Building Agricultural Research Ecosystems: FONTAGRO Case Study

Perspectives in Global Development: Spring 2023 Seminar Series

About the speaker

Eugenia Saini, who since 2018 has been the Executive Secretary of the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO) cooperation mechanism internationally recognized to strengthen agri-food and agro-industrial innovation in a sustainable manner. Competition for this highly influential position was intense and she is the first woman to lead the Fund. As an Agricultural Engineer, Doctor in Agricultural Sciences has been working for almost 25 years in strategic planning, execution, and reporting for national and international operations in agriculture, rural development, and sustainable agribusiness for Latin American and Caribbean countries, with a focus on family farming. Aimed to strengthen the links between public and private organizations that improve agricultural governance, increasing investments in R + D + I to improve the lives of farmers, inclusion, conservation of natural resources, sustainability, and food safety. She received a Fulbright Scholarship at Cornell University and most recently an Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy (AILA) Scholarship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C.

About the seminar series

The Perspectives in Global Development seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:25 – 1:15 p.m. eastern time during the semester. The series will be presented in a hybrid format with some speakers on campus and others appearing via Zoom. All seminars are shown in Emerson Hall 135. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend. The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the School of Integrative Plant Science as part of courses GDEV 4961, AEM 4961, NTRES 4961, GDEV 6960, AEM 6960, and NTRES 6960.