that, she worked in development cooperation. Since 2011, she has been working as a freelance journalist, author and speechwriter. Her special focus is on foreign and development policy as well as sustainability. She is the author of various books.
Hussein Tadicha Wario, a son of Borana pastoralists from northern Kenya, is the current Executive Director of the Center for Research and Development in Drylands.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, based in Germany, is the world’s leading applied research organization. By prioritizing key technologies for the future and commercializing its findings in business and industry, it plays a major role in the innovation process. A trailblazer and trendsetter in innovative developments and research excellence, it is helping shape our society and our future.
Blessing Mene is the founder of the Nigerian fintech company Vetsark. Growing up in a family of farmers, he has had an interest in agriculture and veterinary medicine since a young age.
Dr. Julia Köhn is shaping the transformation of global agricultural & food systems as a founder, entrepreneur and investor. As Chair of the German AgriFood Society, she represents the interests of German AgriTech, FoodTech and BioTech startups and is particularly committed to internationally competitive funding for High & DeepTech startups in the field of agri-food transformation.
Mareike Haase has been working for Bread for the World (Brot für die Welt) since 2013, where she heads the World Food and Social Rights Unit in the Policy Department. She is also a member of the board of VENRO, the umbrella organization of development and humanitarian non-governmental organizations in Germany.
Kolyang Palebele, born in Chad, is an agropastoralist and expert in rural and community development. Among other positions, Kolyang Palebele is President of the Board of Directors of the Pan African Farmers' Organization (PAFO).
Isabel Knößlsdorfer is a Docotoral Researcher at the Chair of International Food Economics and Rural Development at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Knößlsdorfer has studied Culture and Society of Africa at the University in Bayreith and for her masters she went to the University of Passau and studied Development Studies. Her research interests lie in Food Security and Dietary Diversity, Inequality and Poverty, Agrobiodiversity and Rural Development.
James Wanzala has studied at the Multimedia University Kenya and has been working for nine years as reporter for the Standard group PLC. He is mainly covering stories related to business ventures that are environment-friendly and have successful business models. These stories have brought Mr Wanzala to different parts of the world, including Russia, the Netherlands and Germany.
Karen Mapusua is President of IFOAM Organics International (2021) and is the Director of the Land Resources Division of the Pacific Community based in Fiji providing scientific and technical support in agricultural development, serving 22 Pacific Island states. She has a background in NGO capacity building and management and has worked in rural development in the Pacific islands region for close to 20 years with a focus on organic agriculture as a path to social and economic development. She co-founded the Pacific Organic & Ethical Trade Community (POETCom), and was extensively involved in developing the Pacific Organic Guarantee Scheme and developing alternative forms of certification that empower farmers.
Fernanda Machiaveli is Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Rural Development and Family Farming of Brazil. In the Government Transition Cabinet, she was part of the Special Advisory team for Technical Groups, the coordination of the WG Center of Government and the advisory of the Council for Social Participation. She is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the University of São Paulo (USP).
Sandisiwe Dlamini joined Black Mamba Chillies as Food Safety Officer in February 2021. She studied Food Science and Technology at the University of Eswatini and then worked as a laboratory analyst and quality manager in the IT industry.
Ramon Brentführer studied Geology and Integrated Water Resources Management in Cologne. After working stations at the „Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU)“ and „Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) he joint 2012 the Sector Project „Policy Advice Groundwater“ at the Federal Institute for Geoscience and Natural Resources (BGR) that he is managing since 2016. Ramon has 10 years experiences in groundwater management and governance mainly in Africa and the MENA region.
Dr. Caroline Milow is GIZ Programme Manager at the Green Central Asia Project and has serveral years of experience in the water sector in Central Asia. Ms Milow has profound experience in international organizations, working on good governance, democratization, environmental protection and economic development.
Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) is a multi-donor International Initiative funded by the BMZ, the EU, the MFA NL, Norad, SIDA, and USAID to scale groundbreaking water-energy-food innovations that impact food security, gender, and poverty reduction in an environmentally sustainable way. The WE4F hosted seminar series “Climate Change, Agriculture, Water and Efficient Irrigation” brings together technical and policy experts to underscore the importance of water management in agriculture, and exchange on key topics in the field. For more information on the project visit: we4f.org.
Daniel Montas is part of the Governance of Food Systems Transformation team at TMG Research gGmbH. He is currently finalizing a Master's degree in Global & Development Studies at Humboldt University, University of Pretoria and Chulalongkorn University. Previously, Daniel Montas worked for the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union-Latin America and Caribbean Foundation (EU-LAC). He was also chosen as the Dominican Republic's Youth Representative to the United Nations for 2019.
Rural 21 has been dedicated to all rural development issues for more than 50 years. Its aim is to promote strategies and measures to strengthen rural areas in developing and emerging countries and to support their implementation. Rural 21 aims to promote dialogue between academia and policymakers, the private sector, civil society and practitioners.
Ben Leyka is Chief Executive Officer of the African Agri Council NPC. He has worked with global stakeholders, including the Pan-African Parliament, the crowdfunding platform Capital Surge Inc and the investment company Equitics. Ben sits on various Board Committees and is also involved with the Africa 1st Initiative and DRC Invest.
GDPRD is a network of 40 bilateral and multilateral donors, international financial institutions, intergovernmental organizations, foundations, and development agencies. Set up in 2003 following the first High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2002, it brings together donors that believe the best way to tackle global poverty and hunger is to develop agriculture, reshape food systems, and invest in rural communities. More here.
Stephanie Heiland is a political scientist and ethnologist and holds a postgraduate degree in development cooperation from ETH Zurich. She started her career in GIZ in the area of water and sanitation, since 2009 she has been working in agriculture, with a specific focus on the interface between climate change and agriculture. Currently she is co-leading the sector project “Agriculture”, in which climate change also plays an integral role. Also, she was part of the GIZ observer delegation at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheik.
Anke Oppermann is Director 'Decent work worldwide; food and nutrition security' at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Her previous development policy assignments inside and outside BMZ include international human rights, cooperation with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS), policy planning and parliamentary work.
Bettina Jahn studied political science and Latin American studies in Cologne and Buenos Aires and worked for non-governmental organisations in Germany and South Africa. She has been working at UN Women Germany since 2017 and is responsible for press, communication and education.
The Fairactivists are young, committed people who want to promote issues such as fair trade, nature and climate protection and gender justice, and who want to raise awareness among a younger target group in particular. Since 2021, Fairtrade Deutschland e. V. has been offering young people between the age of 18 to 27 the opportunity to actively work for a sustainable future and fair trade.
Christoph Gornott is an agricultural scientist, leader of the working group Adaptation in Agricultural Systems at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and chair of the department Agroecosystem Analysis and Modelling at the University of Kassel.
Julia Tomalka is a human geographer and project coordinator in the working group Adaptation in Agricultural Systems at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
Thomas Forster lehrt Politik und Governance an der New School University in New York/USA. Er war federführender Berater für gemeinsame Veröffentlichungen zu Stadt-Land-Verbindungen und nachhaltiger territorialer Entwicklung und Ernährungssystemen in Stadtregionen, unter anderem bei der FAO, UN-Habitat, UNCCD und dem Übereinkommen über die biologische Vielfalt (CBD).
Marie Nasemann is a feminist, actress and fair fashion activist. As the most important ambassador for fair fashion in Germany, Marie has been introduced as the official voice of Conservation International in June 2022. The SPIEGEL bestselling author Marie Nasemann raises the awareness of an entire generation for green issues through her social media channels and her just newly launched fair fashion information platform fairknallt.
