Expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues and has written extensively on gender and population, the spread of factory farming in the developing world, and innovations in sustainable agriculture. She is currently the co-founder of FoodTank: The Food Think Tank. Food Tank researches and highlights environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity and poverty and create networks of people, organizations, and content to push for food system change.

Danielle spent two years traveling to more than 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America meeting with farmers and farmers’ groups, scientists and researchers, policymakers and government leaders, students and academics, and journalists collecting their thoughts on what’s working to help alleviate hunger and poverty, while also protecting the environment. Danielle was also the Director of the Nourishing the Planet project, housed at the Worldwatch Institute.

Her knowledge of global agriculture issues has been cited widely in more than 3,000 major publications includingThe New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, BBC, and many others.

Danielle has authored or contributed to several major reports and books, including Happier Meals: Rethinking the Global Meat Industry (2005), State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet (Editor and Project Director, 2011), Eating Planet 2012 (2012), and Food and Agriculture: The Future of Sustainability (2012).

Mario Calabresi, writer and journalist, was born in Milan in 1970. He was Editor of the La Stampa newspaper from 2009 to 2015 and as of January 15th 2016 has edited the Italian daily La Repubblica.
Prior to this, he worked as a parliamentary reporter for the Ansa press association and the Rome editorial office of La Stampa. 
He also held the position of Editor-in-Chief of La Repubblica and, from 2007 to 2008, was the New York correspondent for the same paper, following the electoral campaign culminating in the election of Barack Obama. His published books include Spingendo la notte più in là. Storia della mia famiglia e di altre vittime del terrorismo (Pushing back the night. Stories of my family and other victims of terrorism) (2007); La fortuna non esiste. Storie di uomini e donne che hanno avuto il coraggio di rialzarsi (Fortune doesn’t exist. Stories of men and women who were brave enough to rise up) (2009); Cosa tiene accese le stelle. Storie di italiani che non hanno mai smesso di credere nel futuro (What keeps the stars burning. Stories of Italians who have never stopped believing in the future) (2011), all published by Mondadori.
By contrast, he went on to write A Occhi Aperti (With eyes wide open) (2013) which collects his interviews with ten leading photographers, who recount the moments in which history was frozen by a photograph. His most recent book is called Non temete per noi, la nostra vita sarà meravigliosa (Don’t fear for us, our lives will be wonderful): an antidote to the discouragement evident in those young people who today ask whether their dreams are worth dreaming. In 2011 he presented the RAI 3 television production entitled Hotel Patria.

Monique Villa is CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Founder of TrustLaw and Trust Conference. She has been ranked among the world’s 100 most influential people in Business Ethics by Ethisphere, and in 2015 won the International Center for Research on Women Champions for Change Award for her vision and effort in the fight against slavery. Since her appointment in 2008, she has transformed the Foundation, launching a number of programmes that leverage the expertise of Thomson Reuters to trigger change and empower people across the world. These include TrustLaw, the Foundation's global pro bono programme dedicated to spreading the practice of pro bono, and Trust Conference, a fast-growing movement to empower women and to fight slavery worldwide. Under Villa, the Foundation also covers the world’s under reported stories, and offers training and media development to strengthen free media globally.

Anne-Teresa is currently a Phd candidate in Geography at the University of the West Indies where her study uses a mixed methods approach to comparatively assess the vulnerability and impacts of climate and economic change on small-scale farmers within Jamaica’s two major specialty coffee production systems. Anne-Teresa has a genuine interest in tackling issues related to climate change adaptation and development. While working on her dissertation, she has also participated in several local and regional projects centered on climate change and food security issues. She aims to use her knowledge and skills to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable groups in our society. She was recently the co-winner of the BCFN YES 2016 Research Grant for the project “Surviving the Drought: An Irrigation Curriculum for Jamaica’s Small-Scale Farmers”. She was also one of 27 persons selected from the Americas to participate in the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) Professional Development Seminar (PDS) on “Transdisciplinary Approaches to Integrating Science and Policies for Sustainability”.

Dr. Elena POVERENOV works at the Institute of Postharvest and Food Sciences of the Agricultural Research Organization of Israel.  She is the 2017 Young Promising Scientist winner of the Agropolis Fondation Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize. 

A material scientist by profession, she has developed edible coatings and controlled release systems based on natural polymers that minimize the physiological and microbial damage of perishable produce, successfully prolonging their shelf life. She has worked on inexpensive method to produce non-animal chitosan from the mushroom industry waste that can be used as active edible coating on various food products. She has also developed ways of covalently linking antimicrobial agents on to packaging materials and surfaces such as glass, cellulose, PVA, stainless steel; or modifying polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, the most utilized materials in food package to confer to them contact-active antimicrobial surfaces.  In pursuing her goal of controlled release systems, she has discovered effective non-standard approaches for binding of volatile antimicrobial agents to the natural polymers and their subsequent trigger promoted controlled release. Such systems lead to lowering cost and enhancing safety of human health and sustainability.

