2021 Borlaug Dialogue Speakers

Gilbert arap Bor

Farmer and Lecturer, Global Farmer Network

Dr. Gilbert arap Bor is an accomplished educator, farmer, researcher and agribusiness consultant. He is a practising dairy farmer with more than a life-time span in dairy herd management, having been raised on a cattle farm and later on, settling as a dairy farmer, a dairy products processing and marketing... [ View ]

Godfrey Bahiigwa

Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, African Union Commission

Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa is the Director of the Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development of the African Union Commission based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Directorate works with AU Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other partners to boost rural economic development and agricultural sector development by supporting the... [ View ]

Shawn Baker

Chief Nutritionist, U.S. Agency for International Development

Shawn K. Baker serves as the Chief Nutritionist for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In this position, he chairs the Agency’s Nutrition Leadership Council, oversees the vision and strategy of the Agency’s Center for Nutrition in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, and coordinates related efforts across... [ View ]

Jim Barnhart

Deputy Coord. for Devel, Feed the Future; Assist. to Admin, USAID Bureau for Resilience & Food Sec.

Dr. Jim Barnhart is the Assistant to the Administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, as well as the Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. In this dual role, Dr. Barnhart... [ View ]

Beth Bechdol

Deputy Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Beth Bechdol is Deputy Director-General at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In this role, she continues her service to food and agriculture – now on a global scale. Ms Bechdol is responsible for FAO’s Partnership and Outreach work, including Partnerships and UN Collaboration, Resource Mobilization... [ View ]

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Canada

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Compton—Stanstead in 2015. Minister Bibeau was a manager of international projects and an entrepreneur in the tourism sector prior to being elected to the House of Commons. She served as Minister of International Development and La Francophonie where... [ View ]

Chandra Shekar Bhadsavle

Founder, Saguna Rural Foundation

Shekhar received his B.S. (Agriculture) and M.S. (Food Science) from UC Davis. After working in US five years, he returned to his family farm near Mumbai in 1976. His goals in India have been to bring more dignity to the farming profession. He is the recipient of several State, National and International awards for... [ View ]

Jocelyn Brown Hall

Director of North America, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

Jocelyn Brown Hall is Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office for North America based in Washington, DC. She joined the office on 14 June 2021. Prior to this role she served as the Deputy Regional Representative for the FAO Regional Office for... [ View ]

Aneesh Chauhan

Expertise Leader, Food and Biobased Research Institute, Wageningen University

Dr. Aneesh Chauhan is the Expertise leader of the Computer Vision Group at Food and Biobased Research Institute and am part of the Agro-food robotics team which focuses on applying state of the art in computer vision, machine learning and robotics to several aspects of agro-food processes. Our mission is... [ View ]

Elliott Dossou-Yovo

Post Doctoral Fellow Climate Change and Agriculture, Africa Rice Center

Elliott Dossou-Yovo is currently a scientist in climate change and agriculture at the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) based in M’bé near Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire. His research focuses on the development, validation and scaling of innovative water management technologies to increase the resilience of smallholders farmers to climate change and to... [ View ]

Beth Dunford

Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank

Dr. Beth Dunford is African Development Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development. She is responsible for the Bank’s strategy, lending and other activities in agriculture, water and sanitation, education, and health, as well as Bank-wide work on employment and gender equity. Dr. Dunford leads technical expertise for... [ View ]

Sam Eathington

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Corteva AgriScience

Sam Eathington, Ph.D., is SVP and Chief Technology Officer of Corteva Agriscience, where he leads the company’s global Research and Development organization, building and expanding its industry-leading pipeline. A leader in agricultural innovation, Eathington most recently served as CSO of The Climate Corporation, part of Bayer Crop Science. Previously, Eathington spent more... [ View ]

Beth Ford

Chief Executive Officer, Land O' Lakes

Beth Ford serves as President and CEO of Land O’Lakes, Inc., a Fortune 200 food production and agribusiness company that is also a nearly 100-year-old farmer-owned cooperative. Beth's career spans six industries at seven companies. Since joining Land O’Lakes in 2011, she has held a variety of roles leading the... [ View ]

Jeffrey Giauque

Director of Office of Agriculture Policy, U.S. Department of State

Jeffrey Giauque is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He has been Director of the State Department’s Agriculture Trade Policy and Negotiations Office since August 2021. In this position, he is responsible for high level interagency coordination on all aspects of U.S. trade policy concerning agriculture, including agricultural... [ View ]

Michael Graham

Head of Plant Breeding, Bayer Crop Science

Michael (Mike) Graham is the Head of Plant Breeding for the Crop Science division of Bayer. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, he oversees the plant genetics and breeding program, leading a global team to develop seed with better genetics for farmers. Mike is a third-generation plant scientist discovering new ways to... [ View ]

