SESSION 1 AGENDA & SPEAKERS

H.E. Tran Luu Quang recently has been appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam since January 5, 2023. He was previously the Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Hai Phong City Party Committee. He was born in Tay Ninh province. He had a Master Degree on of Public Management, and a Bachelor Degree on Mechanical Engineer.  

Mr. Tran Luu Quang has nearly 30 years of working experiences in many different positions in the localities (Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong City...). He was assigned many important positions: member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, member of National Assembly, Secretary of provincial Party Committee. 

H.E. San Vanty is the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and was born in 1967 in Phnom Penh, the Capital City of Cambodia. Excellency gained Master’s Degree from Khon Kaen University of Thailand. Before holding the position of Secretary of State in April, 2023, Excellency has held a prominent position as Under Secretary of State of MAFF for many years, who has overseen the international cooperation affairs, including the bilateral and multilateral dialogues and discussion for the agreements and MOUs with many countries and donors. Excellency also has been playing a vital role within ASEAN and GMS collaboration framework for agriculture.  

Hon. Dr. Ildephonse Musafiri is the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources in Rwanda. Prior to that, Hon. Musafiri was the Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), a position he sworn in on August 2nd, 2022, by His Excellency Paul Kagame, the President of the Republic of Rwanda. 

On March 2nd, 2023, He was appointed the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources by the cabinet.  

Over the past 6 years, Dr. Musafiri was the Executive Director of the Strategy and Policy Council (SPC) in the Office of the President of the Republic of Rwanda. 

Formerly a member of the board of directors of the National Bank of Rwanda since April 2018, he is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Rwanda, College of Business and Economics, where he previously served as Lecturer and Head of the Economics Department. 

His research has focused on development economics and policy, particularly the analysis of poverty and inequality, agricultural growth, and food policy 

Dr. Musafiri earned his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Bonn (Germany) and a M.Sc. in applied economics from the University of Rwanda. He is fluent in English, French, and Kinyarwanda, and has a working knowledge of German. 

Dr. Meles Mekonen Yimer graduated with a PhD degree in Crop physiology and Agronomy from Haramaya University and has extensive experiences in various fields as being Lecturer, Department Head, College Dean for College of Agriculture and Vice-President of Wollo University. And also served as Head and Vice-head of Administration Board for different universities; and Business & Development Enterprises of Amhara National Regional State. 

Beyond serving as Mayor of Dessie city administration (a metropolitan city), his long years rich experiences as Bureau Head of Agriculture and Natural Resource Development Sector of Amhara Regional State made him to lead the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the 10-year agriculture sector plan both at regional and national levels. 

Dr. Meles Mekonen is currently working at the Capacity of a State Minister for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Sector. To this end, the significant contribution to directly involve in leading the Agriculture and Horticulture Development sector would have a far reaching impact towards the attainment of the strategic objectives of the Ministry (i.e., achieving food and nutrition security at household and national level, enhancing export promotion and diversification, promoting import substitution and increasing the supply side for agro-processing industries; and creating job opportunity to rural youth and women).    

H.E. LE MINH HOAN recently has been appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam since 8 April 2021. He was previously Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from September 2020 to 8 April 2021. He was born in Dong Thap Province with a passion to develop his hometown. He was experienced with a wide range of technical and political positions in province including Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Head of National Assembly Delegation of Dong Thap. 

The Minister is also well-known as a favorite writer with many attractive articles on agriculture and rural development with comprehensive and multi-angle views.

Hon Minister of Agriculture Samuel Dalitso Kawale took this position in October 2022. Prior to that, he was a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources since 2019. Hon Samuel Kawale also held the position of Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2014 participating in different leadership positions since he was elected. In addition, Hon Samuel Kawale has extensive experience in development cooperation and communications. From 2003 through 2008, he held various positions as radio producer at Trans World Radio and manager at Plan Malawi. He holds an MBA from ESAMI in Tanzania (2018) and a B.A in Biblical Studies Biblical Studies and Communications with African Bible Colleges, Lilongwe, Malawi (2003). He is currently pursuing Doctorate in Transformation Leadership with Bakke Graduate University 

