Miller Magazine Issue: 127 July 2020

47 NEWS MILLER / JULY 2020 Corinne Roux appointed Chairperson of the IGC for 2020/21 The International Grains Council announced the ap- pointment of Ms. Corinne Roux, Policy Advisor, Trade Relations Unit, Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), Switzerland as IGC’s Chairperson for 2020/21. Ms. Roux is very familiar with the IGC and its work having served as Switzer- land’s representative to the organisation since 2014. Previously Ms. Roux was in- volved in the negotiations of the new Food Assistance Convention which came into ef- fect in 2012. During her tenure, Ms. Roux is particu- larly interested in working with the Sec- retariat and Council members to further develop information and transparency in the global grains, oilseeds and rice mar- kets. Following the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the Secretariat will issue 5-year supply and demand forecasts for 2021-2026 for the main grains, oilseeds and rice, with a particular focus on demand trends. The report will be made available on the IGC public website in January 2021. Switzerland is also interested in encouraging dialo- gue and cooperation between the public and private sectors and will co-organise a seminar with the IGC Secretariat in January 2021 to promote global trade in the grains, oilseeds and rice sectors, which will also be one of the main themes of the next IGC Grains Conference in June 2021. On her appointment, Ms.Roux said “I would like to thank the Council for suppor- ting my candidacy as Chair of the IGC for 2020/21. The last months with COVID-19 have underlined the importance of the IGC and the Secretariat’s work to share unbia- sed and transparent information in order to allow importers, exporters and producers to react to new situations and to make in- formed decisions. I am looking forward to supporting the organisation in that role.” agriculture financing and sustainability-orien- ted banking, is well-placed to assist in designing such interventions. "The new partnership between FAO and Rabo- bank will serve to support our work to transform food systems so that they can become more inc- lusive and sustainable, especially within the con- text of the COVID-19 response and the need to build back, better. In particular it will focus on im- proved land and water use, lowering greenhou- se gas emissions and food loss while increasing the resilience of farmers and small-scale busines- ses," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. "I also wish to thank Rabobank's support to FAO's Hand-In-Hand Initiative which aims, through specific country-led interventions, to assist the most vulnerable populations," he added. COVID-19 has shown us that our food systems need a ‘new normal'," said Berry Marttin, Bo- ard Member of Rabobank. "We need to identify and analyze finance gaps and debate short and long supply chains. We must focus on innovative ways to reward sustainability investments, such as implementing ‘nature costing', a pricing stru- cture that reflects food's environmental impact. Rabobank is the leading bank in food and agri- culture, but also a cooperative bank. We believe in working together. By partnering with FAO, we can mobilize our complementary expertise and networks to contribute to real food system trans- formations." The partnership will also map agricultural supp- ly chains to identify opportunities for green fi- nance hotspots in emerging markets, and explore the possibility of environmental or climate finan- ce programming incentives that reward farmers and small agribusinesses for adopting GHG emis- sion reduction technologies and practices. Through its work, FAO advocates for susta- inable food systems that ensure food security and nutrition for all without compromising the economic, social and environmental conditions which are necessary to generate food security and nutrition for future generations. Food sys- tems both contribute to and are affected by ext- reme weather events as associated with climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss, so any response to these challenges requires a systems-based approach that addresses the ran- ge and complexities in a holistic manner. FAO has previously collaborated successfully with the Rabobank Foundation, a corporate foun- dation funded by the bank, on projects aimed at improving the incomes of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania through better ac- cess to financial tools and investments. Corinne Roux