Asia's Farm to Fork: 5 Good Questions Podcast

Join us for a new episode for the year where we speak to our first farmer on the show, Adriel Dave “AD” Alvarez, who is a farmer and a member of the Global Farmer Network. AD's past experiences in microfinancing provides a deeper understanding and insight to the farmers' perspectives on the ground, highlighting the challenges and opportunities facing farmers in Asia, particularly smallholders. AD also emphasizes the need for better information sharing, technology access, and collaboration between farmers, policymakers, and the public to address issues like climate change and ensure a sustainable future for agriculture.

This episode is packed with insights, challenges, and hope for the future of agriculture in Asia. Tune in and get inspired.

In another episode of Asia's Farm to Fork: 5 Good Questions podcast, we speak to Rahoul Sawani, President, Asia Pacific, Corteva Agriscience, on the importance of agriculture technologies in improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and alleviating issues like climate change and how soil health can contribute to that. Rahoul also shares with us initiatives that Corteva Agriscience have spearheaded that targets the issues within food and agriculture, and highlighted the importance of revitalising the agricultural sector with youths and the part that technology would have to play in that. Listen for more.

In another episode of Asia's Farm to Fork: 5 Good Questions podcast, we speak to Pramod Thota, President, Asia Pacific, and Vice President of FMC Corporation, on counterfeits, sustainability and the importance of agriculture technologies in improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and alleviating issues like climate change. Pramod shares with us initiatives that FMC have spearheaded that targets the issues within food and agriculture. Listen to find out more.

In Episode 3 of the second season, we talk to Simone Barg, Senior Vice President, Agricultural Solutions of Asia Pacific, BASF, and hear her thoughts on important issues like food security, climate change, and the unique position that Asia is in as one of the biggest region of smallholder farmers. Listen to the end to hear Simone's favourite food, which is a combination of Asia's staple and exotic fruits - definitely a crowd favourite.

In another new episode of the second season, we speak to Dr. Neoh Soon-Bin, Managing Director, Soon Soon Group, about food security, price inflations and learn about the benefits of governmental partnerships in the agricultural sector. Dr. Neoh brings an insightful perspective from the food and feed ingredients industry in Malaysia, and listen to the end for a quick introduction to the making of the Peranakan dish - Assam Laksa.

To kickstart the second season of our podcast Asia's Farm to Fork: 5 Good Questions Podcast, we speak to Professor Salvador Catelo from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), about rising food prices and learn valuable insights about how current affairs like COVID19 and conflicts affects inflation, and what he expects the trend to be like in the near future. Professor Catelo also highlights the ways to enable and empower farmers on the ground and improve the food value chain. We end the podcast with a new question of the season which is “What is your favourite food?” Tune in to hear more.

Here’s a fresh episode of our podcast where Hon Mun Yip, Leader and Private Investor in Alternative Proteins gives us valuable insights on food technology and how it could guide the world towards self-sufficiency in the age of the pandemic, conflicts and climate change. Hon Mun highlights the importance of global and regional cooperation to bring the food agenda forward, and expresses his high hopes that the future would see greater acceptance of alternative food sources.

In a fresh episode of the podcast, we speak to Fitrian Ardiansyah, Global Envoy for Nature-based Solutions and Country Director for Indonesia and Malaysia IDH-The Sustainable Trade Initiative, on sustainability in food systems. He highlights gaps in the systems that could be filled through increased partnerships between organizations and entities because this huge undertaking cannot be addressed by any one single entity. He also introduces many practical solutions in how to bridge these gaps so that smallholder farmers may receive the required support to increase yield output and their economic growth and livelihood, while at the same time moving towards a more sustainable way of farming.

In this 24th episode, we have John Cheng, Founder and Managing Director, Innovate 360 speaking to us about the importance of alternative food sources in alleviating food insecurity. He highlights some of the important initiatives that Innovate 360 has done in collaboration with both public and private sectors to push new technologies forward and how these partnerships are essential for the food security agenda. 

For our 23rd episode, we speak to Rob Hulme, CEO & Group Director, The Boralis Group about food systems and technology transfers that are vital in helping smallholder farmers move towards sustainable farming. During the podcast, Rob also spoke about how along with agri-tech, systems and processes set up to help farmers gain accessibility to these technologies are just as important in the food value chain.

In this episode of Asia's Farm to Fork: 5 Good Questions Podcast, Sonny Tababa, Director, Biotechnology Affairs, CropLife Asia, talks to us about food safety and how gene editing technologies and plant science innovations, together with regulatory processes could help propel the food system forward, not just for food security but also for the health of all humankind. Sonny highlights the long process for biotech products to be commercialized, and shared success stories across Southeast Asia, like Golden Rice in the Philippines that will bring hope to both farmers and consumers alike.

In the 21st episode of the podcast, we speak to Luke Tay, futurist, strategist, and founder of Cornucopia FutureScapes, and a Singapore Futures Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s Executive Education Programme, on the future outlook of technology and food systems. Luke highlights the importance of redefining the way we approach technology in agriculture especially in the current climate – to think spatially and weigh the case and opportunities for shifting more production closer to demand, and to work on the demand side to ease and enable the adoption of new foods and tech. He also provided insights on how we as stakeholders should approach the agri-food system to enable collaboration at all levels.

In our 20th episode of the podcast, we celebrate Earth Day 2022 together with Imelda (Dada) Bacudo, Co-Chair with the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture, Senior Consultant and Expert on Climate Smart Agriculture, Land Use Policy and Climate Finance, and Convener with the ASEAN Climate Resilience Network. In this podcast, Dada discusses the importance of government and private sector cooperation in order for technological transfers and essential advancements that will help farmers, and at the same time address climate change issues. She highlights the role of governments as negotiators of climate change policies, and also the advantages of partnerships in tackling climate change.

In the 19th episode of Asia’s Farm to Fork: 5 Good Questions Podcast, we spoke to Mei Ing Cheok, Food & Agriculture, Corporate Partnerships (Asia), Save the Children, to discuss the work that Save the Children is doing and how child labour in agriculture is a pertinent issue to be resolved especially in the Southeast Asia region. Mei Ing highlights some sobering statistics on what children are experiencing on a daily basis, including the factors that might exacerbate the ongoing situation. Mei Ing also talks about the initiatives that Save the Children has been working on, and working with partners on various levels because this is "too big of an issue for any one organization to tackle alone." 

In the 18th episode of Asia’s Farm to Fork: 5 Good Questions Podcast, we spoke to Timothy Loh, Regional Director (Southeast Asia), U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), to discuss the work that USSEC is doing and how innovation and technology are pertinent to improve the livelihood and productivity of the global food system. He provides a spotlight on the world's agricultural system from a U.S perspective, which provides valuable insights to the industry in the Asia-Pacific region as well. He also highlights the importance of partnerships within the industry that will push the industry towards achieving the UN SDGs, and towards a sustainable global food system for the future.

For this special episode celebrating International Women's Day, we have Elizabeth Hernandez, Head of External Affairs and Sustainability, Asia Pacific, Corteva Agriscience speak to us about the women in agriculture, highlighting some of the challenges they face as smallholder farmers. Elizabeth also discussed how Corteva Agriscience seeks to close the gender inequality gap with some of their initiatives, as well as the importance of partnerships in the field, to allow for innovation and technology to reach the farmers that need them the most.