Dr. Ousmane Badiane is the founder and Executive Chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063. He is distinguished Fellow of the African Association of Agricultural Economists, recipient of the Africa Food Prize in 2015 and member of the World Academy of Sciences. As the Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), he was instrumental in developing and guiding the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
Dr. Jorrit Kamminga is a political scientist specialising in the nexus between security and development. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Valencia in Spain. As a consultant, he worked on UNODC's World Drug Report in 2015 and 2022, as well as for the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD).
Saskia Widenhorn is the head of the Cameroon cotton component and the Sub-Saharan Cotton Initiative of the GIZ Global Project "Sustainability and Value Chain in Agricultural Supply Chains" (GV AgriChains). Previously, she worked on sustainability in global supply chains at the International Labor Organization (ILO), the social enterprise Fairphone, and GIZ in Myanmar and Cambodia.
TMG Research gGmbH as part of the TMG Think Tank for Sustainability supports the implementation of sustainable development targets and the Paris Climate Agreement. The work of TMG Research gGmbH aims to listen to the voices of local actors in global processes while at the same time influencing the global processes in such a way that they become effective for concrete transformation processes at the national and local level
The Initiative für Nachhaltige Agrarlieferketten (INA) is an alliance of stakeholders from the private sector, civil society and politics and part of the Nachhaltige Lieferketten und Standards (Sustainable Supply Chains and Standards) program of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Its goal is to achieve greater sustainability in global agricultural supply chains and to improve the living conditions of smallholder farmers. To achieve this, INA works independently of individual commodities, instead focusing on the development of sustainable regions in which a cross-commodity approach is applied.
The FiBL Research Institutes for Organic Agriculture are state-independent civil society institutions or non-profit enterprises in various European countries. The FiBL Group combines the goal of continuously developing organic agriculture along the entire value chain of the food system through research, knowledge transfer and advisory services, practice-oriented projects and public relations work.
Dr. Julia Bellinghausen is the head of the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) in Bonn since 2013. After completing her doctorate at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn in 2011, she became Purchaser Overseas for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables at Weiling GmbH before finally joining the IPD.
Jochen Flasbarth is State Secretary in Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). He was previously State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, President of the German Environment Agency and President of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)
Julia Harnal is Vice President Public Affairs for Agriculture at BASF. Also, Julia Harnal has been Co-Chair of the German Agribusiness Alliance (GAA) for Asia and Country Representative for India since 2019. She was recently appointed to the FAO's Private Sector Advisory Group.
Cornelia Berns is in charge of the Directorate for International Cooperation and World Food Affairs at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).
Svenja Schulze is Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and a member of the German Bundestag. Previously, from 2018 to 2021, she was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Shivani Kannabhiran is Sectorlead for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains at the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct. She is a specialist in risk-based due diligence and leads the work on responsible agricultural supply chains. She works closely with policymakers, businesses, investors, civil society and labour representatives to promote the OECD standards for responsible business conduct worldwide.
Dr David Laborde Debucquet joined the International Food Policy Research Institue (IFPRI) in Washington DC in 2007 as a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade and Institutions Department and Theme Leader for Macroeconomics and Trade. He conducts research on globalisation, international trade, measurement and modelling of protectionism, multilateral and regional trade liberalisation, and environmental issues (climate change, biofuels).
Carin Smaller is Executive Director of the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate. She was co-Director and co-author of Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger. She was also author of the IISD Guide to Negotiating Investment Contracts for Farmland and Water.
Mathias Mogge is Secretary General and Chairman of the Board of Welthungerhilfe. Since 2013, he has been active on the voluntary board of the Association of German Development and Humanitarian Organisations (VENRO). In December 2021, he was elected chairman in a dual leadership. Since 2018, he has also been a member of the board of trustees of the Aid by Trade Foundation.
Prof. Dr Anna-Katharina Hornidge is Director of the German Development Institute and Professor of Global Sustainable Development at the University of Bonn since March 2020. Before joining the DIE and the University of Bonn in 2020, she was Professor of Social Sciences in the Marine Tropics at the University of Bremen and Head of the Department of Social Sciences and the Research Group on the Sociology of Development and Knowledge at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research in Bremen.
Since 2018 the non-profit organisation UFULU provides women and girls in Malawi with menstrual cups – a sanitary product that is reusable, safe, eco-friendly and hygienic. They aim to improve womens mestruation health and give them the power to live freely.
Frauke Bohner has been a student assistant in the Politics and External Relations team of Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. since 2018 and is studying for a Master's degree in Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
The gender and peace activist Marthe Wandou has been committed to preventing and combating sexualised violence against girls and women since the 1990s.
Dirk Meyer is the Head of Directorate‐General 1 'Global health, employment, transformation of the economy, digital technologies, food and nutrition security' at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted serves as Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, a One CGIAR entity, partnering with the Global Programme 'Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture' under the special initiative ONEWORLD no hunger. She is recipient of the 2021 World Food Prize, as well as the 2021 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award.
Dr Adam Prakash is a TMG research associate, whose work explores the quantitative links between climate change and agriculture and how emerging technologies can de-risk food systems.
Dr Elena Lazutkaitė is an animal scientist and interdisciplinary researcher focusing on food and agriculture, transboundary pests and resilience, and environmental sustainability.
Since 1975, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. The CGIAR research center currently has more than 600 employees working in over 50 countries.
Kah Walla is an activist, entrepreneur and politician from Cameroon. She is the founder and CEO of the international consulting firm STRATEGIES! and President of the Cameroon Gender and Development Network. She also founded the civil movement Cameroon Ô'Bosso. The network supports local civil organisations in representing their interests and being an active part of the development and implementation of national laws.
The World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) is one of the largest and most experienced nature conservation organizations in the world and active in more than 100 countries. Around the world, around five million are supporting the WWF.
Wangu Mwangi provides editorial and strategic communications support for TMG projects. She has more than 20 years of experience as a journalist and development communications specialist, working at the interface of research, policy, and practice.
Shamika Mone is a researcher turned organic farmer and entrepreneur originally from Maharashtra. She does organic farming on four acres of leased farm land where she grows traditional rice varieties and vegetables. Since 2017, Mone serves as Chairperson of the Inter-continental Network of Organic Farmers Organisations (INOFO), a self-organised structure for Organic Farmers within IFOAM Organics International.
Louisa Nelle supports the SEWOH Lab Food Security Project and the Strengthening Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture project at TMG, with a focus on building climate-resilient urban food systems through digitalization. Her research interests include critical political ecology, the water-food-energy security nexus, rural-urban linkages, and climate justice.
Obafunsho is research fellow at the Forestry Research Institute Nigeria (FRIN). Her main goal is to ensure improved livelihoods of rural dwellers by promoting gender-balanced, resource-providing, eco-friendly agricultural practices.
Olatunji is a Senior Research fellow with Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. She works at the department of Forest Economics and Extension Services where she is actively involved with the dissemination of technologies to farmers, evaluations and public relations.
Orumwese is a Research Fellow at Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN). She specializes on climate change and as extension officer collaborates with various research institutions on improving extension delivery in South-west Nigeria.
Dr. Olarewaju is socio-economic researcher and extension officer with the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN). She currently heads the market and community outreach unit of extension services in her institute and is involved with engaging communities in climate action, gender mainstreaming, facilitating market access and improving farmers' livelihoods.
Dr. Olugbire is a socio-economic researcher in the Department of Forest Economics and Extension Services, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN). She is the Head of Extension Services and Outreach Unit of the Institute and coordinates Forest Extension activities and community development programs for the Institute.
