SESSION 7 AGENDA & SPEAKERS

Dr. Sanjo Faniran is the current National Convenor and member of Resilient Local Food Supply Chains Alliance for the UN initiated Food Systems Transformation Pathways for Nigeria. He served as Technical Adviser to the former National Convenor for Nigeria before her retirement in September 2022 and thereafter appointed as the National Convenor for Nigeria since 2022. He is currently the Director Social Development Department coordinating Food and Nutrition; Environment and Regional Development; and Human Capital sectors. He had his B. Sc in Demography and Social Statistics at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, M. Sc. University of Lagos and Ph. D. in Development Studies, University of Abuja Nigeria. He coordinated the activities all United Nations Organisations in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, from 2013 – 2020.  He is the Nigeria’s Partners Country Coordinator (PCC) for Partners in Population and Development’s (PPD) - a south-south cooperation of 27-member alliance countries since 2013. Dr. Faniran is also the current chair of the steering committee of Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria. He served as the Deputy Chair of the Board of International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) representing Nigeria from February 2021 to January 2022. He attended several international trainings/Workshops including Regional Institute for Technology (RITI), Cairo Egypt; United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and Pacific (UNSIAP) Japan; IMA International Training Institute, UK; Harvard Business School, Boston among others. He is happily married with children. 

Jamie Morrison joined GAIN in September 2022 to support national and global initiatives to strengthen food systems policy. Formerly Director of Food Systems and Food Safety at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, he brings more than 30 years of experience in the provision of research, capacity development and technical assistance on the impact of trade and economic policy on processes of agricultural development and food systems transformation. Jamie holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of London, MSc in Agricultural Economics from Wye College and BSc in Agricultural Science from Massey University, New Zealand. 

Ms. Sylvia Lopez-Ekra brings 20 years of experience in development, gender, and migration work to the United Nations System. Sylvia first joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) at its Headquarters in Geneva in 2002 as a project officer working on an initiative striving to mobilise the African diaspora to benefit African development and prosperity. She later led the organization’s gender coordination work for many years, during which she steered the agency’s efforts on gender mainstreaming and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.  In 2014, she was posted in Accra as the Chief of Mission and Country Representative for the IOM offices in Ghana, Benin and Togo. She also served as Ghana's United Nations Resident Coordinator ad interim from December 2018 to May 2020. She was later appointed UN Resident Coordinator in Morocco by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, a role she occupied from August 2020 to July 2022. Ms Ekra is a Cote d’Ivoire and France binational and a trained lawyer. She holds a master’s degree in International Administration, with honours, from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris, France. 

At Asia Research & Engagement (ARE), Kate leads the Protein Transition programme. Together with collaborating institutional investors, they recently launched the Asia Protein Transition Platform which aims to contribute to food security by strengthening protein sustainability. Kate has expertise in food systems, farm animal health, welfare, one health including antimicrobial resistance and the alternative protein landscape, particularly in Asia. Formerly, the Head of Research at a global NGO focused on humane and sustainable proteins she engaged and advised global and Asian food companies. Kate also contributed to global strategies for sustainable protein systems, led One Health research, and developed policy and regulation with various governments and other multilateral bodies. Originally a veterinarian, Kate is also a masters graduate of Edinburgh University, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian School of Applied Management, and a Board Director.

Mark Lundy is a Research Director at the Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT, based in Cali, Colombia where he leads the global Food Environment and Consumer Behavior team. His work focuses on the role of market systems in reducing poverty including learning networks to increase capacities for enterprise development, the role of public agencies to promote inclusive markets and how to establish and sustain effective trading relationships between retailers, traders and farmers. Emerging areas of work include the food environment of traditional markets and low-income consumers, climate resilience and environmental sustainability of food systems, the political economy of food systems and multi-actor platforms to improve decision-making. Mark is lead author of guides on rural enterprise development, the LINK method on inclusive business models and an active participant in multi-stakeholder forums focused on food systems, sustainability and social inclusion. 

Wissal graduated from two training courses; in 2012 at the Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Institute as an Engineer in Agro-food Industries, and in 2013 at AgroParisTech with an executive master's in Innovation Management in agro-activities and bio-industries. She is a Quality and Food specialist with more than 10 years of experience in the corporate world and as an agri-entrepreneur. She has been developing her agroforestry project at the gates of the Sahara for more than 5 years where she carries out R&D experiments on agroecology in arid areas. She is today the Chief Agricultural Officer of the startup Sand to Green which develops an integrated model of agroforestry for arid environments, composed of endemic species irrigated by desalination of brackish water or seawater with solar energy and brine management.