Food Systems - ForumforAg

Epizode

• 
  Interview with Lauren Phillips 20.08.2026 4min

  In this edition of the Food Systems podcast, speaking during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, Alex Turk talks to Lauren Phillips, FAO's Director of Partnerships and UN Collaboration. Lauren reflects on her panel at the Forum’s Annual Conference about financing agricultural transition, arguing that progress requires tackling nutrition, productivity, climate and livelihoods together rather than in isolation, and expressing encouragement that climate and agriculture were discussed jointly, though she'd like to see more focus on social and nutrition outcomes. She frames climate change as an open-ended, generational crisis that intersects with conflict and resource pressures to drive hunger, and notes that declining climate finance budgets mean development funding alone won't suffice - private finance must also be de-risked to reach even the poorest smallholder farmers, who represent both high risk and high potential payoff. She closes by emphasising that building broad, durable consensus, even if slower, produces more lasting and ambitious outcomes than settling for quick fixes.
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  Interview with Nomindari Enkhtur 18.08.2026 6min

  In this edition of the Food Systems podcast, speaking during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, Alex Turk talks to Nomindari Enkhtur, CEO of the Mongolian Nature's Legacy Foundation. They discuss her Forum Annual Conference talk on climate resilience, explaining that despite Mongolia's unique context, it faces the same core climate, environmental degradation and biodiversity challenges as elsewhere. Nomindari highlights the country's blended public-private financing model as one relevant solution. She describes the severe threat to Mongolia's nomadic communities, who face livestock loss and forced migration to cities as the country warms at twice the global average, and closes by invoking the Mongolian concept of the "eternal blue sky" as a call for greater collaboration in the face of shared dependence on nature.
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  Interview with Sandrine Dixson-Declève 13.08.2026 8min

  In this edition of the Food Systems podcast, speaking during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, Alex Turk talks to Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Global Ambassador for the Club of Rome. Sandrine reflects on her Annual Conference panel on the converging food and energy crises, arguing food policy must centre citizens' lived experience - who consistently want affordable, nutritious, green food and greater localisation of production. She calls for protecting vulnerable farmers and citizens through windfall taxes on oil and gas profits, cutting fossil fuel subsidies, and direct financial support.
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  Interview with Ethan Soloviev 11.08.2026 9min

  In this edition of the Food Systems podcast, speaking during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, Alex Turk talks to Ethan Soloviev of HowGood. Ethan argues AI can help the agri-food system optimise holistically for climate, nature and farmer livelihoods, rather than trading them off. He's largely optimistic about AI despite concerns over energy, water use and emergent model behaviour, and sees it already speeding up decision-making on his own farm. He calls for AI trained on regenerative and agroecological data rather than industrial yield-focused data, so farmers help shape it themselves - and proposes a "moonshot" think tank using AI to build genuinely long-term plans for food and agriculture.
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  Interview with Martin Clough 06.08.2026 7min

  In this edition of the Food Systems podcast, speaking during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, Alex Turk talks to Martin Clough, Head of Digital Collaboration and Sustainability at Syngenta. The discussion centers on how three powerful technologies are converging: generative AI, big data, and omics science, and how they are revolutionizing agricultural innovation. He explains how historically, product design optimized one challenge at a time (efficacy, then safety, then sustainability), like solving a Rubik's Cube one side at a time. Using multi-parameter optimization now enables solving all challenges simultaneously - all six sides at once.
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  Interview with Harvey Locke 04.08.2026 10min

  In this edition of the Food Systems podcast, speaking during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, Alex Turk talks to Harvey Locke, President, Harvey Locke Conservation Inc and Vice Chair for Nature Positive, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. Harvey argues that environmental and economic issues are deeply connected. He challenges the traditional approach of balancing environment, economy, and society separately. Instead, Earth is the foundation - humans and the economy are subsets that must serve people, not the reverse. We need to recognize our dependence on Earth's systems and act accordingly. He ends optimistically: bringing together climate officials, investors, and conservationists in one conversation shows progress in recognizing these interconnected challenges.
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  Interview with Cristina Bruce 16.07.2026 8min

  In this edition of the Food Systems podcast, speaking during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, Alex Turk talks to Cristina Bruce, Senior Vice President for Sustainability and Social Impact at Anglo American. Cristina discussed the company's focus on sustainable agriculture and the development of polyhalite resources in the North of England. She highlighted the importance of innovation in fertilizer products to address global food security and soil health challenges. With the cost of fertilizer being impacted by the Middle East conflict, this is a timely reminder of alternative sources.  
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  Interview with Ricard Ramon 10.06.2026 19min

  Recorded at the recent Forum for the Future of Agriculture Regional event in Dublin, Rose O’Donovan interviewed Ricard Ramon, Head of Unit for Policy Perspectives at DG AGRI, about the current state of the negotiations with the CAP. Joining online, Mr Ramon said a minimum CAP budget of around 300 billion euros is established to 2034, with significant additional resources available: a requirement that 10% of unallocated funds be spent in rural areas, worth around 48 billion euros, and a further 45 billion euros could be moved to agriculture, if spent early in the period. He highlighted that it is very important to continue to put a big focus on support for farmers’ incomes – the key is matching the right type of support to the right need, whether direct payments, investment, technology or risk management.
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  Interview with Michael Werz 15.05.2026 22min