Since November 2021, Dr. Martin Frick is Chief of the WFP-Bureau for Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein in Berlin. Previously, he served as special envoy of the UN Secretary-General at the Food Systems Summit 2021, Executive Director of the UNFCCC-secretariat tasked with the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement and as FAO-Climate Chief.
Björn Willms is communications advisor for the ‚Initiative for sustainable agricultural supply chains’ (INA) of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). Furthermore, he i spart of the secretariat of the ‚partnership for sustainable orange juice‘ (PANAO). Willms coordinates the working group ‚communications and fair trade‘ (AG Kommunikation Fairer Handel), initiated in 2020. Thus did he and his colleagues develop the joint communiqué #ichwillfair, promoting it successfully.
Leonie Bremer is a 24 y/o activist fighting against injustice with fridays for future. Since a year, she is leading campings with FFF MAPA (most affected people and areas) against the Global North demanding them to stop funding the destruction in the Global South. Bremer has been press spokesperson of FFF Germany since 2019, she has organized the first continuous strike week in Germany and appeared in various talkshows. Before FFF, she was part of the occupation of Hambacher Forest in Northrhine-Westphalia. Besides her activism, Bremer writes her master thesis in the technology of renewable energies.
Jan Plagge is an agricultural engineer and president of Bioland, the largest organic farming association in Germany; since 2018 he has also served as president of IFOAM Organics Europe, the international association of organic farming movements. Plagge studied horticultural sciences in Weihenstephan.
Dr. Natasha Mwila is a Senior Advisor in the GIZ Green Innovation Centres for the Agriculture and Food Sector project in Zambia. Her focus is on sustainability and improved seed quality for soybean and groundnut value chains.
Claudia Witkowski is an Advisor in the GIZ Green Innovation Centres for the Agriculture and Food Sector project in Zambia where she focuses on the development and impact evaluation of agricultural value chains.
Sebastian Köcke is a Junior Advisor for the GIZ in the Green Innovation Centres for the Agriculture and Food Sector in Zambia. Prior to that he was part of the GIZ Sector Programme Sustainable Sanitation and worked as a project engineer in the German private sector.
Matthias Berthold is an advisor in the GIZ Sector Project Rural Development where he focuses on Food Loss & Waste and Water & Agriculture. Before his position in the sector project he worked in Egypt in the context of irrigated agriculture and cooperation with the private sector.
Peter leads communications and strategic planning for WWF's global Food Practice. He worked in a leadership role with the UN Food Systems Summit communications team, overseeing communications for the Action Track on nature-positive production.
David Brand is a consultant in the lab of tomorrow at the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Since 2019, he has advised project teams around the world on implementing lab of tomorrow processes to create market-based solutions to development challenges. Another focus of his work is the methodological development of the lab of tomorrow. He is a certified design thinking expert and studied sociology and management in Mannheim, Mexico City and Istanbul.
Dr. Johanes Agbahey is agricultural economist. As advisor at the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, he is actively engaged in the development and management of projects based on requests from partner countries. His work contributes to improve agricultural policies and enhance intra-African trade.
Francisco Marí has been working since 2009 as a project officer for lobby and advocacy work in the areas of global nutrition, Agricultural Trade and Maritime Policy at Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World) in the Protestant Agency for Diakonia and Development, focusing on food security, artisanal fisheries, WTO, EU-Africa trade and fisheries agreements, deep-sea mining and the effects of food standards on small-scale producers.
Paul Newnham is the Director of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 Advocacy Hub, a secretariat catalysing, convening, and connecting NGOs, advocacy groups, civil society, the private sector and UN agencies to coordinate global campaigning and advocacy to achieve food systems transformation.
Christel Weller-Molongua has been leading the Rural Development and Agriculture Division at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Bonn since 2013. After studying geography with a focus on agricultural geography at the University of Trier she completed her post-graduate studies at the Center of International Rural Development of the Humboldt University in Berlin. She started her career with GIZ in Niger in 1989. This was followed by 14 years of project management and implementation in various African countries.
Michael Kühn is Senior Advisor Policy and External Relation at Welthungerhilfe. After studying political science and history in Hamburg, he worked at the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Research in Frankfurt, for the United Nations in El Salvador, at Greenpeace in Hamburg and the Lutheran World Federation in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He has been working for Welthungerhilfe since 2007, first as regional coordinator in Haiti and since July 2010 as climate policy officer in Bonn.
Martina Fleckenstein focuses on conservation, agriculture and sustainable production at national and international level. She previously worked for more than two decades with WWF-Germany as Director, Agriculture & Land Use Change. Among other issues, she worked on sustainability standards, transparency in supply chains, international commodity markets, and sustainable consumption for a range of projects in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Emile Frison is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). He focuses most of his career on the contribution of biodiversity to the nutritional quality of diets and the sustainability, resilience and productivity of smallholder agriculture.
Joao Campari is Global Leader of WWF's Food Practice, leading the Network´s efforts to enhance the sustainability of the global food system. His primary areas of focus are sustainable agriculture and aquaculture, sustainable diets, and food loss and waste. Joao is also the Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit Action Track 3, on boosting nature-positive production. Prior to WWF, Joao was Special Sustainability Advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture in Brazil, where he also served as President of the Low-Carbon Agriculture Platform and as Executive Secretary of the Agribusiness Commission on Sustainable Development. Joao holds a Ph.D. in environmental economics and his research and publications focus on the nexus of rural poverty and natural resources management in agricultural frontiers.
Irene Hoffmann is Secretary of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy. Contact: irene.hoffmann@fao.org
Dr Lawrence Haddad is GAIN’s Executive Director since 2016. Today, Lawrence chairs Action Track 1 of the United Nations Food Systems Summit and is the co-convener of the Standing Together for Nutrition. Prior to GAIN, Lawrence was lead author of the Global Nutrition Report, Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and Director of the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at IFPRI. He is the winner of the 2018 World Food Prize Foundation award together with David Nabarro. Click here for more.
Claudia Ringler is Deputy Division Director of the Environment and Production Technology Division (EPTD) at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). IFPRI provides research-based solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.
Since 2019, Matthias Berninger has been Head of Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability at the German pharmaceutical and agrochemical company Bayer. From 1994 to 2007 he was a member of the German Bundestag for the Green Party, and from 2001 to 2005 he was also Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture. From 2008, he worked at Mars in the fields of communications, sustainability and strategy development, and from 2011 as Head of Public Affairs.
Stefan Schmitz joined the Crop Trust as Executive Director in January 2020. He previously worked as Deputy Director-General and Commissioner for the “One World – No Hunger” Initiative at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). He also chaired the Steering Committee of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).
Sofi Lundin is a freelance journalist and photographer. She is an expert in the development and humanitarian field with vast experiences in conflict and post conflict environments.
Celia Dede d’ALMEIDA, is a Malian journalist, based in Bamako, Mali. She is Head of “ODEKA Media & Training” and editor of “Rue14.ml”, information platform in Mali. For several years, Celia Dede has been working to train journalists. She is also a communications consultant.
Florent Kossivi Tiassou is a Togolese-born journalist, trainer and consultant based in Bonn, Germany, who produces programmes and environment-related reports for "Deutsche Welle".As a trainer, he is specialised in the dissemination of best practice examples on climate change adaptation and sustainable land management (SLM) and was awarded with the Carl von Carlowitz Sustainability Award 2019/2020 by the "Senate of the Economy".
Christine Scholl is Senior Advisor for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains at the conservation organisation WWF. She joined WWF Germany in 2018 as Manager Sustainable Business and Markets and then took over the role as Acting Director of the Sustainable Business and Markets Department. Since 2020, she works on sustainable and responsible supply chains, standards and certification systems in the Agriculture and Land Use Change Department. Previously, Christine Scholl worked at the think tank adelphi on responsible supply chains, the reduction of negative environmental and social impacts in the production and extraction of raw materials, and the impacts of climate change on the environment and economic sectors.
