Mark Lundy is a Senior Scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT, in Cali, Colombia where he leads the Sustainable Food Systems team. His work focuses on the role of markets in reducing rural poverty including learning networks to increase capacities for enterprise development, the role of public agencies to promote market access and how to establish and sustain effective trading relationships between buyers and smallholder farmers.  Emerging areas of work in sustainable food systems include inclusion in traditional markets, climate resilience and environmental sustainability of food systems and multi-actor platforms to improve decision-making. Mark is lead author of guides on rural enterprise development, the LINK method on inclusive business models and an active participant in multi-stakeholder forums focused on sustainability and smallholder inclusion.

Dr. Hany Besada is the Senior Research Coordinator of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). He is also a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow with the United Nations University-Institute for Natural Resources in Africa and Research Professor, Institute of African Studies, Carleton University and Senior Fellow with the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa. Until very recently, he was Deputy Executive Director at the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI). Prior to that he was Regional Advisor, African Mineral Development Centre (AMDC) at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Theme Leader: Governance of Natural Resources at the North-South Institute (NSI) and Research Specialist on the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel Secretariat on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Dr. Besada holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick. Dr. Besada has published widely in international news media and academic journals. He is the author of more than 80 peer-reviewed scholarly policy papers, over 70 opinion pieces and editor/author of 13 books.

I am a climate and weather scientist, currently working as “Head of science” in the Technical Support Unit (TSU) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1. The IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts.

Sam Carter is a Senior Policy Associate at J-PAL Global, where she supports J-PAL’s outreach related to financial inclusion, social protection, government partnerships, and cost-effectiveness analysis. She is also a liaison to the J-PAL Latin America & the Caribbean office with a focus on J-PAL’s work in Brazil. As a member of the Policy and Communications group, Sam works with governments, international and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to develop new research projects and to help encourage decisions based on rigorous evidence. She also writes evaluation summaries and policy publications to help communicate technical research to a wide range of audiences.