b'ability, raising awareness on biodiversity,various ways, and a survey showed their working and uplifting women farmers andincomes increased considerably along teaching the next generation of youngwith their yields.farmers in Africa.But this is only the beginning, and we In terms of future vision, we reallyhope to continue to put on major knowl-want to continue to leverage our impactedge transfer programs across [Africa], and focus on African farmers and thebut we need partnerships for that, Muller next generation, Muller said.said. Transformation of agriculture is aUniversities as well are participating in two-way street, said Jason Allerding,capacity building by educating students on global head of sustainability, health, safetythe ground in agribusiness management. and risk management of Syngenta SeedsWe have a lot of students fromTRANSFORMATION during the panel. You cant just hand outAfrica, said Germn Fernndez, CEO information or great technologiestheyand president of the International SchoolOF AGRICULTURE have to be understood, appreciated andof Agri Management (ISAM). What they leveraged fully by those who receivelike about our programs is that were notIS A TWO-WAY them. Thats where capacity building is sofocused on the technical sidewe are important. only focused on the agribusiness man- STREET. YOU CANT Within that, educating communitiesagement and the export market.and customers about the value of agri- To achieve that, the ISAM program hasJUST HAND OUT culture and the quality of seed, as well asstudents visit more than 40 companies making those quality seeds and educa- that represent the whole supply chain toINFORMATION tion accessible, is critical, he added.gain a better understanding of how the Even within Allerdings role within ISF,value chain operates. In addition, theyOR GREAT as part of the ESR group, its a similar mis- also participate in internships with seed sion. A lot of it is educating about sustain- companies across the globe, as well as aTECHNOLOGIES ability overall.consulting project focused on sustainabil-Fundamentally, capacity building fority within supply chains.THEY HAVE TO our industry is critical to unlock this valueThats something they can learn and in the mission we have, he said.take back to their countries, FernndezBE UNDERSTOOD, Case in point, it can be difficult tosaid. We dont teach them how to grow, develop a practical example for capac- because there are very good organiza- APPRECIATED AND ity building, Syngentas seed produc- tions that are doing thatits how to run tion in South Africa has partnered withthe farm in a more efficient way. You need Stellenbosch University to establish ato know how to manage people, youLEVERAGED FULLY regenerative ag trial. The program hasneed to have some knowledge of finance, established three different trials to imple- you need to have a better understandingBY THOSE WHO ment different regenerative ag practices,of technology to be more efficient.such as no-till and continuous soil cover,With all these companies and organi- RECEIVE THEM. while also doing them in tandem withzations focusing on giving back, theres local South African growers. still room for improvement. THATS WHERE Our growers are able to come andMuller sees three points that organiza-learn with us and from us by partneringtions can continue to help with: takingCAPACITY BUILDING with us, he added. Hand in hand is actu- sustainability one step further, partnering ally a chance for us to build capacity into become more efficient and remember- IS SO IMPORTANT.real time. ing to think about the farmer.East-West Seeds focuses on a similarWe can take a leading stance, but approach. The goal is to focus on trainingwe have to come together to make thisJASON ALLERDINGfarmers and with trainers localized on thehappen, she said.SWground so the growers can bring back that knowledge to their villages.Muller says Asia has had a lot ofWHERE capacity building examples, like inON THE WEBMyanmar, where women and youth didnt have access to the market at all.Want to listen to the rest of the coverage? Make sure to watch the full panel on Channel World Seeds Youtube page:East-West Seed came in to help them inwww.youtube.com/watch?v=LfIU5Jfiqcg64/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2023'