The Dutch Diamond as basis of success

Anneke van de Kamp comes from the Netherlands and holds a Master’s degree in Horticulture & Phytopathology from Wageningen University. She started her professional career in 1990 as a staff member at the Central Office of the Horticultural Auctions.

Over the years, Anneke has built extensive expertise in traceability, sustainability, and food safety through roles at DLV Advisory Group, the Product Board for Arable Crops, and the Product Board for Horticulture.

Since 2012, she has been Group Manager Communication, Public Affairs at the Dutch vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan. 

In her role at Rijk Zwaan, Anneke focuses strongly on strategic communication, public affairs and foresight, with a particular emphasis on stakeholder engagement and anticipating developments that impact the future of horticulture, including sustainability, food security, and innovation.

Anneke is actively involved in international sector organizations. She is Chair of the Public Affairs & Foresight Committee (HC) of Plantum. She also participates in the CPOL of Euroseeds and the ISF Value Chain and ESR coordination Groups.

From 2020 -2025, she was member of the Top Team Horticulture & Starting Materials. Since January 1, she serves as Chair of TKI Horticulture & Starting Materials, where she contributes to strengthening innovation and public-private collaboration in the sector.

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Prof Harrison is the Managing Director of the Plant Sciences Group, which comprises approximately 1400 staff across 20 chair groups in Wageningen University and the insitute Wageningen Plant Research. In the Netherlands he is a member of the Top Team “Tuinbouw en Uitgangsmaterialen/ Horticulture and Starting Materials”, 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, particularly in horticultural crops. 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.  

Director Sustainability & Partnerships, Oxin Growers, The Netherlands

Ton van Dalen graduated in 1987 at the Wageningen University & Research. He worked for different companies in the Horticulture. In 2012 he was appointed as CEO of Best of Four, a producer organization of fruits and vegetables in Barendrecht. In 2020 Best of Four merged with Van Nature, another producer organization, to Oxin Growers. Oxin Growers is one of the largest cooperatives of the Netherlands with 230 active growers  of fruit and vegetables and a turnover of 1 billion euro’s.

In addition to the work for Oxin Growers Ton is also boardmember at FVO( Federation of Fruit Vegetable Organisations). FVO is a collaboration of five producer organisations Harvest House, Growers United, ZON, the Greenery and Oxin Growers on a non-competitive basis. Within the FVO Ton is responsible for the project ‘100% Green Growing’,  the Green Growing Expert Centre and the implementation of the Fresh Produce PEFCR. The purpose of this is to grow vegetables without synthetic pesticides in a profitable way with the lowest possible impact on the environment in collaboration with all partners in the high tech ecosystem.

• Her Excellency has held the current position since early 2024, succeeding Ms. Almheiri, who visited GreenTech in 2022.
• Prior to this role, Her Excellency served as Assistant Undersecretary for the Care and Capacity Building Sector at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE).
• In addition to her current responsibilities, Her Excellency chairs the National Committee for Greening Education and the School Child Protection Council. Her Excellency is also a member of the UAE Council for Climate Action, the Emirates Food Security Council, and the Emirates Council for Environmental and Municipal Work.
• Her Excellency is educated in the UAE and holds a PhD in Computer Engineering.