Putting the New Vision for Agriculture into Action

27 January, 2012, Davos, Switzerland

The New Vision for Agriculture (NVA) initiative has continued to evolve into a vibrant catalyst for public-private collaboration since its launch at the 2009 World Economic Forum (WEF). Today at the 2012 WEF Annual Meeting, Mike Mack, Syngenta CEO, co-chaired the session ‘Realizing A New Vision for Agriculture: An Action Agenda’ to present the key messages of the initiative’s latest report and highlight the Vision’s next steps.

“Today, we are proud to launch a new report ‘Putting the New Vision for Agriculture into Action’ which takes our on-the-ground learnings from collaborations over the past two years and focuses on the key success factors for helping transform agriculture in developing countries,” said Mike Mack.

The report identifies six elements that are fundamental to creating a step change in agricultural productivity, sustainability and prosperity. “Leadership and stakeholder alignment, clear strategy and priorities, an investment and entrepreneur pipeline, enabling hard and soft infrastructure policies and investments, catalytic financing and risk management, and delivery and implementation mechanisms are all essential,” continued Mack. Applying the example of Tanzania’s ongoing transformation, Mack used the interactive session with global leaders of business, government, international organizations, civil society, academia and farmers' organizations to assess progress, brainstorm new opportunities and define a shared agenda for expanding action in the year ahead.

“In 2011, the initiative moved from visionary to action-focused, rolling out innovative models for public-private collaboration at the national level in four countries - Tanzania, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico - and working through the G20 and other fora to build further global momentum,” said Mack. “But what is important to acknowledge here, is that the right solutions will vary by region. The on-the-ground projects of the NVA have shown us that it takes hard work and a coordinated and sustained effort, but it can be done. These learnings can help kick-start further agricultural development.”

Participants at the session reviewed pioneering national-level initiatives, explored best practices for creating agriculture-sector transformations and identified new solutions to continuing challenges in areas such as financial and technology innovation. The group also agreed on a shared agenda for 2012 to deepen and scale up the impact of public-private collaboration both locally and globally.

The World Economic Forum's New Vision for Agriculture initiative has developed a broadly supported agenda for action and is implementing new models of public-private collaboration to achieve sustainable agricultural growth. Led by 26 global companies in close collaboration with governments and other stakeholders, the initiative has outlined the role the private sector can play in realizing a vision for sustainable agriculture through multistakeholder partnerships.

Mike Mack co-chaired the event alongside Irene B. Rosenfeld, Kraft Foods Chairman and CEO. Other guests included Robert Berendes, Syngenta Head Global Business Development, Paul Polman, Unilever CEO, Stefan Lippe, Swiss Re CEO, José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General, William H. Gates III, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair.

Read the report “Putting the New Vision for Agriculture into Action” here.

Learn more about Syngenta’s participation at the 2012 World Economic Forum here.

Read more about the 2012 World Economic Forum here.