  In the latest Food Systems Podcast episode, Michael Werz, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, discusses how global instability, conflict and climate change are making resilient food systems central to future geopolitical stability. Speaking with guest presenter Mark Titterington, he warns that food is increasingly being weaponized in conflicts and that fragile supply chains, export restrictions, and fertilizer dependencies threaten global security. Michael calls for stronger multilateral cooperation, greater leadership from Global South nations, and urgent reforms to trade, agricultural policy, and food governance to build a more resilient and equitable global food system.
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  Interview with Barry Cowen MEP 11.05.2026 23min

  In this episode of the Food Systems Podcast, from the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, we're diving into one of the most critical moments for European agriculture in a generation. As the EU shapes the future Common Agricultural Policy beyond 2027, we're facing a fundamental question: Can we afford the ambition we're claiming to pursue? Rose O'Donovan is joined by Barry Cowen MEP who brings his perspective on the negotiations happening right now in Brussels - and some concrete proposals for how Europe can actually deliver on its agricultural ambitions.
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  Interview with Jessica Agnew 22.04.2026 23min

  In this edition of the Food Systems Podcast, Tassos Haniotis discusses trends in productivity growth in the agriculture sector globally with Jessica Agnew, Director of the GAP Initiative and Managing Editor of the Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report, Virginia Tech. They also discuss the importance of productivity growth in agriculture to meet increasing demands for food, fiber, fuels, and feed in a sustainable manner and how policy decisions - such as R&D funding levels and emission reduction targets -significantly impact productivity outcomes.
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  Interview with Justin Rose 08.04.2026 25min

  In this edition of the Food Systems Podcast, Alex Turk talks to Justin Rose, President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf, Small Agriculture and Turf Care, Europe, Africa, and Asia, Deere & Company. The discussion highlights how agricultural data, owned and controlled by farmers, can act as a “second crop” by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enabling better decision-making through platforms and AI-driven tools like precision spraying.
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  Interview with Janez Potočnik 30.01.2026 17min

  In our first podcast of 2026, we discuss with the Forum for the Future of Agriculture Chairman Janez Potočnik what's on the Forum's agenda for the new year ahead and get an update on some details about the Annual Conference taking place at the Square in Brussels on April 14th.
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  Interview with Stientje van Veldhoven 10.12.2025 24min

  In this edition of the Food Systems Podcast, Alex Turk talks to Stientje van Veldhoven, Vice President and Regional Director for Europe, World Resources Institute (WRI) and former Minister for the Environment and Housing in the Netherlands. During the discussion they reflect on the outcomes of COP30 in Belém and explore how WRI Europe is working to accelerate progress on sustainable land use, climate action and food system transformation.
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  Interview with Jurgen Tack 24.11.2025 17min

  In this edition of the Food Systems Podcast, Rose O’Donovan talks to Jurgen Tack, the Secretary General of the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) about the Forum’s recent report on financing the transition to a more resilient and sustainable agri-food system. The conversation explores tensions, new approaches to public and private financing, the potential of nature credits, and ongoing debates around the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Find out more about the report on the Forum website at https://forumforag.com/article/2025-financing-transition-report
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  Interview with Professor Erik Meers and Laura van Schöll 14.11.2025 31min

  On November 25, the Forum will host a webinar on the policy side of nutrient management. Ahead of that, this Food Systems podcast episode takes a look at efficient nutrient management and recycling, exploring how EU-funded projects like NutriBudget and ReNu2Cycle are helping to scale closed-loop nutrient systems for smarter nutrient management, to minimise negative impacts on environment and human health, and ensure sustainable food production. Find out more about the upcoming webinar or register at https://forumforag.com/events/2025-aligning-policy-practice-and-innovation-for-sustainable-agriculture
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  Interview with Dave Hughes 07.11.2025 28min

  In this edition of the Food Systems Podcast, Alex Turk talks to Dave Hughes, Head Technology Identification and Evaluation for Crop Protection, Syngenta. They discuss innovation focus and progress, and deep dive into digital technologies, biological pest control and genomic techniques, highlighting the importance of innovation for Europe.
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  Interview with Emmanuelle Mikosz 07.10.2025 16min

  In this edition of the Food Systems Podcast, Alex Turk talks to Emmanuelle Mikosz, Director General of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture. Emma explains her new role and discusses the upcoming publications, events and other activities planned between now and the next Annual Conference in April 2026.
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  Interview with Dr Jane Goodall 02.10.2025 15min

  We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall. At the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, we were honoured to welcome Dr. Goodall as an inspirational speaker in 2023. Her words were not only profoundly moving but served as a powerful call to action for all of us working toward a more sustainable and compassionate future. We repeat the original interview as a reminder of her unwavering dedication to conservation, animal welfare and the interconnectedness of all life.
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  Insights from the Forum’s Annual Conference: Interview with Tobias Bandel 29.09.2025 8min

  In this edition of the Food Systems Podcast, Alex Turk talks, during an interview at this year's Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference, to Tobias Bandel, Co-founder of The Landbanking Group and also a farmer. Tobias explains that the Landbanking Group was founded out of frustration that sustainability projects always got stuck in the “pilot world”. Sourcing sustainably was a competitive disadvantage because it added costs and they realized that if a company can demonstrably show that they are investing in risk reduction, it can be considered an asset because it creates corporate value and ensures business continuity.