Jang Heo

Dr. Jang Heo (Ph.D. in Sociology) got his bachelor and master degrees at the Seoul National University majoring in sociology. After spending several years as junior researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI), Seoul, Korea, he studied environmental sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, U.S., and got the doctoral degree in December 1997. Returning back to the KREI, he has implemented researches and published many research papers on social change and welfare of rural areas of Korea and sustainable agricultural policy.

Abdul Ghafoor

Dr. Abdul Ghafoor is working as Associate Professor in the Institute of Business Management Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Currently he is also looking after the duties of Director of the institute. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Marketing. Food entrepreneurship, value chain management and decent work practices including gender related issues in agriculture are some other areas of his interest.

ADB Distinguished Speakers Program: Driving Food Security through Digitalization of Food Supply Chains

Digitalization of both trade and financial flows can streamline access to finance enabling efficient and timely use of capital by swiftly directing it to pockets of need. Asia’s recovery from the pandemic and the current shocks present opportunities for MSMEs to digitalize without compromising on their traditional strengths in agribusiness, wholesale and retail trade, and their proximity to customers.

Hanaa Singer-Hamdy

Ms. Hanaa Singer-Hamdy is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka and leads the UN Country Team of 22 Resident and Non-Resident UN Agencies. She is the representative of the UN Secretary-General in Sri Lanka.

Ms. Singer-Hamdy has over three decades of experience with the UN, having worked across development and humanitarian contexts in various senior management and strategic leadership roles.

Susana Moreno

Works as Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping Officer in the Research, Analysis and Monitoring Unit of the World Food Programme Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. PhD in Nutritional Anthropology and expert in human ecology, nutrition and food security, she has more than 15 years of experience as researcher and international consultant in food security and nutrition, 11 years working with WFP.

Virtual Conference on Farmers’ Organizations and Sustainable Development

Farmers’ organizations such as cooperatives, associations, self-help groups, producer organizations, farmer-based organizations, farmer groups, and collective action can help to boost farmer productivity and bargaining power, farm management skills, household welfare and livelihoods, and rural development. However, the relationship between farmers’ organizations and broader sustainable development and policy design remains unclear.