Ask Ag About... How Food Systems Need to Adapt as Populations Shift and Grow
Event Information
As urbanization continues to skyrocket in cities across the globe, the role of rural agricultural production to feed urban populations becomes increasingly difficult.
Join this month’s Ask Ag online chat as our experts answer your questions about the strategies being used to adopt food systems to suit the changing dynamics that surround global food supply and demand.
Some guiding questions include:
- How can technology be adapted to develop agricultural capacity to ensure that smallholder farmers are meeting the needs of growing urban populations?
- What actions can urban residents take to ensure they are food secure?
- What linkages must be established to connect rural smallholders with supply chain actors in urban markets? How can these linkages be replicated or scaled in new markets?
- How can urban agriculture supplement food supply from rural areas? What policy constraints, legal issues, or environmental issues (i.e. pollution) prevent urban agriculture from being more productive?
To learn more about this topic, the 2017 Cracking the Nut conference will take an in-depth look at the transformation of food systems, the linkages between rural and urban markets, and how smallholder farmers are responding to changing food preferences and needs. For more information on the event, or to register, click here.
Speakers
Shannon Smith
Connexus
Shannon Smith is a Project Associate at Connexus where she provides logistical support for ongoing and potential projects. She started her work in development as a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin where she worked extensively with village savings and loans associations as well as women’s garden groups, helping develop their financial and organizational capacity. Most recently, she took her knowledge of savings and loans associations to the Dominican Republic where she worked for a small NGO to strengthen their existing groups and establish a strategy for expanding to additional communities. Shannon holds a Masters in International Studies from Oklahoma State University and is fluent in French with working proficiency in Spanish.
Rob Henning
Chemonics International
Rob Henning has worked for over 20 years to promote investment and growth in developing countries. He works at all levels of emerging economies, creating prosperity through entrepreneurship, value chain development, frontier market investing and market research. At Chemonics, he currently serves as the director of the Agriculture and Food Security technical practice. He holds an MBA from Georgetown University and served as a small enterprise development volunteer with the Peace Corps in Benin.
Geoffrey Chalmers
ACDI/VOCA
Geoffrey Chalmers is an international development professional with 18 years of management and technical experience in rural finance, agribusiness development, and private sector management. At ACDI/VOCA since 2009, he currently leads the company’s impact investment initiative, and provides technical guidance to structure financing mechanisms and corporate partnerships for small firms to participate in economic opportunities, creating employment and income opportunities for smallholder farmers and rural economies. He managed ACDI/VOCA’s Enterprise Development Division from 2013 to 2014, overseeing the company’s portfolio of lead firm-led projects supporting entrepreneurship, SMEs and inclusive supply chains. Previously, Chalmers served as an economic growth officer at the USAID Mission in Mexico City as well as an adviser and specialist in USAID’s Microenterprise Office. He is a graduate of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins.
Elizabeth Eckert
RTI International
Elizabeth Eckert is a Senior Food and Agriculture Specialist at RTI International. She is an international development specialist with 12 years of experience, with a primary focus on inclusive agricultural market systems. Ms. Eckert’s most recent field experience focuses on research and implementation in staple and horticultural value chains in Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines and Tanzania. Her agricultural implementation experience includes managing innovation and challenge funds; integrating youth into agricultural value chains; harnessing behavior change communications (BCC) and information communications technologies (ICT); and monitoring, evaluation and learning. She has led participatory livelihood and value chain analyses in multiple countries, as well as managed baseline and end-line assessments of agricultural programs. Ms. Eckert holds a graduate degree in Social Anthropology from the University of London.
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