Shaneica received her BSc. in Geography and Geology and her desire to enhance the adaptive capacity of Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to climate related changes, specifically; increased variability in precipitation has been the basis of her current pursuit of a PhD degree in Geography concentrated on water resources. The study looks at the importance of physical and socio-economic factors such as rainfall variability, storage capacities, the cost of water and access in determining water (in)security within Kingston, Jamaica. It also proposes a framework for exploring and identifying the vulnerability of urban communities to the threats of water insecurity as well as Jamaica’s water governance framework with the aim of identifying indicators and decision making processes useful in measuring water security at the local level in order to achieve sustainable water resource management and water access. She is the co-winner of BCFN YES 2016.

Sam Loni is a young global leader working in sustainable development and human rights.
In 2015, Sam founded the and currently leads SDSN Youth, an organization which empowers youth globally to create sustainable solutions. As its Global Coordinator, Sam has mobilized thousands of young people globally to engage with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has helped initiate several global programs, including the Local Pathways Fellowship, the Global Schools Program and the Youth Solutions Report. SDSN Youth is an initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network - a program launched by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to mobilize global expertise around the implementation of the SDGs. He also recently chaired the Vatican Youth Symposium; a program mandated by Pope Francis to tackle human trafficking. 

Sam also currently works as a Project Officer with the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), one of the leading interdisciplinary research and education institutes for sustainable development around the globe. 

While at university, Sam co-founded the Monash International Affairs Society and later convened the world’s biggest student conference, Harvard WorldMUN, which brought 2000 students from 85 countries to Melbourne to tackle the leading global issues. 

He has served as an advisor to several prominent working groups, including the Alpbach-Laxenburg Group, CSIRO National Outlook Project and the Australian government's innovationXchange program. He is also a contributor to the Huffington Post (US) and News24, covering issues such as human rights, peace & security, sustainable development and international law and was recently recognised as a young peacebuilder by the Nobel Peace Prize Forum for his work.

Leo Abruzzese is Global Director of Public Policy for The Economist Intelligence Unit's Consulting team, overseeing analysis, research and modelling for governments, corporations, NGOs and foundations. He has led projects in such fields as economic and financial benchmarking, gender equality, poverty alleviation, access to finance, nuclear security, global peace, food security and environmental protection. Leo has directed strategic research initiatives for organisations such as the World Bank, the IMF, the UN, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Gates Foundation, the Clinton Foundation, the International Organisation for Migration, the Office of Mexico’s President, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Nike Foundation, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Leo has developed more than 20 performance-benchmarking models, ranging from the Women’s Economic Opportunity Index to the Global Food Security Index. In his role as an economic and policy analyst, Leo has defended the EIU's views before audiences throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Before joining the EIU in 1998, Leo was Washington bureau chief and editorial director of The Journal of Commerce.

Melissa Fleming is Head of Communications and Chief Spokesperson for the United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and recently served as Senior Advisor on the Transition Team for UN Secretary-General, António Guterres. She travels to war zones and refugee camps to give voice, drive empathy and build support for the millions of people forcibly displaced from their homes. To garner support for a humanitarian cause, she believes communications must not only inform but also generate empathy and stir action . She leads global media outreach and campaigns to generate news coverage, and operates a multi-media news and feature service to distribute and place refugee stories. A leader in social media engagement, she encourages front-line staff to bear witness through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. .She is a frequent interview guest on international media platforms, and her talks are featured on TED.com. She is the author of the book, A Hope More Powerful than the Sea. 

She holds a PhD in Forest Ecology and a MSc in Geological Sciences. Since ten years, her research interests focus on the development and the application of models for reproducing the water cycle and its interactions with terrestrial ecosystems, including land degradation and desertification phenomena, under the driver of combined climate and land use change. In this context, she coordinates the research line on modelling of climate and land use change impacts on terrestrial ecosystems for the IAFES Division (Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Ecosystem Services) at the CMCC Foundation.

She has been responsible of the internal management and scientific coordination of several research projects and technical consultancies at CMCC regarding water resources and its relationships with the environment, e.g. water footprint assessment, hydrological drought and water scarcity indicators, catchment scale hydrological modelling.

