Steering Committee

Initiative Lead, The Food Imperative, and Principal, Economist Enterprise

Pratima Singh is Principal with Economist Enterprise's Policy and Insights team in New York. She is an expert in sustainability, circular economy and natural resource management with a particular focus on the agriculture and food sector. Pratima works with foundations, corporates, governments and non-profits seeking evidence-based analysis and policy recommendations. At Economist Enterprise, she leads several of the organisation’s global sustainability-themed research programmes.

Vice President, M365 Copilot, and CTO Agri-Food, Microsoft

Ranveer Chandra is Vice President in M365 Copilot and CTO of Agri-Food at Microsoft. He has held leadership roles, including Managing Director for Research for Industry and Chief Scientist of Microsoft Azure Global. His work has shaped products like XBOX, Azure, and Windows. He invented Microsoft FarmBeats, an AI-driven agriculture tool featured by Bill Gates. An IEEE and ACM Fellow, he holds over 125 patents and has won awards, including MIT Tech Review’s Top Innovators Under 35. He earned his undergraduate degree from IIT Kharagpur and a PhD in Computer Science from Cornell.

Executive Managing Director, CGIAR

Ismahane Elouafi became Executive Managing Director of CGIAR in December 2023. She was previously Chief Scientist at the FAO and Director General of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture. She has held senior roles in Canada, including at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. A scientist and adviser, she has served on expert panels and governance boards, including IFPRI, CABI, and the Global Commission on Adaptation. She was also a member of the Scientific Group for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit and the CGIAR System Board.

Executive Director, The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Dr. Lawrence Haddad has been GAIN’s Executive Director since 2016. In 2020 he was asked by the UN Deputy Secretary General to Chair Action Track 1 of the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit : Ensuring Access to Safe and Nutritious Food for All. Lawrence is the co-founder of the Standing Together for Nutrition, a response to the COVID-19 crisis, and is one of the drivers behind the Initiative on Climate and Nutrition (ICAN) which was formally launched by the Egyptian Government at COP27. Prior to GAIN, Lawrence was lead author of the Global Nutrition Report, Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and Director of the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at IFPRI. He was made a World Food Prize Laureate in 2018 and was awarded a CMG in the 2023 UK Honours List for his “services to international nutrition, food and agriculture”.

Founder and Chair, C4Impact Advisory Group

Dr. Agnes Kalibata is a globally recognised agricultural scientist, policy leader, and alliance builder dedicated to transforming food systems to reduce hunger and poverty. She is Founder and Chair of Connect for Impact (C4Impact), a social enterprise helping countries achieve ambitious food system outcomes. As President of AGRA (2014–2025), she mobilised nearly US$1bn, partnered with 15 African governments, and improved food security for over 30m households. Appointed UN Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit, she led a global process engaging 193 member states. Previously, as Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture, she oversaw the country’s transition from food deficit to food secure. She has received numerous awards and holds a PhD in Entomology from UMass Amherst.

Farmer and Independent Board Member at Rainforest Alliance, GAIN, Hans R. Neumann Foundation, Koppert and Driscoll's

Berry Marttin, former Executive Board Member of Rabobank Group, has over 33 years of international banking experience. Born in Brazil, he studied Business Administration at Fundação Getulio Vargas and earned an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He held senior roles in Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Curaçao, and Brazil before leading Rabobank Amsterdam in 2004. From 2009 to 2023, he oversaw Global Wholesale and Rural Banking, Food and Agriculture, Leasing, Sustainability, and RaboResearch. Besides managing his family farm in Brazil, he is an independent board member at Rainforest Alliance, GAIN, Hans R. Neumann Foundation, Koppert and Driscoll’s.

President/CEO, ONE Campaign

Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is the President and CEO of the ONE Campaign. She began her career at McKinsey & Company in Chicago before returning to Nigeria to become the first Executive Director of FATE Foundation. Ndidi is the founder of LEAP Africa and African Food Changemakers, and co-founder of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition and AACE Foods. She serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, Chanel Foundation, Stanbic IBTC Group, the Bridgespan Group, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. She is also part of IFC’s Women LEAD Africa Alliance. Ndidi is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School.

Chief Economist, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

As Chief Economist, Dr. Torero leads FAO’s analytical and policy work on agrifood systems, focusing on food price volatility, poverty, market and trade dynamics, and innovative financing to enhance resilience and expand access to affordable, healthy diets. He provides intellectual leadership for FAO’s flagship reports and serves as its principal economic voice in multilateral forums. He served on the Munich Security Conference Food Security Task Force, linking food security with national security and geopolitical risk, and co-chaired the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Ukraine, supporting the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Before joining FAO, he was an Executive Director at the World Bank Group and led IFPRI’s Markets, Trade and Institutions Division. He is a founding architect of the G20 Agricultural Market Information System, strengthening transparency in global agricultural markets.