Bharat Dogra is a journalist and author involved in public-spirited writing for 49 years in English and Hindi. Over 9500 articles written by him have been published in newspapers and journals in India and abroad. He has worked closely with several social movements. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children and Man Over Machine ( Gandhian Ideas for our times). He is honorary Convenor, Campaign to Save the Earth Now. Web-site bharatdogra.in
Dr Fergus Sinclair is Chief Scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF (Center for International Forest Research – World Agroforestry) based in Nairobi through collaboration with Bangor University, UK. He is Co-convenor of the Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology and led the Livelihood Systems flagship of the CGIAR research program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA).
Dr. phil. Frank Bliss is Professor for development anthropology at the University of Hamburg and senior research fellow and lecturer at the University of Duisburg-Essen (INEF). He did research in Egypt, Maghrib, Sudan, in Central Asia and several other countries. As a consultant, he mainly worked in the water sector and in projects related to the implementation of social safeguards of infrastructure as well as in policy advice.
Dr. rer. pol. Karin Gaesing, geographer and spatial planner, is a researcher at INEF, University of Duisburg-Essen. She has many years of experience in development cooperation, including for GTZ in Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire, and as a freelance consultant in Africa and India. She is an expert in regional planning, gender, participation and land use planning.
Dirk Schattschneider heads the Directorate for Sustainable Supply Chains, Nutrition and Rural Development and Sustainability Standards at the BMZ. He is also the commissioner for the special initiative "ONE WORLD No Hunger". Previously, he was assigned to the Ministry’s regional office for Eastern Europe. He has also held positions at the Federal Ministry of Health and the Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Kola Masha is the Managing Director of Babban Gona. Prior to Babban Gona, Kola was a Managing Director and CEO of a major subsidiary in the Notore Group, one of Nigeria’s leading agricultural conglomerates, where he raised USD 24 million to develop an integrated agricultural trading, production and processing business. Furthermore, he led the development and execution of Notore’s commercial strategy across West and Central Africa, preparing the company to sell one million tons of fertilizer and establish a modern seed business. He led the effort to raise USD 130 million in equity and the restructuring of USD 360 million in debt.
Michel Bernhardt is Head of Project at GIZ for “Scaling Digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups” (SAIS) as well as Deputy Head of Program of the “GIZ Fund for International Agricultural Research” (FIA). He is also Chair of the “Strategic Impact, Monitoring and Evaluation Committee” (SIMEC) of the CGIAR.
Katie Gallus is a TV-moderator and journalist with a focus on Africa. After studying Geography and International Relations she attended journalist training with a German TV Channel and worked as a reporter in Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Dr. Diana Moran is Sustainability Manager at BASF Agricultural Solutions in Germany. She joined BASF in 2012, working as laboratory leader for crop protection application technology until 2015, when she moved into the field of sustainability in agriculture.
Kindernothilfe (German for "Supporting children in need") was founded in Germany in 1959 as a Christian organisation to support vulnerable and marginalized children and youth to develop their full potentials. Today Kindernothilfe is one of the largest Christian children's rights organisations in Europe. We partner with local non-governmental organisations to implement more than 600 projects in 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Institute for Development and Peace (INEF), which was founded in 1990, is an institute of the University of Duisburg-Essen (Faculty of Social Sciences) with a strong focus on policy-related and policy-relevant research.
As a scaling catalyst at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Lennart Woltering helps scientists and development practitioners scale the impact of their work beyond the project boundaries. He advocates for a shift in mindset around scaling from “reaching many” to include sustainability, responsibility and systems change. Passionate about translating academic research findings into practical application, he developed the Scaling Scan tool that helps users quickly identify bottlenecks and opportunities for scaling. Beyond CIMMYT and the CGIAR, Lennart advises a range of development organizations, alliances and donors on scaling strategies.
DGRV - German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation is the cross-sector umbrella federation and auditing association of the cooperative sector in Germany. The DGRV coordinates the cooperative work and represents the common interests of cooperatives in Germany and Europe.
Dr Jan Grossarth is a freelance journalist and book author. His main topics are ecology, agriculture, food security and related social issues. After having worked as a senior editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he was head of communications at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL) in 2019. Since 2020, he has worked as a freelance journalist for "Die Welt", "Jüdische Allgemeine", among others, and is a research associate in a project on bioeconomy at LMU Munich.
Moritz Reigl finished his post-graduate studies at the Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt-Universität Berlin in December 2020 and is now working as a freelance consultant. His research and academic education are driven by interdisciplinarity and complex system-thinking.
Nicole Paganini is an associated researcher at the SLE and team coordinator of the South Africa study. Her research focuses on (urban) food systems and food justice.
Johanna Hansmann is postgraduate participant of the 58th cohort at the Centre for Rural Development (SLE) in Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She holds a master's degree in food security and development from University of Reading in UK. Her subject and interest areas are inclusive agribusiness models, food systems and rural transformation.
Alexander Mewes is a graduate from the 58. cohort of the postgraduate course of the Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt-Universität Berlin. He has a master's degree in Development Studies from the University of Passau and gained field research experience in international research institutes (IITA-CGIAR, EAWAG) focusing on food security, rural development and behavioral change.
Dr. Agustina Malvido is a research assistant since 2019 at the Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt University Berlin. She has a PhD. in agricultural economics with focus on agricultural cooperatives (Humboldt University), an Erasmus Mundus International Master of Science in Rural Development, and a Master of Arts in Development Management and Policy.
Johanna Steinkühler is an expert on the transformation of agricultural products and works for the GIZ in the Green Innovation Centres for the Agriculture and Food Sector in Togo.
Salima Mahamoudou is West and Central Africa Lead at the World Resources Institute (WRI). She defines WRI’s restoration strategy for francophone and Sahelian Africa, and future WRI-AFR100 engagement in dryland Africa. Mahamoudou plays a major role in advancing technical land restoration work in Francophone and Sahelian AFR100 countries, with main current focal countries including Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria.
Bernadette Arakwiye is a Research Associate in the Global Restoration Initiative at World Resources Institute (WRI). Her work supports restoration monitoring in African countries, and she serves as an in-country liaison for WRI in Rwanda. Her expertise centers on the use of Geographic Information Science for Terrestrial Landscape Monitoring to inform Policy and Management Decisions.
Cyrus Samimi is Professor of Climatology at the University of Bayreuth, and is also Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS) based there. His work focuses on climatology, vegetation geography, remote sensing and the effects of climate change.
David Sahay is a documentary filmmaker and journalist with a focus on China. After studying politics he attended the Zeitenspiegel-Reportageschule and worked for some of the most renown printed magazines and TV Channels in Germany.
Dr. Maria Flachsbarth is the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. She has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2002 and is a trained veterinarian. Since 2013 Dr. Flachsbarth has been Parliamentary State Secretary in two coalition governments of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Prof. Dr. Markus Hanisch is the Director of Centre for Rural Development (SLE) Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He has a PhD. in agricultural and resource economics. Many years of experience as a chairholder, project manager, and university lecturer at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Particular expertise in the field of rural cooperatives, international/national. Professional experience as a consultant and expert for various international organisations, including the GIZ, FAO, World Bank, Conservation International, and UN-DESA.
Judith Henze is a post-doctoral consultant for sustainable innovations in agriculture, focusing on ICTs. She currently explores how AI can be employed to support farmers, food systems and to minimise human-wildlife-conflicts.