Lucio Caracciolo is President and Head of Geopolitics at Macrogeo. He also is the editor-in-chief of the Italian Geopolitical Review, Limes, and of the Eurasian Geopolitical Review, Heartland, published in Rome and Hong Kong.He regularly writes columns for the Italian newspaper “la Repubblica”. He publishes articles in various reviews, in Italy and abroad. He teaches Strategy at the University Luiss in Rome and Geopolitics at San Raffaele University in Milan. He wrote some essays and books, like “Alba di guerra fredda” (“Cold War Dawn”), Rome 1986, “La democrazia in Europa” (“Democracy in Europe”, a conversation with Ralf Dahrendorf, François Furet, Bronislaw Geremek), Rome (and others) 1991, “Euro no, non morire per Maastricht” (“Euro no, don’t die for Maastricht”) Rome 1996, “Terra incognita”, Rome 2002, “America vs. America”, Rome 2010.

At the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Million is part of the research team under the GRAID programme. His research focuses on understanding the transformation of food systems in the context of social ecological resilience using participatory methodologies, including participatory mapping, for social learning and change. He is an expert and advocate for forestry conservation, indigenous livelihoods and food and seed sovereignty.

Million has a BSc in Biology from Addis Ababa University, and a MSc in Tourism and Conservation from the University of Kent. During his MSc Million was awarded the Maurice Swingland Price as the best student in Post Graduate studies at the University of Kent, UK. Million completed his PhD in Education at the Environmental Learning and Research Centre at Rhodes University in South Africa.

Million has completed various trainings in participatory methodologies, especially participatory mapping, research, advocacy, and agroecology. He also has a lot of practice in facilitating youth, nature, and culture engagements, in participatory mapping and in learning labs/workshops.

Million has also published a number of articles, including his two book chapters on intergenerational learning, participatory mapping and critical realism.

Million is the founder and director of MELCA-Ethiopia, and indigenous NGO working on agro-ecology, intergenerational learning, conservation of forests and improving the livelihood of local communities and indigenous peoples. He played a significant part in the establishment and activities of the Africa Biodiversity Network (ABN), and is a co-founder and coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA); a network of networks that advocates for seed and food sovereignty, as well as promotes agroecology and supporting the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples to their land.

Million is also member of the IPES Food (international Panel of Experts on the Sustainability of Food), where he gained his recent research and policy interest in food systems. He has convened the first Continental and global conference, titled ‘Changing Food Systems in Africa: Food sovereignty, agroecology, nutrition and health.’ The Conference will be an annual event, and will focus on changing the narrative of industrial food systems in Africa.

Awards and achievements:

Nominee to the 2012 Forest Hero Award with United Nations Forum on Forests

National Green Hero and Hero of the Addis Ababa City, 2008

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. Arif joined WFP in 2003 and since then he has served in many senior positions both in the field and in the headquarters. He has also worked for the World Bank and taught at the Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Arif’s 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; and analysing how global economic shocks impact food security, social protection and emergency and development assistance. Arif has a Ph.D. in agricultural and applied economics with a minor in forestry from the University of Minnesota.

Stefano Liberti is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. He is a contributor to many European magazines, such as Internazionale, Le monde diplomatique, El Pais, Al Jazeera english. In 2008 he wrote the book “A sud di Lampedusa” (“South of Lampedusa”), which was awarded the “Indro Montanelli prize” for writing. In 2011 he wrote the book “Land grabbing. Journeys into the new colonialism”, translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Korean and Chinese. His latest book on the global food system “I signori del cibo” (“Lords of food”), has been released in October 2016.

As a filmmaker, he directed many movies, both for the television and for the cinema, such as “The hell of child-wizards”, (2010), “Closed sea” (2012, co-directed with Andrea Segre) on migration through the Mediterranean and “Container 158” (2013, co-directed with Enrico Parenti) on the biggest Roma camp in Europe as well as many features for tv and radio. 

David Kay is the Manager of Communications & Sustainability at Memphis Meats, a startup developing a way to make real meat from animal cells without the need to feed, breed or slaughter actual animals. David leads the company’s efforts to mobilize its mission-based supporters at both a grassroots and institutional level. He also helps develop and execute the company’s communications, sustainability and business development strategies. Prior to joining Memphis Meats, David studied political science at Stanford University.

Enrico Giovannini is an Italian economist and statistician, member of the Club of Rome. Since 2002 he is full professor at the Rome University “Tor Vergata” and professor of Public Management at the LUISS university. He was Minister of Labour and Social Policies in the Letta Government (2013-2014), President of the Italian Statistical Institute (2009-2013), Director of Statistics and Chief Statistician of the OECD (2001-2009).

He is the founder and Director of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), a coalition of more than 170 civil society organisations (business associations, trade unions, non-profit and volunteering organisations, foundations, etc.) to implement in Italy the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.

He is board member of several Italian and international institutions.

In October 2014, the President of the Italian Republic made him “Cavaliere di Gran Croce al Merito della Repubblica”, the highest ranking honour of the Italian Republic.

He is author of more than 100 articles and four books on economic and statistical topics.

