The global food sector is one of the most significant and dynamic industries in the world. It must innovate to improve food quality, quantity, and affordability in order to address the challenges of climate change, population growth, and sustainability in an evolving global environment. Improvements in infotech and biotech provide new opportunities to improve the sustainability and profitability of the food sector. The introduction of these, and other innovations, requires a redesign of supply chains and associated institutions. One of the most important challenges is access to sufficient financial and technological resources to allow investment in these technologies and to modernize the food sector around the world.

UC Berkeley, in collaboration with Solidaridad North America, has designed a comprehensive two-day workshop to provide the tools for upcoming leaders of the agrifood sector to address the challenges of the future. This year, we will emphasize the combination of finance and technology to enhance profitability and sustainability, broadly defined. This is a collaborative workshop, where participants, practitioners and leaders of the agrifood sector, will interact with leading thinkers and specialists from the private sector, civil society, and government. In previous years, speakers have included executives from MARS, Bungee, Rabobank, Costco, and Bank of America, as well as other innovators and trailblazers from California and around the world (see 1, 2, and 3). This year’s agenda will enhance this tradition. 

View the Program Agenda here.