Christian Hofer has been the Director-General of the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) since 1 December 2019. He was previously Head of the Bern Cantonal Office for Agriculture and Nature (LANAT) for almost two years. From 2009 to 2017, he served as an Assistant Director of the FOAG, responsible for the Direct Payments and Rural Development Directorate. He studied Agronomic Engineering (specialising in crop production) at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, graduating in1998. He also qualified as a teacher and worked as an agricultural consultant at Inforama Rütti (Bern). From 2000 to 2003, he managed the Profi Lait office and also worked as a scientist for the Swiss Grassland Society (AGFF). In 2003, he became Head of Sales (Switzerland) at DeLaval – the Swedish manufacturer of dairy farming equipment – in Sursee (Lucerne). He also obtained an MBA in Integrated Management from Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH). 

Hon. Saboto Scofield Caesar is a former Island Scholar, an attorney at law, and a member of Parliament of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He currently serves as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry, and Labour in the Dr. Hon. Ralph Gonsalves', Unity Labour Party-led administration. Over the past twelve years as Minister, he has championed with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations a sub-regional Zero Hunger Initiative. The Minister is well-known throughout the region as an agriculture activist and was recently recognized by the Inter-American Institution for Cooperation on Agriculture for his dedication to maintaining food security and resilience in the agriculture sector. He is a former Minister of Tourism and Minister of Housing, Lands and Surveys, Local Government, and Informal Human Settlement. He holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of London, with a specialization in Banking and Finance Law, and a Bachelor of Laws degree, from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. He was a student at the UWI Law Faculty from the year 2000-2003. He was the Class Representative for the first-year students at the faculty. He continued in student government at the Hugh Wooding Law School, where he served as the President of the Student Representative Council from 2004-2005. Minister Caesar went on to successfully contest three (3) general elections in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2010, 2015, and 2020. He is forty-three (43) years old. He is called to the Bar in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and served as a Crown Counsel in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; and Attorney General's Chambers; before taking up the role of Acting Registrar of the High Court of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 

Ms. Ma. Estrella Penunia, is Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) , a regional alliance of national farmers organizations or FOs  in Asia. AFA is currently composed of 22 national FOs in 16 countries, representing around 13 million small scale men , women and young family farmers, engaged in crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry, herding and pastoralism.   AFA promotes farmers’ rights to lands, waters, forests and seeds, sustainable, climate-resilient agro ecological approaches in farms , fisheries and forests, strengthening farmers cooperatives and their enterprises, women empowerment ,  attracting the youth to agriculture, and effective governance of FOs through an integrated program on  movement building, policy advocacy, capacity building,  knowledge management,  and business development servicing. 

Senior professional with 25+ years of experience in international development. Currently, Joao is Global Leader of WWF's Food Practice, leading the Network´s efforts to enhance the sustainability of the global food system, including responsible production, sustainable diets and reduction of food waste and post-harvest loss. Prior to WWF, Joao held the position of Special Environmental and Sustainability Advisor to Brazil ́s Minister of Agriculture. In that role, he served as President of the Low-Carbon Agriculture Platform and as Executive Secretary of the Agribusiness Commission on Sustainable Development. Joao has held technical and executive positions in multilateral and bilateral agencies (World Bank, UNDP and DFID), in the federal government of Brazil (Ministry of the Environment) and has advised national and sub-national governments (in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay) on the design and implementation of regional development policies, combining socio-economic growth with conservation. Prior to the Ministry of Agriculture, he worked for The Nature Conservancy as Program Director in Latin America, Executive Director in Brazil and Lead Economist of the Global Lands program. Joao holds a bachelor ́s degree in international relations and economics, master ́s and Ph.D. degrees in economics and a degree in General Management from the Harvard Business School. He has published two books on the economics of deforestation and co-authored the most comprehensive study assessing the carbon mitigation potential of low-cost improvements in land management. In 2014, he was nominated among the top 100 Brazilian leaders in the agricultural sector for the disruptive work conducted on agriculture and conservation. Joao serves on the advisory boards of NGOs, agri-food platforms and companies.