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INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION


Schedule – Global Business Forum

Get ready to explore the future of food, bioenergy, and sustainability. IFAMA 2025 brings together global leaders, bold innovators, and next-gen thinkers for two dynamic days of panels and keynotes that challenge ideas, spark solutions, and inspire action in agribusiness worldwide.

  Parallel Sessions highlighted in gold

Student Case Competition judging in blue

WEDNESDAY, 25–JUNE

 07:30 – 08:15

Welcome Coffee and Accreditation

 08:15 – 09:00

Official Kick-Off

Aidan Connolly – President, AgriTech Capital; President, IFAMA (IRELAND)

Marcos Fava Neves – Conference Co-Chair; Professor, Harven Agribusiness School (BRAZIL)

Chaim Zaher – Founder and CEO, Grupo SEB (Brazil)

Daiana Bisognin Lopes – Conference Co-Chair; CEO, FB Group (Brazil)

Caio Carvalho – Director, Canaplan; President, ABAG (BRAZIL)

Jacyr Costa – President; Superior Council of Agribusiness, Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (BRAZIL)

Monika Bergamaschi – Vice-President, ABAG (BRAZIL)

Manoel Mário de Souza Barros – President, ALAGRO; Advisor, COSAG/FIESP; Secretary General, Special Committee on Agribusiness of the Federal Council of the OAB; Agribusiness Director, CIN (BRAZIL)

Pedro Lupion – Federal Deputy, FPA (BRAZIL)

 09:00 – 09:30

Keynote 1: The Future of Farming

Marcos Fava Neves, Moderator – Conference Co-Chair; Professor, Harven Agribusiness School (BRAZIL)

Aurélio Pavinato – CEO, SLC Agricola (BRAZIL)

 09:30 – 10:15

Panel 1: From Farm to Food: Insights into Consumer Movements towards 2050

Sylvain Charlebois, Moderator – Senior Director, Professor, Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University (CANADA)

Carlos Pellicer – CEO, UPL (BRAZIL)

 10:15 – 10:45

Keynote 2: TBA

Manuel Otero – Director General, IICA

 10:45 – 11:15

Break

 11:15 – 12:30

Panel 2: Sustainability Creating Value for Companies

Nicola Shadbolt, Moderator – Chair at Plant & Food Research, Crown Research Institute (NEW ZEALAND)

Juliana de Lavor Lopes – Director of ESG, Communication, and Compliance; AMAGGI (BRAZIL)

Norberto Giangrande – Executive Chairman, Minerva Foods (BRAZIL)

Guilherme Galvão – Marketing Director, Ourofino (Brazil)

 11:15 – 12:30

Special Session – How Women Are Leading the Transformation of Agribusiness — And How We Can Accelerate That Step-Change

Join the IFAMA Young Board with special guest Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

 12:30 – 14:00

Lunch 

Case Competition: Undergraduate and Graduate Finals

 14:00 – 15:45

Panel 3: The Challenge of Training New Leaders in Agribusiness

Anathi Makamane – IFAMA Young Board; Lecturer, University of the Free State (SOUTH AFRICA)

Jorge Bittner, Moderator – IFAMA Young Board; Agribusiness Development Specialist, Gota.ag (CHILE)

Michelle Marais – IFAMA Young Board; and Business Unit Manager at Urban Farmer Pty Ltd (SOUTH AFRICA)

Carlos Guilherme Nosé – CEO & Partner, Fesa Group (BRAZIL)

Paulo Rigolin – Vice President of Latin America, Alltech (BRAZIL)

Luciano Thomé e Castro – Board Member & Coordinator of Business Administration Course, Harven Agribusiness School (BRAZIL)

 15:45 – 16:15

Coffee Break

 16:15 – 17:45

Panel 4: Sustainable Innovations: Achieving More with Less

Tony Salas, Moderator – Founder and CEO, Shared-X; Founder and President, ACM Consulting (PERU)

Allan Gray – Executive Director, Digital Innovation in Agri-Food Systems Lab; Purdue Applied Research Institute (USA)

