Month: July 2018

AgriBusiness Forum (ABF), the new international conference for the digitization & digital transformation of the agrifood value chain in Greece and beyond takes place in Serres-Greece on 2-3 November 2018, highlighting the Future of Greek & European Agriculture in the Digital Era.

AgriBusiness Forum gathers agribusiness leaders, VC investors, agtech innovators, farmers, producers & academia, fostering integrating partnerships and advancing knowledge towards sustainable bio-agriculture, digital farming, cultivation-plant-nutrition protection, bioengineering, livestock adaption, artificial intelligence, agriculture automation, food safety and agrilogistics.

First time ever, a business forum integrates a Masterclass to be provided free of charge to innovative food & agtech scaleups from all over Greece. Following assessment, those companies during the workshop will have the opportunity to enhancing business value proposition and competences in products/services distribution. Furthermore to participating to the challenge of innovation, networking events as well as to the conference.

Applications to the Masterclass are submitted online through AgriBusiness Forum website (here) from July 30^th to August 31^st, 2018. The selection of 13 innovative scaleups will be held by an external Selection Committee under the terms and conditions published online. On completion of the workshop, scaleups will be pitching to the challenge of innovation, being the top 3 promoted as panelists to the conference.

Scaleups can participate with 2 representatives and will be offered: a) the workshop, b) participation to the challenge, c) 4 nights hotel accommodation with breakfast, d) 5 meals, e) attendance to the conference, f) public transportation by Ktel of Serres from Athens or Thessaloniki to Serres & vice-versa, g) field-visit to Nigrita geothermal zone.

AgriBusiness Forum 2018 agenda features a number of prominent speakers from Greece, Europe and beyond focusing on Smart Plant Farming | Smart Livestock Farming | Agri-Distribution Logistics | Smart Greenhouses | Private-Public Partnerships | Circular Economy | Financial Instruments for smart agribusiness and the Common Agricultural Policy in Greece and the European Union 2020 onwards.

AgriBusiness Forum on Social Media: Facebook | Twitter

More information

Ms Christina Mangou

Head Communications

Geo Routes Cultural Institute

Christina.Mangou@geo-routes.com

More than a half of the global population will suffer some form of malnutrition by 2030 unless urgent action is taken to improve access to high-quality food, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has told G7 health ministers.

Climate change and conflict are behind the first increase in undernourishment in a decade, according to a report by FAO entitled ‘The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2017’. 815 million people went hungry in 2016 (11% of the global population), an increase of 38 million on the previous year. Around 155 million children have stunted growth due to poor nutrition.

But rates of other forms of malnutrition such as nutrient deficiency and obesity are also alarmingly high.

“About 1 in 3 people globally suffer from at least one form of malnutrition: be it hunger, micronutrient deficiencies, or overweight and obesity,” FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told G7 health ministers at a meeting in Milan on 5 November 2017.

“Unless we take urgent and effective action, more than half of the world’s population will suffer from at least one type of malnutrition by 2030,” da Silva added.

More than two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, while 1.9 billion adults and 41 million children are overweight.

Obesity epidemic

In the G7 club of industrialised nations – the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the US – overweight and obesity are the biggest malnutrition concerns. The FAO chief said urbanization was influencing people’s dietary choices and leading to the consumption of more processed foods, which he blamed for increasing overweight and obesity rates.

Emma Calvert, food policy officer at the European Consumer Organization BEUC agrees. “We live in an environment where the unhealthy choice is the easy choice,” she told. “We have to reverse this tide if we are to halt the obesity epidemic in Europe.”

One in three European children is overweight due to high-calorie diets and sedentary lifestyles. In its 2017 Obesity Report, the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed to sugary drinks as a major part of the problem: “Intake of free sugars, especially through sugar-sweetened beverages, is of particular concern in relation to overweight and obesity as it contributes to increased overall energy intake.”

According to the European Commission, 2.8 million deaths in the EU are associated with obesity each year and conditions related to obesity absorb 7% of the bloc’s national health budgets.

AgriFood next is here

AgriBusiness Forum (ABF) is held annually in Greece to integrating partnerships and advancing knowledge for the digitization and digital transformation of the Agri & Food value chain in Greece and beyond.

ABF is a network gathering for agribusiness leaders, VC investors, agtech innovators, farmers, producers and academia connecting the modules of sustainable bio-agriculture, cultivation-plant-nutrition protection, digital farming, bio-engineering, artificial intelligence, agriculture automation, livestock adaption, food safety, certification and agri-logistics.

ABF enhancing issues affecting the improvement of the level of cross-sectoral cooperation interconnecting research & development, technology, education, cultivation, processing, businesses while stimulating policies towards near-future agriculture & circular economy, being factors which determine the value-added production, supply-chain optimization, capacity building & ag-tech models transferability.

Innovation into the DNA of ABF

AgriBusiness Forum is consisted by 5 modules integrated into one event:

1. A Masterclass to providing a 2-day immersive training to selected food & agtech scaleups
2. The Scaleups Challenge, a pitching/competition event where best 3 scaleups will be panelists to the forum
3. A Corporate Scaleups Engagement Program, where scaleups meeting with food/agri leading businesses
4. The Forum, an 1½ day conference about enhancing issues for the digitization and digital transformation of the Agri & Food value chain and providing insights for the agri-sectoral policies in Greece and the EU
5. Field Visits, as component about expanding knowledge, analyze elements onsite and point-out market opportunities of a specific agricultural project.

ABF2018 at a glance

Agribusiness Forum 2018: The Future of Greek & European Agriculture in the Digital Era

Agenda topics

Common Agricultural Policy in Greece and the European Union

Financial Instruments for smart agribusiness in Greece

Smart Plant farming

Smart Livestock farming

Agri & Distribution Logistics Chain in Greece and beyond

Smart Greenhouses

Private-Public Partnerships

Field visit, Nigrita village geothermal zone