Silke Stöber is a senior researcher at Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, with many years of experience in academic research, consultancy and teaching, covering the areas of food security and climate change adaptation. Her research and training is driven by transdisciplinarity and co-research with smallholder farmers. She is experienced in communication and management of junior research teams and supervises up to three Master or Bachelor theses per year. She has specialised on mixed methods research methodologies and designs, including representative household surveys, historical weather analysis, randomised field experiments, inter-farm comparison trials and participatory co-research with smallholder farmer groups.
Jürgen Vögele assumed the position of Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank on April 1, 2020. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Vögele was Global Director of the World Bank's Climate Change Group and Senior Director of the World Bank's Agriculture and Food Global Practice. He chairs the CGIAR System Council Board, which oversees agricultural research programs to address poverty, food and nutrition security, and improve natural resource management around the world. Since joining the World Bank in 1991, Dr. Vögele has served in a variety of roles. He holds a PhD in agricultural economics and a master's degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Hohenheim, in Germany.
Andreas Freytag is Professor of Economic Policy at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. Among other things, he heads the Schumpeter Center for the Study of Social and Economic Change there. His research focuses on foreign economic and development policy issues, particularly with regard to southern Africa. Freytag is a founding member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Africa Association.
Veselina Vasileva is a policy officer in the Policy Department of the Fair Trade Company GEPA. The focus of her work at GEPA is on the needs and interests of smallholder farmers and trading partners, in order to represent them in Fair Trade vis-à-vis politicians in Germany and worldwide. Since 2011, Vasileva has been active in the areas of fair trade, business and human rights, sustainable public procurement and climate change.
Jann Lay is head of the research focus "Growth and Development" at the GIGA Leipniz Institute for Global and Regional Studies in Hamburg. As an adjunct professor, he teaches development economics at the University of Göttingen. In his research he examines various aspects of economic development in the Global South with a focus on Africa.
Paul A.M. van Zwieten is Assistant Professor of Fisheries Management at the Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, with long-term experience in working in small-scale freshwater and marine fisheries in tropical regions in Africa and South-East Asia. His main research interest is in data and information requirements to evaluate fisheries resource use in data poor situations, spatial use of fisheries resources (fishing effort allocation) and fishing patterns (balanced harvesting). He currently works together with experts from Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda on the Small Fish and Food Security project.
Mark Leclair is a Communication for Development expert with 12 years of professional experience in program development, design and evaluation; project management and coordination. He has worked in East, Southern, and West Africa with Farm Radio International, providing support for the development of participatory communication programs aimed at increasing food security and health outcomes for listening audiences. Mark has a Masters in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) as well as an undergraduate degree in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa.
Ms. Burbano de Lara is WFP’s world expert in school feeding and a member of the Technical Committee for School Feeding of the Partnership for Child Development at the Imperial College in London. In this capacity, she has advised the governments of China, Colombia and Kenya, Ghana, among others, often in partnership with the World Bank. During her 14 years of experience with WFP, Carmen Burbano de Lara has specialized in supporting governments to strengthen their national social protection and safety net policies and programmes and to tackle malnutrition and food insecurity.
Prof. Richard Mkandawire is a Socio-economist and a Rural Development expert. He is currently the Africa Director of the Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), and Chairperson of the Malawi Planning Commission. Before joining AAP, he worked as Vice President of the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership where he led a team of experts in driving innovative interventions for efficient and effective delivery of fertilizers among smallholder famers in Africa. In 2012 the University of Pretoria appointed him as “Extra-Ordinary Professor” for his contribution to spearheading agriculture transformation in Africa. Prof Mkandawire has over the years published extensively in agriculture development policy and related areas.
Adesoji Adelaja is Professor in Land Policy at Michigan State University (MSU). His research span the areas of Agricultural Development, Land Policy, Regional Development, Food Policy and Renewable Energy Policy. He founded and directed several research centers and institutes, including the Food Policy Institute (Rutgers) and the Land Policy Institute (MSU). On leave from MSU, Adelaja recently spent five years as Special Adviser on Economic Intelligence at the Nigerian Presidency. Adelaja is a fellow of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review and has been active on corporate boards in the food, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, investment banking and information technology sectors.
Thomas Jayne is University Foundation Professor of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University. Jayne is a Distinguished Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and the African Association of Agricultural Economists. His research identifies emerging trends driving transformation in African agrifood systems. Over the past decade, he has received six research excellence awards, including the 2009 Outstanding Article Award in Agricultural Economics and the 2017 AAEA Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy Analysis. In 2019/20, Jayne serves as senior advisor to the President of the African Development Bank.
Jan Orbie is Associate Professor in European Union (EU) External Relations at the Department of Political Science at Ghent University (Belgium). He is a member of the Centre for EU Studies (CEUS) and the Ghent Centre for Global Studies (GCGS) at the same university. He has published on the EU’s external trade, social, development, humanitarian aid and democracy promotion policies. Recently, he has published on the labour rights and fair trade dimension of EU external policies, on civil society involvement in EU trade agreements, on the impact of the covid-19 crisis on EU trade policy, and on EU development policy including from a post-development perspective.
Klaus Töpfer Sustainability Fellow Nicole de Paula holds a PhD in International Relations from Sciences Po Paris. Her current work focuses on the translation of planetary health studies for policymakers. She is the Executive Director and founder of the “Women Leaders for Planetary Health” initiative, launched at COP25, and co-founder of the Planetary Health Research Group at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Nicole is a member of the global committee tasked to design the Planetary Health Global Summit 2021, in partnership with the Planetary Health Alliance.
Kathleen Mar’s work focuses on the nexus of climate, air pollution, and health. She holds a Ph.D. in atmospheric chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and worked at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) prior to joining the IASS, where she leads the group Climate Action in National and International Processes (ClimAct). She is a Senior Associate at the Women Leaders for Planetary Health.
Léa Rouanet is an Economist working at the World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab. Her current research identifies and addresses gender-based constraints to economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on agriculture, youth employment, socio-emotional skills, gender-based violence and adolescent girls programming. She is currently involved in several impact evaluations on these topics across Africa. Before joining the World Bank, Rouanet was a PhD candidate and Research Fellow at the Paris School of Economics, where her research focused on nutrition, child mortality, fertility and gender preferences in Africa. She holds a PhD from the Paris School of Economics.
The World Bank’s Africa Region Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) conducts impact evaluations which assess the outcome of development interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa, to generate evidence on how to close the gender gap in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency. GIL focuses on five thematic areas: Agriculture, Private Sector Development, Property Rights, Social Norms, and Youth Employment.
Beatrice Gakuba is the executive director of the African Women Agribusiness Network Afrika (AWAN-AFRIKA), a nonprofit focused on providing women-owned agribusinesses access to sustainable markets, trade information, innovative financing solutions and technologies. After a 20-year career in poverty alleviation and integrated development with various United Nations Agencies and other Development organizations, Beatrice Gakuba returned to her native Rwanda in 2004. She then started one of Rwanda’s most thriving businesses in horticulture and has been hailed by international leaders as an example of the potential success of entrepreneurship in economically revitalizing economies in African countries. Beatrice Gakuba is Food security and Nutrition Expert, Senior Content Adviser in Agribusiness, Social innovator, and a seasoned entrepreneur. She is very passionate about issues related to women in Agribusiness and economic empowerment.
Franziska Humbert is a doctor of law. She has been working at the international development organisation Oxfam in the area of economics and human rights since 2004. Her work includes collaborating with national and international business and political decision-makers and preparing case studies on companies as well as developing and commenting on draft legislation. In addition to working with Oxfam Germany, Franziska Humbert also researches in the field of human rights and global trade at the University of Bern. She has been a professor on this since 2011 and taught international business law during the 2011 summer semester at the University of Zurich.
