The agriculture industry has an important role to play in the growth of an economy. The economic system of a given country can depend on its agriculture industry for growth and development. As such, there a need to celebrate all the people revolutionizing agriculture in one way or another. In the agriculture industry today, a lot of women are contributing their quotas to making the world a better place through their innovations, which are revolutionizing the agriculture industry.
The Women in Agribusiness Summit has been able to create a platform that highlights the expertise of female Ag professionals in the US and Europe and how they continue to play key roles in the growth of the agriculture industry. Some of these influential women in the agriculture industry deserve to be celebrated. As such, we have been able to research and list some of the women making tremendous contributions to the growth of the agriculture industry.
Below are some of the women we have recognized their contributions to revolutionizing the agriculture and functional food system but in no particular order.
1. Allison Kopf
Kopf is the co-founder of Artemis, which was formerly called the Agrylist. Her innovation has made measuring and predicting yields easier and precise for indoor farmers. With the software platform, farmers are able to predict the crops that can be harvested within 30 days, with over 90% accuracy. The platform also provides farmers with an avenue where they can manage workers, nutrients as well as pest monitoring and compliance. This innovation has helped to increase farmers’ productivity.
2. Shenkeri Chandramohan
Shenkeri Chandramohan is the founder and CEO of YUNO Biotactical Drinks (formerly Food To Heal), a corporate meal service that promotes good health through the use of spices and herbs. Shenkeri has made a significant contribution to revolutionizing the health community through I Talk To Strangers (ITTS), where she educates people on the modern understanding of health using natural ingredients. She has brought the gut-brain microbiota axis research and practical application to corporations, including those in Fortune 500’s like IBM and WeWork.
She is also an advisor for the NGO Committee for Sustainable Development-NY and an early partner of the Sustainable Development Goals Impact Awards as well as Entertainment For Change (EFC) supporting the SDGs.
3. Robyn Metcalfe
Metcalfe is the Director of Food+City, a platform that provides support for innovation in the supply channel through its storytelling and events. She shares stories of the things happening in the agriculture and food processing industry. Her platform Food+City also supports entrepreneurs through its start-up challenge. Metcalfe was also a founding director and CEO of the Kelmscott Rare Breeds Foundation and Farm.
4. Sarah Nolet
Nolet is the Founder and CEO of AgThentic, a platform that works with entrepreneurs, investors as well as government to find great opportunities to revolutionize the food system. Nolet, through her platform, provides food-tech and ag-tech innovators and start-ups with all the support they need. She has a Master’s Degree from MIT and has a seat on the Board of the Future Farmers Network.
5. Natalie DiNicola, Ph.D.
Dr. DiNicola is the Chief of Staff at Benson Hill. Dr. Natalie has been working in the agri-food industry for over two decades now and has gained ample experience in both the agri-food industry as well as in sustainability and agriculture development. She’s an expert in areas such as business needs assessment and strategy, coalition building, partnership development and contract negotiation, sustainability process and reporting, food and agriculture policy, and communications. Dr. Natalie is also a member of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Leadership Council and a Board member of Meds and Food for Kids.
6. Shari Rogge-Fidler
Rogge-Fidler is the CEO of Family Farms Group, a group that provides tools, training, and service to help farmers grow their farm business. Rogge-Fidler, through her organization, builds companies that support farmers and help them to survive and flourish as multi-million dollar businesses. Being a 5th generation farmer, she manages the four brands, which makes up the Family Farms Group brand.
7. Kellee James
Kellee James is the founder and CEO of Mercaris. She uses this platform to make available market data for organic and non-GMO produce in the US. They ensure the availability of two main services that the producers and retailers lack in this sector, which are: they help in the provision of current and accurate market data for these commodities, and they bring buyers and sellers of the commodities together for trading purposes. The organization believes that through the support they provide for the market infrastructure of organic and non-GMO ventures, they’ll encourage dynamic movement toward a sustainable agricultural system that is favorable to both producers and retailers.
8. Shonda Warner
Shonda Warner is the founder of Chess Ag Full Harvest Partners, an asset management company that provides agricultural investment opportunities to people. This company focuses on technology and ways to enhance agricultural productivity by reducing the cost of global agricultural inputs. As such, Warner knows the nitty-gritty of agriculture. She’s a native of Nebraska, who has worked in London and Tokyo before starting her asset management company.
9. Ros Harvey
Ros Harvey happened to be the founder of The Yield, an Australian agricultural technology company that is created to transform food and farming activities by providing secure and scalable digital technology. This company workes hand-in-hand with growers to design products that will be useful in solving real challenges that farmers encounter at all levels. Harvey has worked as an adjunct professor at Queensland University of Technology and was also a co-founder of Food Agility CRC in Sydney
10. Hillary Miller-Wise
Miller-Wise is the founder and CEO of Tulaa, which is a mobile platform created to help smallholder farmers in rural Africa to access the market by connecting them to buyers, input suppliers as well as other farmers. Tulaa is on a mission to provide farmers with the necessary information that will help them succeed in their business. As such, Tulaa provides farmers with agricultural inputs on credit by paying upfront to retailers and have the farmers repay at a later date. That gives the farmers access to tools and facilities that they would normally not be able to access.
There are lots of industrious and dedicated women who deserve recognition for their constant contributions and relentless efforts to advance agriculture. In the United States alone, there is a record that shows that about 31 percent of the farmers are women who farm over 300 million acres with an encouraging economic impact of over 12.9 billion. Some of these great women have been listed in this article, but there are more out there whose names were not mentioned here. However, we want you all to know that we appreciate your contributions to the advancement of the agriculture industry and the betterment of our world in general.