Walter Schalka – Member of the Board, Suzano and Vibra Energia (BRAZIL)

Pedro Terencio – Executive Director; Agro Pastoril Paschoal Campanelli S.A. (BRAZIL)

Robert Erhard – Corporate Sustainable Agriculture Development, Nestlé (SWITZERLAND)

 17:45 – 18:15

Keynote 3: The Future of Agriculture with the Use of Artificial Intelligence

Aidan Connolly, Moderator – President, AgriTech Capital; President, IFAMA (IRELAND)

Johann Coelho – CEO & Founder, Bem Agro; Forbes Under 30 (BRAZIL)

 18:30

Closing

THURSDAY, 26–JUNE

 07:30 – 08:15

Welcome Coffee

 08:15 – 08:45

Keynote 4: Creating Resilient and Sustainable Food Markets for the Future

Beth Bechdol – Deputy Director General, UN-FAO (ITALY)

 08:45 – 10:00

Panel 5: Creating Competitive Advantage through Cooperatives and Associations – The Role of Collective Actions

Decio Zylberstajn, Moderator – Professor, University of São Paulo (BRAZIL)

Juliano Tarabal – Executive Director, Federation of Cerrado Coffee Growers (BRAZIL)

Brian Briggeman – Professor and Director, Arthur Capper Cooperative Center, Kansas State University (USA)

José Antonio Rossato – Member of the Administrative Board, Coplana - Cooperativa Agroindustrial (BRAZIL)

 10:15 – 10:45

Break

 10:45 – 12:15

Panel 6: The Future of Bioenergy

Bruno Serapião, Moderator – CEO, Atvos (BRAZIL)

Arnaldo Jardim – Federal Deputy, Chair of the Special Commission on Energy Transition and Green Hydrogen Production (BRAZIL)

Alessandro Gardemann – CEO, Geo bio gas&carbon; Co-Founder, Abiogas (BRAZIL)

Andréa Veríssimo – Director of International Affairs & Communications, UNEM: Brazilian Corn Ethanol Association (BRAZIL)

Silvia Massruha – President, Embrapa (BRAZIL)

 12:15 – 12:30

Mariangela Hungria – Silvia Massruhá, President of Embrapa, recognized for her award of World Food Prize.

 12:30 – 14:00

Lunch / Case Competition

Case Competition: Young Professionals Finals

 13:00-15:15

Panel 7: Biotechnology: Pioneering Innovation and Sustainability

Esteban R. Brenes, Moderator – Professor of Strategy and Agribusiness, INCAE Business School; President, BAC & Associates S.A. (COSTA RICA)

Nelson Wulff – Scientific Researcher, Fundecitrus (BRAZIL)

Kieran Gartlan – Managing Partner, The Yield Lab Latam (BRAZIL)

Marcelo Eskenazi – New Business Innovation Advisor, São Martinho (BRAZIL)

 15:15 – 15:45

Coffee Break

 15:45-17:00

Panel 8: From Farm to Table: Responding to consumer demands to produce nutritious food sustainably. 

Thia Hennessy, Moderator – Professor of Agri-Food Economics, University College Cork (IRELAND)

Edson Barros – LATAM Marketing VP, Kerry (BRAZIL)

Alejandra Rullán – Nutrition Director for Latin America, Kerry (BRAZIL)

 17:00 – 17:30

Closure Keynote: Agribusiness Message to COP and The Role of Sustainability

Aidan Connolly – President, AgriTech Capital; President, IFAMA (IRELAND)

Marcos Fava Neves – Conference Co-Chair; Professor, Harven Agribusiness School (BRAZIL)

André Aranha Correa do Lago – COP30 President (BRAZIL) [Virtual participation]

Roberto Rodrigues – Special Ambassador, FAO (BRAZIL)

Guilherme Piai Filizzola – São Paulo State Agriculture Secretary

 17:30 – 17:45

Event Closing

18:45 – 23:00

Presidential Banquet
Espaço Bella Cittá


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