Global Food Security: Sustainable Collaborations by the Netherlands
In this session developments in and sustainable collaborations around global food security will be highlighted. Jan-Kees Goet, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, will explain the role of the Netherlands in global food systems, focusing on the Dutch Diamond, which represents the collaboration between government, business, academia, and civil society.
Richard Harrison will focus on Drivers for food and nutrition security and the role of Controlled Environment Agriculture in resilient food systems. Horticulture plays an important role in nutrition security. How do (EU) markets respond both to shocks and long-term climate and biodiversity challenges? What investments and innovation are needed to make the system more resilient? Rien Komen will highlight the vital role of vocational and applied education in advancing sustainable horticulture systems. He will showcase how Aeres connects education, practice, and research to develop skilled professionals and international partnerships. His contribution emphasizes the power of applied knowledge and human capital in achieving global food security.
The session will also address the importance of global education, featuring a Dutch education institute contributing to sustainable development in a local context.
Speakers
Prof Harrison is the Managing Director of the Plant Sciences Group, which comprises approximately 1400 staff split across 20 chair groups in Wageningen University and 8 Business Units within Wageningen Plant Research. In the Netherlands he is a member of the Top Team Tuinbouw en Uitgangsmaterialen, representing all Dutch Knowledge Insitutes . He provides strategic oversight of several programme boards for large regional and national initiatives on behalf of Wageningen U&R. He is an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham,UK.
Previously he was an executive Director at NIAB (UK) with overall responsibility for NIAB’s portfolio of arable genetics, pathology, biotechnology, data science and crop characterisation. Alongside that he led NIAB’s contribution to the Crop Science Centre, the alliance between the University of Cambridge and NIAB, designed to bridge the gap between discovery science and societal impact. This alliance has received significant philanthropic support and rapidly established its position in the national innovation landscape. Prior to his role in Cambridge, he worked at East Malling as head of genetics, where he specialised in horticultural genetics and genomics of fruit crops.
Prof Harrison has a PhD in evolutionary systems biology. His research group has worked to understand the evolution and genetic basis of complex traits, such as interactions between plants and microbes. Outputs have included scientific knowledge, tools, techniques and products to underpin the sustainable development of the agricultural, horticultural and food industries, using both breeding and biotechnology solutions. His group was among the first to implement gene editing techniques in key horticultural crops and in fungi used for alternative protein production. Through collaborative work with industrial partners, he and his team have delivered disease resistance traits into multiple commercial breeding programmes, as well as having initiated new public-private breeding programmes funded by global partners.
Jan-Kees Goet (1962) is Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality i from 15 June 2018. His previous positions include director of Police and director-general of Immigration Policy (Migration), as well as chairman of the board of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA).
Annie van de Riet is the President of AVAG, the association for the Dutch greenhouse technology sector. With a background in economic geography and extensive experience in both horticulture and advocacy, she is committed to driving the industry forward. AVAG represents 80 companies with a combined turnover of €3 billion, 80% of which comes from exports. These companies collaborate to develop quality standards, conduct research, and drive innovation in a pre-competitive environment. This collective effort has made the sector a global leader. A Dutch supplier is synonymous with state-of-the-art technology and top-quality solutions.