Alex is the project manager of the Climate Change and Migration Coalition. He is author of a number of the Coalition’s reports, as well as numerous blogs and comment pieces. He also writes regularly for a number of media outlets on issues around migration and climate. He joined the organisation on 2012.

Eoin Wrenn is Trócaire’s Head of Region for Horn and East Africa, with overall management responsibility for Trócaire’s work in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda and Somalia. Trócaire is the Overseas Development Agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland and is one of Ireland’s main international development aid agencies. Eoin has over 15 years’ experience in the development and humanitarian aid sectors. He has worked in Uganda and India and has held a number of different positions in Trócaire, both in Ireland and overseas. Prior to taking up the post of Head of Region in 2014 Eoin worked in Trócaire’s Sustainable Livelihoods and Environment Justice Unit.  Eoin has a degree in Food Business and a Masters in Development Studies.

Dr. John Slocum is an independent consultant based in Chicago and an Associate Senior Researcher at CIDOB (the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs). From 2006 to 2016, he directed migration grantmaking at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (a private philanthropic foundation in Chicago), supporting work on international migration governance, migration and development, U.S. immigration policy, and migrant rights in Mexico. He previously directed MacArthur’s Higher Education Initiative in Russia. Dr. Slocum received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago. He has been a visiting researcher at the Maecenata Institut für Philanthropie und Zivilgesellschaft in Berlin and a visiting practitioner at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. Dr. Slocum has published articles on migration, philanthropy, and Russian nationality politics. He is a former member of the board of directors of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees.

Lucio Caracciolo is President and Head of Geopolitics at Macrogeo. He also is the editor-in-chief of the Italian Geopolitical Review, Limes, and of the Eurasian Geopolitical Review, Heartland, published in Rome and Hong Kong.He regularly writes columns for the Italian newspaper “la Repubblica”. He publishes articles in various reviews, in Italy and abroad. He teaches Strategy at the University Luiss in Rome and Geopolitics at San Raffaele University in Milan. He wrote some essays and books, like “Alba di guerra fredda” (“Cold War Dawn”), Rome 1986, “La democrazia in Europa” (“Democracy in Europe”, a conversation with Ralf Dahrendorf, François Furet, Bronislaw Geremek), Rome (and others) 1991, “Euro no, non morire per Maastricht” (“Euro no, don’t die for Maastricht”) Rome 1996, “Terra incognita”, Rome 2002, “America vs. America”, Rome 2010.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - IPCC, Nobel Prize for Peace 2007; Member of the Advisory Board, BCFN Foundation, Italy

Valentini is Director of the Division of Climate Impact at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Changes. He received the 2007 Nobel Peace Price for his activities within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Valentini was researcher at the University of Tuscia, the Department of Plant Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.

Since 2000, he is a Professor at the University of Tuscia in the Department of Science of the Forest Environment and its Resources and has been Director of the department since 2002.

His research activity focuses on subjects in ecology, in agricultural-forest systems, and problems connected with implementing international conventions for global environmental protection. He is a pioneer in research that is relative to the role of agricultural-forest systems in climate change and the greenhouse effect and has been published multiple times in prestigious scientific international publications including Science and Nature.

Michele is currently a PhD candidate in the field of Food Quality at Fondazione Edmund Mach and Wageningen University where is research is focusing in direct injection mass spectrometry technique to assess food quality. He is also a BCFN researcher and the EU Geographic representative of the BCFN Alumni network. He started to investigate topics relating to sustainability during his Master in Food Technology with a specialization in Sensory Sciences at Wageningen University. During his Erasmus time at the University of Copenhagen, he came into contact with the reality of dumpster diving and decided to get involved in the battle against food waste with the project Common sensing - a sensory guide to reduce food waste. Lately he has been involved by BCFN in activities related to food policies and sustainable agriculture. 

Sophie Thoyer is a professor in agricultural and environmental economics at Montpellier Supagro (France). She is the elected chair of the French society for rural economics (SFER). She has published extensively on the design and evaluation of agri-environmental policies for biodiversity conservation and the preservation of water resources. She has also created a French resource centre called CAP-eye which provides information, analysis and training on CAP issues. She coordinates a European network of scientists (REEECAP) on the use of experimental approach to enrich the European toolbox for CAP evaluation.

Born in 1980, Tomáš Ignác Fénix is a new entrant into farming, running a 50 ha organic fruit and wine family farm in southern Moravia in Znojmo/Znaim region close to the Austrian border since 2012. He has a degree in political science, is engaged in Central European cooperation projects, regional politics and cooperates with agri and envi institutions as part of his farm business. He is the foreign representative of SMA ČR and its delegate to CEJA since 2015. He involved himself in short supply chains, origin labelling, reducing bureaucracy, farm processing and other diversification for sustainable farming. Recently, he is reconstructing an old manor house for agrotourism. He is sitting in CDGs on Organic Farming and on Rural Development.