Carsta Neuenroth is gender adviser at Bread for the World. Her focus is on gender policy in the context of development cooperation and gender mainstreaming within the organization. Before that she worked as trainer and consultant for gender, agriculture and food security, project management and impact orientation with a German consultancy firm. Through her work she gained experience in many Latin American, African and Asian countries. As a development worker she lived in Guatemala for many years. She holds degrees in agriculture and development studies.
Nadine Babatounde, a trained agricultural engineer, has been involved in the fight against malnutrition for several years by implementing several projects to improve the nutrition of vulnerable target groups such as women and children. She started at CEBEDES as animator of the nutrition programme and quickly put her leadership skills to use as team leader, and later as JARDALIM project manager. She currently holds the latter position within the NGO.
Anne Floquet is an agricultural engineer, holds a PhD from the University of Hohenheim and has been working with the NGO CEBEDES in Benin since the 1990s. She also teaches at the university and conducts research in collaboration with farmers. Through discussions with women who are supervised by the NGO's nutrition animators, the idea for a programme for family gardens was born.
Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma is Deputy Director at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Before that, he worked many years for the WHO. Africa CDC is a specialized technical institution of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Member States and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats. Africa CDC supports African Union Member States in providing coordinated and integrated solutions to the inadequacies in their public health infrastructure, human resource capacity, disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, and preparedness and response to health emergencies and disasters. Established in January 2016 by the 26th Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Government and officially launched in January 2017, Africa CDC is guided by the principles of leadership, credibility, ownership, delegated authority, timely dissemination of information, and transparency in carrying out its day-to-day activities. The institution serves as a platform for Member States to share and exchange knowledge and lessons from public health interventions. Its headquarter is located in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
Ismahane Elouafi is Director General of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in Dubai. Prior to that, she had held management positions with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She also worked as a scientist with several international research organizations, including the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), and International Maize and Wheat Center (CIMMYT). Ismahane Elouafi holds a PhD in genetics from the University of Cordoba, Spain, and has a passion for science and its integration with politics.
Marvin Antonio Garcia Otero himself grew up on a finca near San Miguel in eastern El Salvador. He still manages it today, but he also had the opportunity to study agronomy and to contribute and develop his knowledge in San Miguel as deputy director of Caritas. The Caritas team has 21 members (8 of which are women). We are part of the Diocese of San Miguel and work with a total of 1250 families in three communities. We particularly focus on the topic of “supporting the youth”. This includes a house for young migrants from other Latin American countries who are seeking refuge and can have their rights as migrants protected. Even internally displaced people who are fleeing violence find shelter with us. The violence mainly comes from gangs. We pursue an “integral approach” in order to protect both young people and adults alike from risks. The Diocese wants to boost these people’s resilience against these risks, which include not only violence, but also droughts.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is a globally active provider of international cooperation for sustainable development. It has more than 50 years of experience in a wide range of fields.
Heino von Meyer moderates the Strategic Support Group of SEWOH, in which representatives from civil society, science, the business world and associations advise the BMZ. Since 2019, he has been Head of Global Relations and Networking at the creative founding team of the international PtX Hub Berlin. Their mission is to catalyze green hydrogen solutions on a global scale, with a special focus on sustainability along the entire value chain.
Sarah D’haen coordinates TMG Research’s SEWOH Lab project. Originally trained as an agronomist and environmental scientist, Sarah’s expertise and interest lie in livelihood dynamics in the Global South, in identifying the direct and indirect drivers of vulnerability and poverty, and finding ways to address these in an effective, inclusive and sustainable way. Throughout her career she has applied this interest in research and implementation projects focused on land use change and adaptation to climate change. She has worked extensively with local and national level stakeholders, scientists and policy makers, predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and more recently also in Europe. She holds a PhD in Geography.
Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg is a German agricultural scientist and farmer. He is known as a critic of industrial agriculture. As chairman of the BÖLW (Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft) he helps to promote the development of the organic food industry and to create sustainable framework conditions. He converted the Habitzheim estate, which has been owned by the family for 500 years, to organic.
Dr. Annette Weber is Senior Fellow in the Middle East and Africa Research Division of the German Institute for International and Security Studies (SWP) in Berlin. Her regional expertise is in the Horn of Africa, she works on conflict analysis, fragile states, non-state-actors and state building as well as Jihadist groups in Africa. Her current focus is mainly on the situation in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia. She is involved in the mediation effort of the national Dialogue between government and armed and unarmed opposition in Sudan. As a senior advisor for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue she is advising on conflict resolutions throughout the Horn of Africa.
Dr. Weber had a two year residency in Ethiopia 2010-2012 with in depth research in the Horn of Africa. From 2012 she was head of department at SWP. She writes extensively and advises the Bundestag and the German administration on these issues. Previously she worked as a coordinator for the Ecumenical Network on Central Africa mainly on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. Annette Weber was researcher with amnesty international in London for Sudan and worked as a consultant for Human Rights Watch and amnesty international on Sudan and Uganda. She received her PhD from the Free University Berlin and teaches at several Universities on international relations and peace and conflict resolution.
Dr. Bettina Rudloff works as agricultural engineer and trade economist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. SWP is a German think tank conducting practically oriented research and advising the German Bundestag and Federal Government on foreign and security policy issuesPrior to that she was Assistant Professor at the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at Bonn University and lecturer at the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht, The Netherlands and consulted European and international officials. She advises different political actors in the EU and Germany on agricultural policy, trade and investment agreements and their interlinkages with food security and development. She is member of the strategical advisory board of the special initiative “”One World, no Hunger” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Since October 2014, Gunther Beger has been Head of Division 1 (Policy Issues; Economy; Trade; Rural Development) at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). From December 2013 to October 2014 he headed the Executive Staff at BMZ. Beger, born in Bonn in 1961, studied agricultural sciences with a focus on economics, social sciences and development policy. From 1991 onwards, he worked for over 20 years in various functions at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), most recently as Head of the Department for International Projects. From 1995 to 2000, he was Agricultural Officer at the German Embassy in Moscow. From 2003 to 2005, Beger worked as an advisor to the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag in the areas of agriculture, consumer and environmental protection.
Brit Reichelt-Zolho is an ecologist and has worked for the WWF since 2000. Before that she worked in Belize, Central America and Scotland, where she studied. From 1997 she lived in Mozambique and managed an environmental training centre and various conservation projects for 10 years. Afterwards she was Nature Conservation Director and Country Director at WWF Mozambique, where she was responsible for the whole range of marine, terrestrial and political nature conservation work. Since 2012, she has been working for WWF Germany as a consultant for Southern and Eastern Africa, with a focus on the KAZA transboundary network of protected areas, and is in charge of projects on community-based nature conservation, anti-poaching, lion protection and above all sustainable agriculture adapted to climate change. She firmly believes that nature conservation in Africa can only be successful together with the local population.
To change the world with small steps. Kerstin Weber and her team at WWF work every day in the field of sustainable food and agriculture. A core area that often gets lost in everyday life is the massive waste of food, which is still far too great in Germany. After all, each of our consumption decisions has an impact on nature and resources. She wants to create this awareness for reflected consumption. Every step counts!
Dr May Hokan is a veterinarian and has been with the WWF since 2019. After growing up in Syria and studying in Germany, she was drawn to Africa where she researched lemurs and worked with elephants. Her main interest is the health aspect of the relationship between humans, animals and the environment. At the WWF, she worked for the protection of the habitat of lions, elephants and cheetahs in southern Africa.
