Quatrième édition (2024-2025)

David Charles Newcombe, CFA-FCA (Canada)
David is a proud husband and father of two beautiful kids in the 10th generation of a family that owns and operates a family farm in Nova Scotia, Canada. His family started in 1761 and currently raises dairy cows, broilers (chicken for meat) and laying hens. They also crop about 1900 acres of corn, wheat, soybeans, and forages which they use in on-farm feedmill to feed the animals. His favourite activities include playing with his children, farming, golf, running, and hockey. Along with that, he is passionate about the mental health and wellness of farmers and is actively involved in several ways to help address this growing issue

Facundo Galíndez, SRA (Argentina)
Facundo Galíndez was born and raised in Argentina. He is currently finishing his degree in Economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. He serves as the Vice-President of Ateneo Sociedad Rural Argentina. His passion for farming has been with him since birth: his family makes a living from livestock, agriculture, and honey harvesting, and Facundo enjoys helping with daily tasks. While in the city, he likes hanging out with his friends, working with leather, and reading history books.

Martin Richard Murray, NFF (Australia)
Martin Murra is a young farmer from the National Farmers Federation of Australia (NFF). He and his wife, Rachel, run a mixed farming operation in northwest New South Wales, Australia, where they primarily grow rain-fed crops like barley, as well as manage a small herd of beef cattle.

Noel Banville, IFA (Ireland)
Noel Banville is a young beef and crops farmer from Wexford in the southeast corner of Ireland, producing suckler beef, barley, wheat, oats and fodder beet. He finished his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Science at University College Dublin in 2023, specialising in animal and crop production. Through his degree, Noel has worked across dairy, pig, beef, sheep, and crop farms, as well as in policy and research. He is now completing his PhD in crop science as well as working in policy for the Irish Farmers Association.

Paul Raymond Molesky Jr., New York Farm Bureau (United States)
Paul Molesky farms in upstate New York in the United States and his passion for agriculture was cultivated from a young age on his family’s beef farm. Off the farm, Paul serves as a trusted advisor to dairy farmers, advising them on nutrition programs and management strategies to enhance productivity. His professional insights are informed by over a decade of leading a multi-cultural team on a large dairy farm.
Paul is also dedicated to promoting a vibrant future for agriculture through advocacy, grassroots organising, lobbying, consumer engagement and supporting youth programs and agricultural literacy.
Alongside work, Paul enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his wife and two children.

Rafael Dias Riedel, Brazilian Agriculture Society and Federation of Agriculture of Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil)
Graduated in Business Administration and holding an MBA in Agribusiness from the University of São Paulo, Rafael Riedel is a business owner and seventh-generation farmer at Sapé Agro Farms in Midwest Brazil. Rafael actively studies and advocates for the Brazilian food production sector, participating in youth boards at agricultural institutions and hosting international visits to his family property, where they cultivate soybeans, corn, sugarcane, beef cattle and dairy production.
Before dedicating himself exclusively to agriculture, Rafael gained experience in the financial and energy markets, which led him to found BRP Renewable Energy, where he remains a shareholder and invests in renewable energy projects across Brazil.

Tornike Atabegashvili, GFA (Georgia)
Tornike Atabegashvili is a farmer from the Republic of Georgia. Growing up on a cattle farm, he recognised the importance of modern farming knowledge. After high school, Tornike enrolled in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the Agricultural University of Georgia. In 2019, he joined the MUST International program at the University of Minnesota (UMN), where practical farm work and studies exposed him to advanced farming methods. Upon returning to Georgia in 2021, he applied the knowledge he gained to his family farm and shared it with fellow farmers. Since then, he has been actively involved in the Georgian Farmers Association, advocating for farmers’ interests and supporting young farmers and family farms.

Valary Achieng Otieno, KENAFF (Kenya)
Valary Achieng Otieno is a trained horticulturist and a dedicated project officer at the Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers (KENAFF), as well as a member of KENAFF Young. She is also an avid farmer, specialising in growing Irish potatoes. Valary is deeply passionate about food security and committed to contributing to sustainable agricultural practices.
Outside of her professional and farming endeavours, she loves reading, finding joy and inspiration in exploring a wide range of topics. She believes that her calling is service to humanity, and because of this, she volunteers a lot in community work.

Géssica Adelina Alfai Candeeiro – MuGeDe (Mozambique)
Gessica Candeeiro is a 22-year-old farmer from Mozambique with a passion for learning and exchanging experiences with other young people from around the world in the areas of agriculture and food security.
She has recently completed a degree in Food Science and Technology and works primarily with vegetables. In response to the significant impact of climate change, Gessica began working with young people and women from all over the country to help with the integration of new sustainable techniques for production, conservation, and food processing. Her efforts aim to reduce losses, promote biofortification, improve nutritional education, and provide food alternatives as a means of adapting to and building resilience against climate change.
Gessica fell in love with agriculture and food security because, over the years, she saw her country, Mozambique—a nation with abundant fertile lands and rich natural resources—continue to rank among the poorest in the world, with some of the highest rates of food insecurity. This has been a deeply sad experience for her.
She works directly in the field with rural women farmers, confronting daily challenges that demand knowledge and innovative solutions. Gessica believes that someone needs to have the courage to seek this knowledge.