Known in the sector as one of the best scientists at a global level in the field of cell transplants, Ricordi invented the process that made the isolating of insulin producing cells in the human pancreas possible and has performed the first series of clinical transplants of pancreatic islands, which is successful in the treatment of diabetes.

Ricordi is a Professor of Surgery, Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Microbiology, and Immunology at the University of Miami. In addition, he is Head of the Division of Cellular Transplants of the Department of Surgery and Scientific Director and Chief Academic Officer of the Diabetes Research Institute at the School of Medicine of the University of Miami.

In addition, since 2007, Camillo Ricordi has collaborated as Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Professor Ricordi was Chairman of the Cell Transplant Society (1992-94), co-Founder of the National Diabetes Research Coalition (Chairman in 1997), and Chairman of the International Association for Pancreas and Islet Transplantation – IPITA (1999-2001). Currently, he is a member of the most important bodies at a global level in his field of expertise.

During his career, he received numerous worldwide awards and honors. In addition, he was an editor for various scientific publications and the author of over 500 publications. As an inventor he obtained seven patents.

Doctor and nutritionist, and Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease at the Federico II University of Naples, where he is also Chairman of the Degree Program on Human Nutrition. He is Past President of the Italian Society of Diabetology – SID and member of the Committee of the Council on Physical Activity and Metabolism of the American Heart Association.

From 2002 to 2005, he was Director of the Body Weight Regulation, Insulin Sensitivity, and Diabetes Risk Group for the program of the European Community on the Process for the Assessment of Scientific Support for Claims on Foods.

In addition, from 1997 to 2003, he has been a member of the Scientific Committee on Nutrition at the International Life Science Institute – ILSI in Brussels, and until 2002, he was a member of the Education Committee of the Italian Society of Endocrinology.

Throughout his career, he has collaborated with prestigious European and American research groups and was an editor for numerous scientific magazines.

His research results were published in the main international scientific publications on nutrition and diabetology and metabolism.

Professor Jeyakumar Henry is currently Director, Clinical Nutrition Research Centre, A*STAR in Singapore and Professor, Dept of Biochemistry, National University of Singapore.  He was the founding director of the Functional Food Centre in Oxford. He initially trained as a Food scientist and obtained his MSc and PhD in Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His interests have been on understanding glycemic control, the role of glycaemia in body weight regulation, food-nutrient interactions and functional foods. His work on energy expenditure culminated in the development of the “Henry Equations” to predict Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). His equations on BMR are widely used in several countries including the European Union to estimate human energy requirement. He was a Board member of UK Food Standards Agency and member of the general Advisory Committee on Science of the Food standard agency (UK). Prof. Henry is on the Board of Directors of International Life Science Institute South East Asia (ILSI-SEA). His a Scientific Advisor, Science and Technology Advisory Board, Singapore Sport Institute, Expert Panel Member, Advertising Standards Authority Singapore. Founding member   - Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN). 

Prof. Henry published over 260 papers and presented over 300 lectures around the world. In 2010 he was awarded the British Nutrition Foundation prize for his outstanding contribution to Nutrition. He was made a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Scientists and Technologists (2012).   He was the recipient of the Most Inspiring Mentor Award, from A*STAR, Singapore in 2017. He has recently been the scientific commentator on the highly successful TV program “Food Files” that has been aired worldwide.

Katarzyna collaborates with the BCFN Foundation on research and education projects since 2014.

She has worked as a dietitian in several clinics and therapy centers in Florence, specializing in weight loss and chronic disease management programs for adults and children.

Katarzyna has experience in the field of nutrition education, from holding workshops to promote fruit consumption in schools in Tuscany, to lecturing bachelor students of the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign in Rome.

She holds a B.Sc. in Dietetics and in M.Sc. in Food Science, both earned cum laude at the University of Florence, and is now based in Rome.

Olivia Yambi is a senior nutrition expert and co-chair of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food System (IPES-Food).  She has retired from the UN following two decades of work with the United Nations Children’s Fund in different capacities around the world.  She served as UNICEF Representative in Kenya 2007-2012 and prior to that as UNICEF Representative in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (2003-2007), She was Regional Nutrition Advisor to the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Region 1997-2003 and the Chief of Child Development and Nutrition in the UNICEF India Country Office 1992-1997. In the various capacities she has been responsible for overall strategic guidance to the UNICEF teams, programme conceptualization, leveraging resources for children, and monitoring programme results towards the realisation of child rights. 

Ms. Yambi a national of Tanzania, holds a PhD in International Nutrition with minors in Epidemiology and Agricultural Economics. Prior to joining UNICEF, she worked as Director of Planning with the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre. She has undertaken numerous consultancies in the field of international nutrition. She focuses attention on sustainable food systems as a one of the factors alongside health and adequate care, for the attainment of nutrition security. Ms. Yambi is a member of the World Public Health Nutrition Association.