Dr. Arnulf Köhncke is an ecologist and head of the Species Protection Department at WWF Germany. Since he lived and worked in Cambodia for almost a year some time ago, he has been fascinated by the region of Southeast Asia, its people and its nature. In the meantime, he is working more generally on the challenges of protecting endangered species and making environmental protection and economic development more compatible. His main areas of work are poaching and the trade in illegal wildlife products, especially ivory and rhino horn. At the same time, he works to protect such endangered and iconic species as the great apes, the polar bear, the great panda and the Sumatran rhinoceros.
Since mid 2018 Sebastian Lesch has been head of the Agriculture Department of the BMZ, which is responsible for a wide range of topics from agricultural trade and global agricultural supply chains such as soya, palm oil, cocoa or coffee, for the Common European Agricultural Policy to concrete innovation in our project work with a wide range of partners worldwide.
Dr. Arif Husain is Chief Economist and Director of the Food Security Analysis and Trends Service at United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome, Italy. He joined WFP in 2003 and since then he has served in many senior positions both in the field and the headquarters. He has also worked for the World Bank and taught at the Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. His work focuses on analysing food security and welfare conditions in developing countries to inform humanitarian response. His research interests include application of information technologies to improve humanitarian response; understanding linkages between poverty, hunger, conflict and migration. Arif Husain has a Ph.D. in agricultural and applied economics with a minor in forestry from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Ben Sekamatte is an independent consultant and an agricultural expert from Uganda who has a long-standing experience in the African cotton business. He advises Cotton made in Africa with valuable training inputs and thereby guarantees the fruitful implementation of new agri-business concepts within the Cotton made in Africa program - such as the bio-pesticides.
Boaz Ogola is General Manager at Alliance Ginneries Ltd., Tanzania – a CmiA verified cotton company in Eastern Africa. He is responsible for managing the day-to-day business operations and represents the company in all government affairs as well as those relating to village communities. In addition, he coordinates, supervises, and manages the implementation of all CmiA projects – such as community projects or the bio-pesticide project.
Shenggen Fan was the Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) between 2009 and 2019. He is known for his work on transition economies and rural development in China. His research has focused on analysis of the role of public and private investments in agriculture and public infrastructure in the fight against chronic poverty and hunger. In addition to his work on his home country, he has also worked extensively in other Asian countries, and East Africa.
Jehiel Oliver is responsible for the overall management and strategy of Hello Tractor, an agricultural technology company that connects tractor owners and farmers through a farm equipment sharing application. He has been honored with numerous awards for his work in social entrepreneurship including being recognized by Foreign Policy Magazine as a Top 100 Global Thinker for 2016. He was appointed under the Obama Administration as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, where he chaired the technology subcommittee. Prior to Hello Tractor, Oliver worked in consulting and investment banking. He studied economics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at Florida A&M University and Cornell University, respectively.
Solomon King Benge is the founder of Fundi Bots, an education non-profit with a mission to accelerate science learning in Africa. Fundi Bots uses high-impact learning tools like robotics and enhanced science curriculum material to promote better learning outcomes, improved career prospects and real-world technological advancement in African schools and communities.
In addition, he is a 2014 Echoing Green Fellow, 2014 Ashoka Fellow and a 2017, Segal Family Foundation African Visionary Fellow.
Solomon also enjoys art and storytelling through various media.
Sue Cant provides technical advisory for World Vision’s social accountability programs, now scaled to 715 sites across 47 countries. Sue has more than 12 years experience working in policy, programming and sub-national governance in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. She has previously worked as a democratic governance adviser on an Australian Government program in Papua New Guinea and as an M&E specialist. She holds a Master in Evaluation of social accountability interventions from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Anna Sophia Rainer has been Africa Advisor for the German Agribusiness Alliance, an initiative of leading associations and companies in the agricultural and food industries, since 2018. In this function she is seconded to the Afrika-Verein der deutschen Wirtschaft where she is responsible for all topics relating to agriculture and the food industry. Previously, she worked for the Afrika-Verein as a project officer for northern and western Africa. Ms. Rainer studied African Science in Leipzig, Naples and Dar Es Saalam and spent some time in Uganda and China during her studies.
Tanja Reith is a solution manager for the Agribusiness vertical in the SAP Industries organization. She has over 20 years of experience in go-to-market and solution management roles for enterprise software, engaging closely with customers and partners across different industries such as agribusiness, consumer products, and financial services. Tanja’s ambition is to drive shared value resulting in business value to our customers while making a social impact and improving people’s lives.
Dr. Essa Chanie Mussa is Assistant Professor at the University of Gondar. He holds a PhD in agricultural and development economics from the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn. In addition, he works as a research analyst for the UNICEF Office for Research - Innocenti, Social and Economic Policy in a project to build an integrated safety net for the most vulnerable women and children in rural and urban Ethiopia.
Karina Mroß works in research and policy consulting at the German Development Institute (DIE). In the program "Transformation of Political (UN-)Order" she researches peace and democracy promotion in post-conflict societies and has recently completed her doctorate at the University of St.Gallen. In addition to cross-national comparative analyses, she has conducted field research on these topics in Burundi, Liberia, Nepal and Timor-Leste.
Dr. Reiner Klingholz is director and board member of the Berlin-Institute for Population and Development. Previously, he was a member of the Enquete Commission on Demographic Change in Lower Saxony and worked as a Fellow at the Stellenborsch Institute for Advanced Studies in South Africa.
Dr. Joe DeVries is Vice President of AGRA, where he is responsible for the program development and Innovation. He is an expert in crop improvement and genetics.
Dr. Stefan Liebing is chairman of the Africa Association of German Business. He is the owner and managing director of Conjuncta GmbH in various management functions in the energy industry, most recently at EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG.
Jan Rübel is author at Zeitenspiegel Reportagen, a columnist at Yahoo and writes for national newspapers and magazines. He studied History and Middle Eastern Studies.
After studying political science, German language and literature and geography, Michael Windfuhr helped to set up the international human rights organization FIAN for over two decades and later worked as its Secretary General. In 2006, he became Human Rights Director at Bread for the World and the Diakonisches Werk. Since 2011, he has been Deputy Director of the German Institute for Human Rights, Germany's national human rights institution.
Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki of the Republic of Niger is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency. He was appointed to the position in January 2009. A former Prime Minister of Niger, from 1997 to 2000, Dr. Mayaki has a Master’ degree from the National School of Public Administration (Enap), Quebec, Canada and a PhD in Administrative Sciences from the University of Paris I, France. He worked as a Professor of Public Administration in Niger and Venezuela.
Roselyn Korleh is the Communication, Policy and Reporting Officer on the BMZ Funded Multi Actor Partnership project called ‘’Land for Life- Making Policies Work for Food Security in Liberia working with Rights and Rice Foundation; a national Implementing Partner to Welthungerhilfe.
M. Sahr Nouwah is a dedicated young Liberian with a servant-leadership skill and a hands-on and result-oriented gifts with a solid background in governance, community development, advocacy and empowerment. As a National Head of Projects for two Land rights projects supported by the European Union and the Germany Foreign Ministry for International development cooperation separately, Sahr uses a mix methodology including Multi-Actor Partnerships (MSPs) and social innovative approaches to effect change in the Land reform processes of Liberia using constructive dialogue and engagement.
Prof. Dr. Christine Wieck has been teaching and researching at the University of Hohenheim since February 2018, where she heads the Department of Agricultural and Nutrition Policy. She is a member of the Task Force Rural Africa, an independent expert group of the European Union. Previously, she spent two and a half years working as a political consultant for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).
