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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
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GLOBAL LEADERS
CONVENE IN ST. LOUIS FOR 2003 WORLD CONGRESS.
BY PAM DROOG
Right now, planners at the World Agricultural Forum are putting
the finishing touches on what has come to be called the “St. Louis
meeting.” That’s how government officials, financers, food producers
and processors, distributors, advocacy groups, educators, researchers
and consumers around the world refer to the 2003 World Congress,
sponsored by the St. Louis-based World Agricultural Forum.
This third Congress, held every other year, will take place May
18-20 at the Hyatt Regency at Union Station. During those few days,
the attention of anyone involved in the agri-food chain in any way
will be focused on St. Louis.
With the theme, “Working Together to Create the Future and Disable
the Barriers,” dialogue among the 500 expected attendees clearly
is the Congress’ goal.
“It’s very simple,” says Leonard Guarraia, WAF founder (in 1997),
president and chairman of the board. “If we’re going to succeed
in providing food distribution, production and equal access to technology
and to the infrastructure necessary for agriculture, we can’t be
fighting one another. We have to work together.”
Guarraia acknowledges, “working together is a very broad-based concept.”
That makes it all-inclusive, too. As a result, invited and confirmed
participants at the Congress range from the co-chair of the United
Nations Task Force on Hunger to the United States trade representative
and agriculture secretary; top executives of Cargill, IGA, Monsanto
and Unilever to World Bank officials; plus agriculture ministers
from Indonesia, Columbia, Costa Rica, Japan, Kenya, Russia, South
Africa, Spain and other nations.
Besides these superstars of international agriculture, also attending,
for the first time at any global meeting, will be members of the
21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Food System. These APEC
economies represent 46 percent of global commerce.
And, Missouri Governor Bob Holden will co-chair a new panel on “Agriculture
at the Local Level” with the governor of Veracruz, Mexico.
“We’ve invited governors from agriculture-producing states the world
over to come discuss the impacts of agriculture policy decisions
at the local level,” says Kathy Moldthan, WAF executive vice president
and chief operating officer. The governors will be accompanied by
business delegations from their states, “who will network with other
businesspeople from around the world and explore investment opportunities,”
Moldthan adds.
“the
WAF is the new model for the 21st century. It’s
a neutral venue where stakeholders from the whole
of the value chain can meet to discuss issues and
concerns and develop strategies to address them.”
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James
B. Bolger, ONZ
chairman of WAF Advisory Board
three-time prime minister of New Zealand and
the former ambassador from
New Zealand to the United States
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A key change from the previous two Congresses is the format. The
Forum’s advisory board recommended attendees participate in interactive
workshops rather than listen to panel discussions. And to further
assure an open and inclusive agenda, the WAF created an NGO (non-governmental
organization) Advisory Council.
“These actions really allow people who feel disenfranchised to have
a voice,” Guarraia says. “If you have an opinion regarding agriculture,
then you can come and be co-equal to everyone else.”
The changes reflect the philosophy of the new chairman of the WAF’s
Advisory Board, the Right Honorable James B. Bolger, ONZ. He’s the
three-time prime minister of New Zealand and the former ambassador
from New Zealand to the United States. He replaced former U.S. Sen.
John Danforth, who serves as chairman emeritus of the WAF Advisory
Board.
Bolger says the WAF is the “new model for the 21st century. It’s
a neutral venue where stakeholders from the whole of the value chain
can meet to discuss issues and concerns and develop strategies to
address them.”
Besides its inclusiveness, the organization’s neutral stance distinguishes
it from other agriculture organizations, Moldthan explains.
“You could go to an agriculture meeting 10 times a day everyday
of the year and still hit less than half!” she says. “But the WAF
is the only ongoing neutral venue for the discussion of food and
agriculture that brings together all the actors to consider different
perspectives.”
The agriculture and food industry, Moldthan explains, is set up
as numerous vertical sectors, and “the role we play is the horizontal
integrator of these sectors. No one else does that. That’s why this
Congress will have tremendous impact.”
(Left
to right): MARCEL REGUNAGA,
Former Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries
and Food, Argentina; Professor ANGO
ABDULLAHI, Ph.D., Special Advisor to the
President on Food Security, Nigeria; BUNGARAN
SARAGIH, Ph.D., Minister of Agriculture,
Indonesia; CAROL BROOKINS,
U.S. Executive Director, World Bank; ABDALLAH
EL-MAAROUFI, Ambassador, Embassy of Morocco,
Washington, DC; ISMAIL ALAOUI,
Minister of Agriculture, Kingdom of Morocco; FRANZ
FISCHLER, Commissioner for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Rural Development, European Union. |
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Guarraia and Moldthan expect a lot of media coverage, from the New
York Times agriculture writer to a live Internet broadcast to TV,
radio and international press. Beyond reporting on the “St. Louis
meeting” itself, the media will report on St. Louis’ growing influence
in the realm of life sciences. To that end, the participants will
have an opportunity to tour some of St. Louis’ life sciences assets
including the Danforth Plant Science Center, the NIDUS business
incubator, the Missouri Botanical Garden research facility and others
involved in biotechnology initiatives.
“We’d also like to give visitors a close-up look at the American
agriculture chain that we have right here in St. Louis,” Moldthan
says, including farms, the Alton lock and dam, an ethanol facility
and grocery distribution center. Ideally these activities will lead
to future interest and investment in the region.
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The
Monsanto Center, research facility of the Missouri
Botanical Garden. |
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The whole intent of the tours, the talks and the Congress itself
is “to bridge the gaps that are growing wider between developed
and developing economies,” Moldthan says.
Adds Guarraia, “Terrorism really is born out of desperation for
things like food, water, shelter, clothing. When you have nothing
else to live for, hopelessness breeds terrorism. That’s why we provide
this forum for leaders to find solutions for political stability
based on food security. It allows those who can make things happen
to figure out how.”
Pam Droog is a frequent contributor to St. Louis Commerce Magazine.
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