On Friday, April 17, Founder and CEO Lucas Simons gave the keynote speech and moderated a session for the Dutch Visitors Programme. The Dutch Visitors Programme is a ten-day program organized by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), a department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, for seven young future leaders from emerging economies. The purpose of the visit was to inspire learning, exchange insights and facilitate dialogue. Theme of the ten-day program was food security and agriculture. Friday’s specific theme was “Dutch efforts in an international perspective”.

Lucas spoke on the challenges the world faces in feeding the world’s future ten billion, and how we can sustainably secure future food supply. The session he moderated was on making supply chains sustainable, financing initiatives focused on this and the part The Netherlands plays in this – all aiming to inspire a discussion among the visitors. The native countries of the visitors were Ethiopia, Brazil, Russia, Vietnam, India, Turkey and Mexico, creating a very diverse group with varying input.

The feedback from the visitors was very positive, with conclusions being drawn by the visitors such as: “The agricultural sector is being challenged with huge tasks; it will have to increase production, use less resources, improve quality and decrease the impact. Those tasks can’t be undertaken by only a few groups of countries with a high technological production.” Lucas’ role in the programme was much appreciated: “Everybody has to be in the game. Lucas’ remarks were very helpful to understand the framework of the agricultural market organisation and to find out better strategies so the sector can grow sustainably.”

Lucas was also inspired by the visitors’ enthusiasm and passion for the topics: “It is inspiring to see young leaders from all over the world passionate about current and future food security and agriculture. Through programmes like this, we take steps in creating a globally supported network of people who can make change happen.” NewForesight believes the way to realize sustainability is by working together globally. Providing future leaders with the tools to drive this change is something NewForesight is happy to contribute to.