Shachi Gurumayum

Head of Business Development, AgBiTech

Shachi grew up in a community of smallholder farmers and has nearly two decades of R&D and General Management experience in four continents. He currently heads Business Development for AgBiTech, a leader in the biologicals crop protection business. Shachi is a co-founder of the MaolKeki Foundation which is catalysing development in... [ View ]

Gina Gutiérrez

Dairy Farmer, Global Farmer Network

Gina is a 5th generation dairy farmer. Her family farm is in central Mexico, and currently milks 460 cows, and has 420 calves and heifers. The farm is 53 hectares with 40 hectares in crops that go into silage for the cattle. She works with her father, a veterinarian; and... [ View ]

Lawrence Haddad

Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Dr. Lawrence Haddad became GAIN’s Executive Director in October 2016. Prior to joining, he was the founding co-chair and lead author of the Global Nutrition Report (GNR). From 2004-2014 Lawrence was the Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the world’s leading development studies institute, and prior to that,... [ View ]

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted

2021 World Food Prize Laureate; Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health, WorldFish

Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, native of Trinidad and Tobago and a citizen of Denmark, will receive the 2021 World Food Prize for her groundbreaking research, critical insights and landmark innovations in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquaculture and food systems. By bringing together interdisciplinary and international collaborators, she drove transformations... [ View ]

Chris Hegadorn

Secretary, Committee on World Food Security

Chris Hegadorn is a retired U.S. diplomat whose career included 25 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State and earlier positions in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. He led the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Educational,... [ View ]

Julie Howard

Senior Advisor, CSIS; Global Food Security Program

Julie Howard is an independent consultant focusing on food and agricultural system development in sub-Saharan Africa and related US policies and programs. She is a non-resident Senior Adviser in the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Howard is a Director of the World... [ View ]

Gregory Jaffe

Biotechnology Project Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest

Gregory Jaffe is the Biotechnology Project Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer organization located in the U.S. Mr. Jaffe came to CSPI in 2001 after a distinguished career in government service as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and as Senior... [ View ]

Gareth Johnstone

Director-General, WorldFish

Gareth Johnstone is Senior Director of Aquatic Food Systems, CGIAR, and Director General at WorldFish. A UK national, Gareth is a geographer with 25 years of professional experience in natural resource management and research, with an emphasis on governance, policy, capacity building and institutional development. He is an advocate for... [ View ]

Kundhavi Kadiresan

Managing Director, Global Engagement and Innovation, CGIAR System Organization

Kundhavi Kadiresan, Managing Director, Global Engagement and Innovation, CGIAR, is a development expert with over 25 years of experience in policies and programs. Most recently, she served as Assistant Director General for Asia and Pacific for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), where she advocated and supported the FAO’s work... [ View ]

Amy Kaleita

Interim Chair of Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University

Amy Kaleita is Professor and Interim Department Chair in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State. She received a BS degree in Agricultural Engineering from Penn State in 1997, an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois with an emphasis in hydrology in 1999, and PhD in Agricultural... [ View ]

Agnes Kalibata

Special Envoy for 2021 UN Food Systems Summit

As the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Dr. Kalibata works with the United Nations system and key partners to provide leadership, guidance, and strategic direction towards the 2021 Food Systems Summit. Since 2014, Dr. Kalibata has also served as President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), where... [ View ]

A.G. Kawamura

Co-Chair, Solutions From the Land; Founding Chair, Solutions For Urban Agriculture

A.G. Kawamura is a third generation produce grower and shipper from Orange County, California. From 2003 to 2010 he was the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He is founding co-chair of Solutions from the Land (SFL), a nationally recognized non-profit that is developing innovative and sustainable... [ View ]

Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins

President and Chief Executive Officer, PAI

Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins is President and Chief Executive Officer of PAI, a leading international non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the reproductive and sexual health and rights of communities around the world. Nabeeha brings 25 years of movement building, advocacy, and international development experience through her work in more... [ View ]

Onyaole Patience Koku

Chief Executive Officer, Replenish Farms, Ltd.

Onyaole Patience Koku was named 2018 Farmer of the Year by the Cornell Alliance for Science. She is a member of the Global Farmer Network, 2019 Kleckner Award recipient, 2021 GIZ African Women in Agribusiness award for COVID-19 Resilience. She serves on the advisory board of the Cornell Alliance for Science and is... [ View ]

Rattan Lal

Professor, Ohio State University

Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate and a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, The Ohio State University, and an Adjunct Professor of University of Iceland. He was President of the World Association of Soil and Water... [ View ]

Lindiwe Majele Sibanda

Director and Chairwoman, African Research Universities Alliance Centre of Excellence

Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda is an animal scientist and a practicing farmer, serving as a policy advisor to numerous African governments and global institutions. She is the Director and Chair of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Pretoria, South... [ View ]

