USCIB Speaks at the Global Forum on Agriculture and OECD Committee for Agriculture Meetings

USCIB is in Paris November 1-6 for the Global Forum on Agriculture and the OECD Committee for Agriculture meetings. The 2026 Global Forum on Agriculture is themed Agricultural Resilience and Food Security in an Interconnected World, with conversations on food security challenges, strengthening resilience on the farm level and in interconnected markets, as well as strategies for managing agri-food vulnerabilities.

Whitney Baird, President and CEO of USCIB, spoke as a panelist in the opening panel on Current Challenges for Food Security, where she highlighted the need for governments to begin collaborating with farmers and businesses early in the process of implementing public policy in order to prevent bottlenecks and build resilience before shocks. Baird emphasized that policies must be predictable, science- and risk-based, and coherent across borders, with measures that are targeted, transparent, and reviewed for their impact and updated if needed. A food system that can absorb disruption while keeping production economically viable, maintaining access to critical inputs and markets, and preserving the investment needed for the next crop and next generation of innovation is crucial to the future of global food security.

USCIB members Natasha Santos, Head of sustainability and Strategic Engagement at Bayer and Chair of the Food and Agriculture Committee at Business at OECD (BIAC), and Marta Zuluaga Zilbermann, Vice President of Government Relations at Cargill, also spoke on the panel, Building Resilient Supply Chains in Interconnected Markets, drawing on recent energy and fertilizer market disruptions to examine how these markets transmit shocks, and discussing prospects for strengthening investment in fertilizer manufacturing and production.

Meetings continue through Friday of this week, so stay tuned for a complete overview of USCIB's advocacy at the Global Forum on Agriculture and the OECD Committee for Agriculture meetings in next week's newsletter.