The Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA) will open in Utrecht, the Netherlands next week as European and Industry leaders join together to debate the biggest challenges to drive sustainable agriculture for increased productivity and food security in Europe and the World. GFIA takes place from 20th to 21st June 2018, as partner of the first International Week for Smart Food Production (IWSFP), which brings together the food and agriculture industries on a global scale for the first time and marks a significant step towards addressing food security and cultivating change to sustainably feed nine billion people by 2050.
Keynote speeches will set the agenda around the future of food security at Europe’s largest showcase of sustainable agtech for the two-day exhibition and conference during the opening ceremony at Jaarbeurs Expo Center, Utrecht from 10:30am - 11:30am on 20th June. Opening addresses will be presented by Bas Lansorp, CEO and Co-founder of Mars One, the Dutch foundation that aims to land the first humans on Mars in 2030; Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General, Copa - Cogeca - the united voice of farmers and their cooperatives in the European Union and André Laperrière, Executive Director, GODAN who promote the proactive sharing of open data to make information about agriculture and nutrition available, accessible and usable.
Nicola Davison, GFIA Show Director said: “GFIA has emerged as a global authority on sustainable food production, driving innovation through exhibitions and conferences across the World. We believe in cultivating change through driving a global vision that showcases the latest game-changing innovations and technology whilst delivering local relevance. GFIA Europe will bring stakeholders a pioneering conference and exhibition to foster meaningful dialogue, collaboration, recognition and year-round action between regional food producers, buyers, innovators, policy makers and investors. As proud partners of the International Week for Smart Food Production, the second edition of GFIA Europe will for the first time bring together the food and agriculture industries alongside a series of other pioneering agricultural events including VIV Europe 2018, European Halal Expo and the Proagrica Future Farming Theatre.”
She added: “The conference agenda this year will included high-level panel discussions on the role of Europe in global food security and importantly discuss the steps that have been taken over the past year by European governments, industry, and organizations to support it. We will also address adapting agriculture to climate adaptation in European agriculture; the role of circular economy for agriculture at a regional, national, continental and global level; and the role of agriculture in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Key innovations which will be showcased as part of the conference will include: N2 Applied who have developed a breakthrough technology enabling livestock farmers to process animal manure and produce nitrogen fertilizer locally that can contribute to a mind-shift in significantly reducing the livestock CO2 footprint and compliance to environmental regulations; VITO Remote Sensing online tools that are designed to extract accurate information at high update rates and support precision agriculture and environmental monitoring; beam technologies who alongside its partners are pioneering new ways to minimize chemical and drug use through low energy electron beam equipment; and Cropio who monitor over 50+ countries to successfully interpret data from optic and SAR satellites to validated and calibrated data points over the world for crop health management.
The opening ceremony is free to attend, on a first-come first-served basis, with registration required online at www.gfiaeurope.com. Full access to the conference tickets: from €399 +VAT this includes entry into the International Exhibition, Opening Ceremony, Main Conference, Innovations Theatre, Proagrica Future Farming Theatre, partner workshops, daily delegate lunch, refreshments during networking breaks, priority access to technical tours, plus access to an online meeting system and app to facilitate networking with exhibitors and other attendees.