David Nabarro

Founder and Strategic Director, 4SD

David Nabarro is the Co-Director of the Imperial College Institute of Global Health Innovation and supports systems leadership for sustainable development through his Switzerland based social enterprise 4SD (Skills, Systems and Synergies for Sustainable Development). Currently David is Special Envoy of WHO on COVID-19 and Senior Advisor to the United... [ View ]

Jemimah Njuki

Director for Africa, International Food Policy Research Institute

Dr. Jemimah Njuki is the Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Custodian for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021. She is also a Food Systems 2021 Champion. She has worked for over 20 years in gender equality and... [ View ]

Manuel Otero

Director-General, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

M.Sc. in Agricultural Development (Wye College of the University of London), Master in Animal Production (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center, Costa Rica), and Veterinarian (Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires). Otero´s Administration is placing the emphasis on the promotion of agricultural and rural development through... [ View ]

Pamela Ronald

Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, UC Davis

Pamela Ronald completed her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley (1990), earned a B.S. from the Reed College (1982), an M.S. from Stanford University and an M.S. from the University of Uppsala, Sweden. Prof Ronald uses genetic techniques to understand the plant response to infection and tolerance to environmental stress. With her... [ View ]

Jeff Rowe

President, Syngenta Seeds

Jeff Rowe joined Syngenta in 2016 as President Syngenta Seeds. He is a member of the Syngenta Group Leadership Team which is responsible for the active leadership and operations of the Syngenta Group. Prior to joining Syngenta, Jeff was on the executive leadership team at DuPont Pioneer. During his 21 years... [ View ]

Claudia Sadoff

Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact, CGIAR System Organization

Dr. Claudia Sadoff is the CGIAR Executive Management Team Convener and Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact. She was previously the Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and spent over 20 years at the World Bank in positions including Lead Economist and Global Lead for Water Security... [ View ]

Paul Schickler

Owner, Third AG; Retired President, DuPont Pioneer

Paul E. Schickler was president of DuPont Pioneer (now Corteva Agriscience) from 2007 to 2017. In this role, he continued to expand Pioneer’s global business by advancing innovation that improves local productivity and profitability of farmers throughout the world. Schickler joined Pioneer in 1974 and served in a variety of... [ View ]

Janie Simms Hipp

General Counsel; Chief Legal Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Janie Simms Hipp, J.D., LL.M was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden and subsequently confirmed by the United States Senate and is currently serving as the General Counsel for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). She is the first Native American woman to serve in that post in USDA’s... [ View ]

Jen Sorenson

President, National Pork Producers Council

Jen is the President of the National Pork Producers Council. She chairs the NPB/NPPC We Care Task Force, chairs the NPPC Ag Labor Task Force and serves on the IPPA Issues Management Task Force, IPPA Public Relations Committee and NPPC Budget Committee. The National Pork Producers Council works to ensure... [ View ]

H.E. Víctor Manuel Villalobos Arámbula

Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mexico

Dr. Villalobos is an expert with more than 40 years of experience in the areas of Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, and Environmental Sciences. An Agricultural Engineer with a major in Plant Breeding from the National School of Agriculture (ENA, by its Spanish acronym), he got an MSc in Vegetal Genetics from... [ View ]

Hon. Tom Vilsack

Secretary of Agriculture, United States

Thomas J. Vilsack was confirmed as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture on Feb. 23, 2021 by the U.S. Senate. He was nominated by President Joe Biden to return to a role where he served for eight years under President Barack Obama. As leader of the U.S. Department of Agriculture... [ View ]

Joachim Von Braun

Director, Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn University

Joachim von Braun is a Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn University, and Professor for economic and technological change. He received his doctoral degree in agricultural economics from the University of Goettingen, Germany. His research is on economic development, science and technology policy, poverty reduction, food and... [ View ]

Naoko Yamamoto

Chair, UN Nutrition; Assistant Director-General for Universal Health, WHO

Dr Naoko Yamamoto is WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage - Healthier Populations. Previously, she also held the role of WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage and Health Systems. Dr Yamamoto brings nearly 30 years of experience working on health. She served as Senior Assistant Minister for Global... [ View ]

Mai Thin Yu Mon

Program Director of Indigenous Peoples Development Program, Chin Human Rights Organization

Mai Thin Yu Mon is a young indigenous rights activist and advocate from Chin Community in Myanmar. She is currently serving as a Program Director of Indigenous Peoples Development Program of Chin Human Rights Organization and an Asia focal person for Global Indigenous Youth Caucus since 2016. She has been... [ View ]

Anita Zaidi

President, Gender Equality Division, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Anita Zaidi is the president of the foundation’s Gender Equality Division. In this role, Anita oversees the foundation’s efforts to achieve gender equality by integrating gender across the foundation’s global work and investing in women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership, and removing the barriers for women and girls to thrive. The... [ View ]