Contact with young professionals who are starting their careers is always special. They are eager to learn and have a fresh look on the world of food and agriculture. Personally, I find this particularly vivid with young people from developing countries. I truly enjoy their energy, their enthusiasm and especially how they do not take what I say at face value. I have always appreciated people who dare to challenge, who want to go to the bottom of things and who keep a critical mind.

As I also wanted to find a way of giving back just for the pleasure of it, I gradually came to the idea of creating my own modest free mentoring program.  So, there it is. I have called it “Seeds of Leadership”. It is open to anyone who has less than three years of experience from anywhere in the world. In my opinion, mentoring young professionals from the sector is an important part of helping shape the future of food and agriculture.

For more details, just go to the Seeds of Leadership page.

If you know candidates for whom this program would be useful, please send me a recommendation for him/her as described on the page mentioned above.