Dan Crossley is Executive Director at the Food Ethics Council, the UK-based not-for-profit working with business, government and civil society to address ethical concerns at the heart of decision-making about food and farming. The Food Ethics Council’s work includes its programme on ‘unleashing the power of indexes.’ Dan has worked on food sustainability issues for over a decade. In 2014, Dan was appointed as one of WWF’s ten LiveWell Leaders in Europe, was co-chair of the working group of Defra’s Green Food Project and is on the Food Climate Research Network Advisory Board. He formerly led Forum for the Future’s work on sustainable food, where he advised many of the world’s leading businesses, and previously worked for a food manufacturing company. Dan has an MSc in Environmental Technology (specialising in Business and Sustainability) from Imperial College London and a BA (Hons) from University of Cambridge.

Leo Abruzzese is Global Director of Public Policy for The Economist Intelligence Unit's Consulting team, overseeing analysis, research and modelling for governments, corporations, NGOs and foundations. He has led projects in such fields as economic and financial benchmarking, gender equality, poverty alleviation, access to finance, nuclear security, global peace, food security and environmental protection. Leo has directed strategic research initiatives for organisations such as the World Bank, the IMF, the UN, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Gates Foundation, the Clinton Foundation, the International Organisation for Migration, the Office of Mexico’s President, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Nike Foundation, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Leo has developed more than 20 performance-benchmarking models, ranging from the Women’s Economic Opportunity Index to the Global Food Security Index. In his role as an economic and policy analyst, Leo has defended the EIU's views before audiences throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Before joining the EIU in 1998, Leo was Washington bureau chief and editorial director of The Journal of Commerce.

Mohamed El-Sayed El-Shinawi , M.D, FACS is Professor of General Surgery- Ain Shams University, Egypt. Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. He is the Regional Lead Trainer of the Sequential Trauma Educational Programms in collaboration with Maryland University, USA. He is the President of Ain Shams Medical Student Research Association “AMSRA” and a member of a several prestigious associations and societies. He also pursues a career in trauma and emergency care and in the area of injury research. He is pursuing a career in breast cancer surgery and research. He was the Chair for 2 Institutes about Responsible Conduct of research in collaboration with the National Academy of Science, USA. His Biography was included in Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare. He is an investigator on different projects with different universities in the United States.

Franca Roiatti is responsible for the communication of the Milan’s food policy and the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. As a journalist, she has worked for radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. A passionate of food and sustainability issues she is the author of two books and a documentary on the land grabbing phenomenon and the alternatives ways to produce and purchase food. She has lectured and has participated in several conferences, workshops, and expert panels on landgrabbing, food policies, food security, and sustainable food production.

Lara Hanna-Wakim is the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, (Lebanon) since 2013. 

She is the first scientist to represent the MENA Region as a regular member at the Governing Council of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) since 2014. 

She’s nominated by the Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education as National Contact Point (NCP) for “Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials” for the EU Commission within Horizon 2020 Framework Programs.

She is the Focal Point for Lebanon of the Arab States Green University Network (ASGUN) at UNEP, and the National Food Safety Expert at UNIDO. 

She has been honored, at the Lebanese Parliament, as Women Leader in Lebanese Universities and Research Pioneers, by the National Initiative for the Centennial of Greater Lebanon. 

She has been honored as well by the Lebanese Minister of Agriculture to acknowledge her major accomplishments and outstanding leadership and performance, and for obtaining the American accreditation ABET for the Diploma of Agricultural Engineering at the faculty, the first in the MENA region. 

Dr. Hanna-Wakim holds an Agricultural Engineering Diploma from USEK (Lebanon), an MS in Quality Assurance from INAP-G (Paris, France), an MA/PG Diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education from University of Chester (UK), and a PhD in Food Process Engineering from AgroParis Tech (Paris, France). 

Michela Carucci works as consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) on urban food systems. Michela’s work focus on providing policy and technical support to cities and countries in assessing and planning sustainable territorial food systems, as well as fostering city to city cooperation mechanisms. Together with the statistic division, Michela is also coordinating the development of an urban monitoring framework for local food policies in collaboration with cities. Before joining FAO, Michela has worked for the Municipality of Milan, Mayor’s office, for the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact project and as researcher for both the private sector in the UK (the Institute of Grocery Distribution) and the national public health service in Italy. Michela is member of the Italian Association of Dietitians (ANDID) and co-editor of the Journal of the Association.  Michela Carucci holds a BSc in nutrition and dietetics from the University of Florence, and a M.Sc. degree in food policy from City University London.