Sara Boettiger is an agricultural economist and has worked all over Africa, Asia and Latin America for the past 15 years. She is a Senior Advisor at the McKinsey Centre for Agricultural Transformation, developing market-based solutions and technologies for developing countries and emerging markets.
Lutz Goedde ist Senior Partner und "Global Leader in Agriculture and Food Practice" bei McKinsey & Company. Er leitet auch den McKinsey Centre for Agricultural Transformation.
Desiree Dietvorst, freelance consultant. As Socio-economic Advisor, she helped stakeholders identify their opportunities and responsibilities in an increasingly liberalised market economy. As a consultant she supported the development and strengthening of CBOs, Producers’ and Traders’ Associations and local NGOs as well as promoting the cooperation between actors in the public, private, community and NGO sectors.
Maria Schmidt studied Political Science, focussing on development cooperation and policy analysis in sub-Saharan Africa early in her Franco-German studies at the Sciences Po Bordeaux Institute and University of Stuttgart. This led her first to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation, then to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Benin and, most recently, to the GIZ in Ghana. She has been working there for the ComCashew project since December 2015, and, within her advisory duties, is primarily involved with public partners in promoting the cashew value chain.
Joseph Opoku Gakpo is the 2018 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ best reporter in video reporting. He is an online and broadcast journalist with the Multimedia Group Limited in Ghana, reporting on environment, agriculture and rural development.
John Agyekum Kufuor was sworn into office as president of Ghana on 7th January 2001. He served two four year terms after winning re-election in 2004 until he stepped down on 7th January 2009. A lawyer by profession, Kufuor trained at the Oxford University in the UK and spent many years as a private businessman before eventually entering politics full time. During his time as president, he served as chairman of the African Union between 2007 and 2008.
Elizabeth Nsimadala is the Regional President of Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) and Board Member of Pan Africa Farmers Organisation (PAFO) she is also the current chairperson of Uganda Cooperative College Tororo governing council in Uganda and the Coordinator CARITAS Cooperative Governing Council in Uganda.
Susanne Neubert, Director of the Centre for Rural Development (SLE). Strategic development in education, training, research and consultancy. Securing and supervising SLE overseas projects. PhD in agricultural economics and ecology with a regional specialisation in Africa.
Dr. Daniel Tsegai is a Programme Officer in charge of "Drought and Water Scarcity" Portfolio at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Bonn, Germany.
Jes Weigelt is Head of Programmes at TMG Research gGmbH, the research wing of TMG. Töpfer, Müller, Gassner. ThinkTank for Sustainability. He tweets at @jes_tmg.
Marwa Shumo is an environment biotechnologist who obtained her undergraduate training at the University of Nizwa, Oman. Marwa is an expert on black soldier flies and their applications in livestock feed production and future food security.
Iris Manner is a media consultant at World Vision Germany. Frequent trips to Kenya have influenced her and she is therefore very interested in environmental and nature conservation as well as children’s and women's rights.
Maria Smentek is the communications officer in the Berlin office of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). WFP Berlin's communications efforts focus on humanitarian crises, development programmes and innovations in the fight against hunger.
Dr Michael Brüntrup is a senior researcher at the German Development Institute (DIE) in the field of Agricultural and Food Security with focus on sub-Saharan Africa
Wilane Paté Wilane Paté is a radio presenter and journalist in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He was trained at the Studio-Ecole Mozaik – a school of journalism run in cooperation with forty partner radio stations throughout the country – and regularly presents current affairs programmes produced by Studio Mozaik.
Dorothea Hohengarten reported for World Vision about international cooperation and humanitarian aid in crisis regions. After working for German radio channels SWR, Deutschlandfunk and Deutscher Welle, the audio, TV and online journalist joined GIZ.
Since 1988 Bettina Rühl, born in 1965, has been a radio and feature article writer specialising in Africa. She has been living in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, since 2011. She has received several awards for her radio features, including the Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media in 2012.
Dr. Pedro Morazán, born in Honduras, is an economist who has been working as a research assistant at SÜDWIND since 1992. During this time he has been in charge of numerous evaluations and partner consultations. He has also published various studies and expert reports for different organisations, including GIZ/BMZ.
Tilman Wörtz studied politics and economics in Erlangen, Paris and Mexico City. Since 2000 he has been working as a reporter for Zeitenspiegel Reportagen. He is interested in the economic and political development of countries in crisis.
Frank Brunner is a master of political science and a journalist. He works as an editor and writer for various daily newspapers in Berlin, and for Spiegel Online and Zeit Online. Later editor-in-chief in the science journalism department of W. Bertelsmann publishers. Currently a writer for Zeitenspiegel Reportagen and in the Baden-Württemberg office of stern.
Dr Marlis Lindecke heads GIZ’s Advisory Service on Agricultural Research for Development (BEAF) Programme, based in Bonn. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), she and her team manage the support to the international agricultural research centres of the global research partnership for a food-secure future (CGIAR), the World Vegetable Center (formerly AVRDC) and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe).
As President of AGRA, Dr. Agnes Kalibata leads the organization’s efforts with public and private partners to ensure a food secure and prosperous Africa through rapid, sustainable agricultural growth, improving the productivity and livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers. Prior to joining AGRA in September 2014, Dr. Kalibata was Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI).
Prof. Dr. Horst Köhler served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. Prior to that, he was Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Finance, President of the Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Managing Director of the IMF.
Lutz Hartmann studied law in Jura in Mainz, Freiburg and Paris. He is a founding partner of Belmont / Legal and admitted to the bar in both Frankfurt and Paris.
In 2000 Gisbert Dreyer founded the Dreyer Stiftung that is is active in Burkina Faso. Since 2011 he is the honaray consul for the Free States of Bavaria and Saxonia in Burkina Faso.
Prof Dr Joachim studied agricultural sciences and currently heads the Center’s Department for Economic and Technological Change. He became Vice-President of the German NGO Welthungerhilfe in 2012.
Professor Helmut Asche is an economist and sociologist. From 1985 to 1998 he worked as an economic advisor for GTZ. Until 2016 he taught as an honorary professor at the Department of Anthropology and African studies, University of Mainz.
Dr Iris Schöninger is Senior Advisor for development policy at Welthungerhilfe in Bonn. She is an expert in value chains and business-related projects in the context of food security.
Dr Ibrahim is the Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which he established in 2006 to support good governance and exceptional leadership on the African continent.
Christiane Grefe, born in 1957, attended the German School of Journalism in Munich and studied politics. She works as an editor and reporter in the Berlin editorial office of ZEIT.
Stig Tanzmann is a farmer and agricultural scientist and has been working as a consultant for agricultural issues at Brot für die Welt - Evangelical Developmental Service since 2010.
Dr. Heike Baumüller is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, operates and coordinates the accompanying research for agricultural innovation (PARI).
Professor Klaus Töpfer, a graduate economist, was Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam from 2009 to 2015.
Dr. Andreas Quiring has been Director of the Andreas Hermes Akademie (AHA) since 2008 in the educational center of the German agriculture e.V.. In this function, he is responsible for the education work of the AHA, which since 1949 has been accompanying people and organizations in the agrarian sector in development and change processes.
Alexander Müller, a graduate sociologist, is the head of a global study of the UN Environment Program on "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food" and CEO of "TMG - Töpfer, Müller, Gaßner GmbH, ThinkTankforSustainabilty".
Since April 2013, Jenny Walther-Thoß has been responsible at the WWF for sustainable biomass use, i.e. the energetic, material and technical use of biomass. After studying agricultural sciences in Berlin, she started working as a freelance auditor in the field of bio-control and as a research assistant (focus on regional development) in the FG Resource Economy at HU.
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