Malina CHHEAN, CFAP (Cambodia)
Malina CHHEAN was born in 1992 into a farming family in Kampot province, Cambodia. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in General Management from Angkor Khemara University in Kampot in 2022.
In 2020, she began serving as a committee member of the Ruopruom Samakee Rong Reung Agricultural Cooperative in Kampot province, where she works on organisational and financial reviews alongside other committee members and chairperson of the agricultural cooperative (AC) and development programs of the AC.
In 2023, Malina was nominated by CFAP Cambodia to participate in agroecology field visits organised by the Agroecology Learning Alliance in South East Asia (ALiSEA), which included a visit to the Cambodian Conservation Agriculture Research for Development Center (CARDEC). That same year, she was nominated by CFAP-WFO to attend the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture 2024 (GFFA 2024) hosted by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Malina is passionate about agricultural innovation, including precision farming, vertical farming, and the use of technology to enhance agricultural productivity, promoting sustainable agriculture and food systems, food security, and agroecological practices in Cambodia.

Medias Kukunda, UNFFE (Uganda)
Medias Kukunda is a 29-year-old Ugandan agronomist and passionate agricultural scientist specialising in sustainable agriculture, land use, and agribusiness.
She excels in project management and digital agriculture programmes. As the founder of KunDa Agro Ltd, she advances cassava and coffee farming with a focus on sustainability, produces aggregation, and marketing. She aims to establish a deep-rooted structure to provide authentic agricultural inputs, ICT-led agricultural technologies, and consultancy services to the agricultural sector through her startup.
Medias has contributed to various organisations, including her current workplace, aXiom Zorn, where she works as a Projects Manager, as well as the Masaka District Farmers Association and the Uganda National Farmers Federation, empowering farmers and enhancing financial inclusion. Holding a B.Sc. in Agriculture from Mountains of the Moon University, her innovative approach and dedication position her as a leader committed to driving positive change in agriculture.
In her leisure time, she enjoys road trips, reading, and spending time in nature with her family.

Mologadi Shirley Shella Ngoetjana, AFASA (South Africa)
Mologadi Shirley Shella Ngoetjana comes from the Limpopo province in the northern part of South Africa. She is a 33-year-old farmer who graduated with a National Diploma in Animal Production and furthered her studies in Agricultural Management at the University of South Africa in 2024.
She is currently the director of Agriseptember Farming and also works as the operational manager. Her responsibilities include overseeing and implementing a strategic production plan on their 10 hectares of land located in the rural village areas of Limpopo province.
The farm grows crops such as potatoes, cabbages, butternuts, and spinach, with the long-term achievement of becoming economical and commercial on rural and communal land while leading in quality produce.
As part of its commitment to creating a positive social impact, Agriseptember Farming leads rural skills development initiatives for women, youth, and people with disabilities. Using a smart farming approach, they aim to promote food security and help eradicate poverty and social challenges.

Virginia Epsen, Giovani di Confagricoltura – ANGA (Italy)
Virginia is a 30-year-old dynamic woman who loves being outdoors and connecting with nature.
She owns a farm with her father in Trento, a small town in northern Italy, where they produce organic-certified apples. The farm grows various types of apples, which are supplied to the local cooperative.
Virginia is passionate about her work but also enjoys meeting people. In 2020, she opened a small B&B where she welcomes tourists year-round, offering them the opportunity to taste local products.
Her greatest passion is walking in the mountains. In fact, as soon as her work allows it, she goes for walks in the mountains near her home, enjoying the stunning natural surroundings.

Hennie Wilhelm Hartmann Beeken, SAAI (South Africa)
HW Beeken is a young man born and raised in the countryside, with a deep passion for agriculture.
Coming from Lydenburg, a small town in South Africa, he was fortunate to grow up in a loving family that encouraged his exploration of the outdoors. He is currently in his final year as a full-time agricultural student at the University of Pretoria, driven by the ambition to become an agronomist and farmer in his beloved country.
His particular interest lies in the relationship between plants and soil, with an emphasis on grain farming.

Tuure Pesola, MTK (Finland)
Tuure Pesola is a 25-year-old agricultural economics student at the University of Helsinki.
He comes from a farm in rural Finland, where his family raises beef cattle and grows grain and hay for their feed.
The farm has 600 head of cattle and 300 hectares of farmland, and they also engage in forestry. In the summer of 2024, Tuure worked as an advisor trainee at The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), and he has been an active member of the Finnish farmer youth union.
In the future, he hopes to be an active advocate for farmers, from the local level to the EU and globally.

Nyaradzo Mutande, ZFU (Zimbabwe)
Nyaradzo Mutande is a driven young leader in agriculture, agripreneurship, and philanthropy.
With a background in agriculture and leadership roles in organisations such as the Zimbabwe Farmers Union, she has first-hand experience with the challenges faced by the agricultural sector.
Nyaradzo is dedicated to finding solutions to some of the sector’s biggest challenges, such as climate change and market access. She is also committed to using her voice to raise awareness about important social issues, including gender equality and ending violence against women.

Marco Pignocchi, Coldiretti Giovani Impresa (Italy)
Marco Pignocchi is an Italian farmer who grows olive trees and medicinal herbs.
He entered the world of food production when he started attending the Polytechnic University of Marche in his hometown, Ancona. Shortly after, he decided to open his own farm and became part of the large Coldiretti family.
From that moment, Marco realised his interest in agricultural policies and the importance of being part of an association that prioritised his training.
His journey began with territorial commitments aimed at understanding and addressing the needs of the local area. He was later given the opportunity to participate in civil dialogue groups of the European Commission for CEJA and Coldiretti on olive growing.
These experiences have allowed Marco to familiarise himself with the dynamics of both the European and global markets, while also developing leadership and transversal skills that enable him to engage with colleagues from all over Europe in the food market.