DSM’s 2010 Nutrition Forum, whose theme was “2020: Nourish, Protect and Improve,” was held in Interlaken, Switzerland from June 6 through 8.
Roughly 160 participants from 40 countries attended the forum, which focused on sustainability questions and gaining a broad-based future perspective in long-term decision making. “This event provides an important forum for industry leaders and DSM to network and to discuss global changes and face challenges to come,” said DSM’s President of Animal Nutrition and Health A. Ruy Freire at the meeting’s opening reception.
Economics, financial reform, globalization and the challenges of a changing world were front and center during the three-day event, with speakers focusing on the emerging future economic landscape. “Limited resources and creation stand center stage for the new business paradigm,” said Associate Professor Kjell Nördstrom with the Stockholm School of Economics when speaking about the difficulties caused by the recent economic downturn.
Demand-driven agriculture, said Alexandre Lahóz Mendonça Barros, managing director of MB Agro, is the latest emerging trend. World population growth, strong income growth in third-world countries, increased use of biofuels and the globalization of financial markets have created “opportunities for countries with the structural capacity to increase food production,” he said. Latin America in particular has the potential to play an increasingly important role in global food supply, according to Barros.
Other speakers included Nouriel Roubini, professor of Economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business; Alexandra Cousteau, co-founder of Global Network, San Francisco and the granddaughter of Jacques-Yves Cousteau; and Peter Schwartz, author and co-founder of Global Network, San Francisco.
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