Stefania oversees the Food Systems Network as part of C40's Urban Planning and Development Initiative. Before joining C40, Stefania worked as policy advisor and project manager at the Mayor’s Office of Milan (2011-2015), where she focused on the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and overall Food Policy for the city. In particular, Stefania helped design both measures and served as a liaison for local and international stakeholders. Stefania also worked as a World Health Organization (WHO) consultant for policy alignment and aid coordination in the health sector in Moldova (2011-2014) and Tajikistan (2006-2009). She has a PhD in Institutions and Policies from UCSC, Milan, and a MSc in Political Economy of Late Development from the London School of Economics.

Dr. Bina AGARWAL is Professor of Development Economics and Environment at the University of Manchester. She is the recipient of the 2017 Agropolis Fondation Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Outstanding Career in Agricultural Development.

She is an expert on land rights, food security and gender who has published award-winning books on gender and land issues. Prior to this she was Director and Professor at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. She is a member of the Future Earth Science Committee. She has been President of the International Society for Ecological Economics, Vice-President of the International Economic Association, and President of the International Association for Feminist Economics. Agarwal has written extensively on land rights; environment and development; food security; the political economy of gender; poverty and inequality; and agricultural change.
Her publications include the award-winning book, A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia; Gender and Green Governance; and Gender Challenges, a three-volume compendium of her selected papers published by Oxford University Press in 2017. In 2008 she received a Padma Shri from the President of India; in 2010 the Leontief Prize from Tufts University “for broadening the frontiers of economic thought”; and in 2017 the Balzan Prize "for "challenging established premises in economics and the social sciences by using an innovative gender perspective".

Dr. Elena POVERENOV works at the Institute of Postharvest and Food Sciences of the Agricultural Research Organization of Israel.  She is the 2017 Young Promising Scientist winner of the Agropolis Fondation Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize. 

A material scientist by profession, she has developed edible coatings and controlled release systems based on natural polymers that minimize the physiological and microbial damage of perishable produce, successfully prolonging their shelf life. She has worked on inexpensive method to produce non-animal chitosan from the mushroom industry waste that can be used as active edible coating on various food products. She has also developed ways of covalently linking antimicrobial agents on to packaging materials and surfaces such as glass, cellulose, PVA, stainless steel; or modifying polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, the most utilized materials in food package to confer to them contact-active antimicrobial surfaces.  In pursuing her goal of controlled release systems, she has discovered effective non-standard approaches for binding of volatile antimicrobial agents to the natural polymers and their subsequent trigger promoted controlled release. Such systems lead to lowering cost and enhancing safety of human health and sustainability.

Dr. Filippo Maria Bassi is a breeder at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). His research on promoting the use of Durum varieties adapted to the Senegal Basin for food security was chosen as the 2017 Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security.

The key innovation proposed by Dr Bassi Filippo was the development of top yielding durum wheat cultivars that can withstand the tropical winter temperatures along the Senegal River, and deliver good processing quality grains in just 3 months. Multiplication of seeds of these cultivars is underway and their delivery to farmers is expected to start in 2018.This first step require the delivery of a sufficient amount of seeds to pioneer farmers.

The team involved with Dr Bassi project includes agronomists and breeder from Mauritania and Senegal, and scientists of the Swedish University of Agriculture. The prize will be devoted to the rehabilitation of two ‘wheat centres for education and training’ and to a documentary film in different local languages.

The present innovation holds great potential to increase farmers ‘income in order to diversify their diets and create a durum wheat chain value for a very poor area of Africa.

Passionate about crop evolution and domestication and their use in breeding, Dr. Paul GEPTS is a professor at the University of California-Davis. He is the 2017 AGROPOLIS Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize Distinguished Scientist laureate

Since 1980s, his research and teaching focused on studying the evolutionary factors that affect crop biodiversity, with particular emphasis on Phaseolus beans, including intrinsic plant factors such as gene flow and gene diversification, environmental correlations with crop biodiversity, and human effects on the maintenance and generation of diversity. Results of his work are applied to breeding programs to develop new varieties of beans for California and Eastern Africa.

His focus Phaseolus is due to the fact that these are such an important part of the human diet, especially in developing countries, and provide many health benefits. Other crops of interest in his lab are additional crops from the Americas such as peppers (Capsicum), wild maize (teosinte), amaranth, and agaves. These provide a comparative dimension to studies of crop evolution because they encompass a wide range of reproductive systems, life histories, and human uses. On the more applied level, he looks at the consequences of their findings for plant breeding. One of his main activities is leading the ABC-KT project (i.e., African Bean Consortium, funded by the Kirkhouse Trust), which seeks to develop a marker-assisted selection capability in East African bean breeding programs. He is also spearheading grain legume breeding program at UC Davis, which focuses on the development of new varieties of lima and common bean and garbanzos for the state of California.

