Mr Coles served as president of ISF from 2020–2022. I am going to start with reminding us about the population in 1800 only a little over two hundred years ago. This is in the middle of the Industrial Revolution which started in 1760 and is reported to have ended in…

Mr. Arnedo was the Chair of the Spanish National Organizing Committee of the ISF World Seed Congress 2022 held 16–18 May 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. Dear Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, damas y caballeros. Hola! Good morning. On behalf of the Spanish National Organizing Committee, I am very pleased and…

Michael Keller, ISF Secretary General Welcome to 2022 — what an important year lies ahead of us in the seed sector! Covid is still here and many of us within our families, group of friends or colleagues are facing cases of the new variant. We should remain careful and vigilant…

Keynote speech by Michael Keller, Secretary General, International Seed Federation at the “FAO Global Conference on Green Development of Seed Industries,” 4 November 2021 Dear Director-General, Representatives of Countries, Colleagues, and Friends, Today we are honored to be invited to this conference on “Green Development of the Seed Sector” in…

We need a bold, novel and better normal that empowers farmers! by Michael Keller While many of us continue to enjoy access to safe and nutritious food, some of us had a glimpse of what it must feel to be scared to have not enough to eat in the early…

After joining the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) Congress 2021, ISF Secretary General shares his reflections about the seed sector in the continent in light of the recently-concluded UN Food Systems Summit 2021, held virtually on 23 September. — by Michael Keller Africa’s seed supply was indeed under pressure due to COVID-19, but the reality is that Africa’s seed supply has been under permanent pressure. Just last week, at the virtual UN #FoodSystems Summit, the critical nature of seed security was mentioned by the President of Ghana.

This is the second part of ISF Secretary General’s reflections on the UN Food Systems Summit 2021. Read the first part here. by Michael Keller There’s only a little bit more than 3,000 days left to achieve the SDGs. The concept of time can be extremely subjective: for a breeder…

After joining the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit in Rome on 26–28 July, ISF Secretary General Michael Keller shares his thoughts on the UN initiative. The Summit is set to be held virtually on 23 September. — by Michael Keller When I came into the office last week, I received endless requests for feedback on my impressions of the UN Food Systems Pre-summit #UNFSS, which I attended in person in Rome on 26–28 July 2021. Yesterday, I thought then it would be worthwhile to start to write…

This is the third part of our series featuring the people that make up ISF’s Technical Team to hear about their work and priorities. As part of ISF Secretariat based in Switzerland, they are supporting the organization’s Key Strategic Objectives through the development of seed sector policy at the international…