Pascal Kosuth has a multidisciplinary scientific background in mathematics, physics, water resources, agronomy, environmental sciences and Earth Observation. With a PhD in complex systems analysis and control (Toulouse 1994) and working experience in various countries (France, Haïti, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Pakistan, Senegal), he developed research in water management, irrigation, hydrology (particularly water and sediment dynamics of the Amazon basin), geoinformation for the monitoring of environment and agriculture. A member of the European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Science Advisory Committee, of the French Space Agency (CNES) Science Programme Committee, of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) Oversight Committee, and a scientific expert for the European Commission, he has coordinated various national and international scientific programmes (GEOSUD a French satellite imagery public system for research, higher education and public policies; GEOGLAM an international programme for global monitoring of agriculture). Currently Director of Agropolis Fondation, he dedicates his efforts to support research and international collaboration in the broad domain of agronomy and sustainable development, from plant genes and ecophysiology to production systems, transformation systems, and interactions between agriculture and society. 

Dr. Touhami KHORCHANI has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Animal Production) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Institut des Régions Arides) (IRA) (Médenine, Tunisia) and He was the head of a research Livestock and Wildlife Laboratory, He is currently a senior researcher and Director of Information and Documentation.

Since his appointment as researcher at IRA in 1988, he has contributed actively, as coordinator or team member, to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies (ACSAD, EU, UNU, FAO, FIDA, etc.). His research programs focused mainly on camel and Goat production, Valorization of agricultural by products in Ruminant nutrition, nutritive value range species range use, valorization of animal by-products, climate change impacts and adaptation animal spices in arid regions. He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities, part time teaching at the universities on drylands and natural resources management related issues, and organization of specialized local and international training sessions.

  He published several scientific papers in national and international journals (over 50). He is also reviewer for several international journals. He organized several scientific events at a national and International level (SIEFAD2014, second conference of ISOCARD,…). He is inventor or co- inventor of several patents related to camel milk. 

Born in 1951, Sir Bob Geldof is one of Ireland’s most successful exports and is known throughout the world for his many talents and passions. Starting his career as a successful musician, actor and songwriter, he has gone on to both inspire a generation and make prolific social changes as a philanthropist and political activist. An inspiring and influential public speaker, he speaks on a range of topics and uses his vast personal experiences to both provoke and motivate his audience.

Shooting to fame as the lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof was a major player in the 80s punk rock movement and enjoyed over a decade of hits between 1975 and 1986, including “Rat Trap”, “I Don’t Like Mondays” and “Up All Night”. After leaving the band, he launched a successful solo career, published his best-selling autobiography, “Is That It?” and worked as a radio DJ, journalist and television presenter.

Showcasing his incredible versatility, he has also established himself as an astute businessman. By 1992, he was co-owner of television production company, Planet 24, responsible for the extremely popular early morning show, The Big Breakfast. He also became a founding partner of Groupcall in 2002, an IT company who specialises in communication software and data extraction tools for the education, public and business sectors.

Showbiz success and business acumen aside, Sir Bob Geldof is possibly most famous for his work as a tireless charity campaigner and activist. In 1984, and in response to a BBC report documenting the famine in Ethiopia, he mobilised the pop world to raise funds in an attempt to bring about change. He wrote and performed “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” with a variety of other artists under the name, Band Aid – a song which became the UK’s fastest selling single of all time, entered the chart at number one and eventually went on to raise more than £8 million for charity.

Following the astronomical success of Band Aid, Bob Geldof went on to organise Live Aid in 1985, one of the biggest rock concerts the world had ever seen. It took place at Wembley Stadium in London and John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, lasted 16 hours and raised over £150 million for famine relief in Africa. He was subsequently granted an honorary knighthood for his charity efforts in 1986.

Following a further two decades of determined charity work and activism, Geldof went on to organise the Live 8 concerts. Part of the Make Poverty History campaign, the Live 8 project consisted of 6 concerts across the world and aimed to raise awareness of the plight in Africa, including poverty, hunger, government debt and the AIDs epidemic.

Sir Bob Geldof has received a number of awards in recognition of his charity work, including a Man of Peace award in 2005 and nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in both 2006 and 2008.

The last incarnation of Band Aid took place in 2014 under the name of Band Aid 30. The group, composed of some of the biggest-selling British and Pop bands including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, One Direction and Ellie Goulding, recorded a new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” that went straight to number one in the UK Official Singles Chart.

Bob is internationally recognised as a leading authority on world politics, international and current affairs, music, humanitarian issues, philanthropy, poverty, human rights and Africa. He is an expert speaker and speaks on leadership, motivation, media, press relations and travel. In addition he is a business entrepreneur and has extensive knowledge of UK and Irish Politics.