Harvesting Innovation: NZ-India Forum on Sustainable Food Futures
International Dialogue Series:
Sustainable Food Futures
NZ - India Forum 3
The upcoming visit of India’s President Droupadi Murmu to New Zealand next week signals a significant step forward for the partnership between the two countries. It marks only the second visit by an Indian head of state to New Zealand, emphasising the growing importance of this relationship.
During the third forum on Sustainable Food Futures, hosted by the Aspen Institute New Zealand in partnership with Ananta Aspen Centre (India), discussions highlighted potential collaborations in AgriTech to address global food security and hunger. The forum featured a distinguished panel of experts from India and New Zealand, including Amit Gupta, Geoff Allott, Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, and Dr. Bhagirath Choudhary, and saw insightful contributions from the High Commissioner of India, H.E. Neeta Bhushan, on the evolving bilateral relationship.
Discussions centred on various opportunities for collaboration between the two nations, from implementing New Zealand’s advanced Agritech to reduce methane emissions from dairy cows and improve crop resilience to climate change, to leveraging New Zealand's expertise in agricultural education and evaluating the agricultural value chain in banking and insurance.
Collaboration in AgriTech: A Pathway to Global Food Security
Amit Gupta, Group CEO & Founder of Ecosystm Group and Chairman of TiE Global, stressed the need for partnerships that go beyond wealth creation and remarked that ‘time was of the essence’. He pointed to New Zealand's innovative Agritech capabilities as a solution to global food security challenges, emphasising the need to reduce supply chain waste and increase yields in India.
Long-Term Strategy and Local Engagement
With 11 years of experience in the Indian market, Geoff Allott, Executive Director of QualityNZ®, highlighted the importance of developing long-term strategies (10-50 years) to ensure successful partnerships. He underlined the necessity of understanding local market needs and building relationships through local engagement. This approach has been essential for Quality NZ in adapting New Zealand’s expertise to the Indian context.
Learning from Global Examples
Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, India Practice Head at Eurasia Group, brought in a broader perspective on climate, international politics, and economic issues. He shared challenges faced by India’s agricultural sector and provided examples of successful agricultural collaborations between India and smaller nations like the Netherlands and Israel. These examples, Chaudhuri noted, offer valuable lessons for New Zealand in fostering effective partnerships with India.
Focus on Smallholder Growers and Biosecurity
Dr. Bhagirath Choudhary, Founder and Director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), shed light on the critical challenges faced by smallholder growers in India. Drawing from his two decades of experience, Dr. Choudhary emphasised opportunities for partnership in areas such as animal livestock breeding, disease forecasting, dairy development, and biosecurity. He welcomed New Zealand to consider establishing a Centre of Excellence focused on these critical areas, leveraging its expertise to support India's agricultural development.
Broadening the Scope of Collaboration
Discussions also explored broader potential collaborative efforts to tackle global challenges. The consensus was clear: while New Zealand has the necessary skills and technology, India offers the scale needed for significant impact. This combination presents a unique opportunity for both nations to work together towards sustainable food futures and beyond.
For more insights into the opportunities for New Zealand and India to build long-term successful partnerships in Agritech and beyond, watch the forum replay below.
Panellists:
Amit Gupta - Group CEO & Founder, Ecosystm Group; Chairman, TiE Global
Founder of Ecosytm, a next generation Technology Research and Advisory Platform, and its spinoff Kampd, a professional communities-led social learning platform, Amit is a New Zealander and stays deeply connected to the NZ ecosystem. He holds a Master's in Engineering Management with honors from the University of Auckland and has served as a Beachhead Advisor to the New Zealand Government through NZTE. Earlier in his career he was the Managing Director for IDC New Zealand, and prior to that he founded a successful New Zealand based startup which was acquired after a few years.
Geoff Allott (BCM) - Executive Director, QualityNZ®
With extensive experience in banking, finance, and marketing, Geoff is the Executive Director and a founding shareholder of QualityNZ®, a business that focuses on the burgeoning Indian market. As a former New Zealand cricketer, Geoff experienced first-hand the opportunities that existed for high quality products in India. He set out 11 years ago, with some key shareholders and an entrepreneurial spirit, to build a unique business model including a full supply chain solution to over 43 cities in India, an in-market processing centre that produces value-add products from imported ingredients, and a strategic marketing solution involving high profile cricketing identities (ambassadors/shareholders of QualityNZ). The QualityNZ Group has interests in Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, Education & Recruitment, and they soon plan to expand into the Travel industry to leverage their industry connections and networks within India and New Zealand.
Geoff has a Bachelor of 'Commerce & Management' degree, majoring in 'Business and Marketing' from Lincoln University (NZ), and has 20 years of ‘board governance’ experience, including 8 years as a Director of New Zealand Cricket, where he sat on the 'Commercial, Finance & Risk' Committee, the 'Women & Cricket' Steering group, and was Chair of the High-Performance advisory group. He was made a ‘Life-member’ of New Zealand cricket in 2022, and he is a current member of the NZ Institute of Directors.
Mr. Pramit Pal Chaudhuri - India Practice Head, Eurasia Group
Pramit Pal Chaudhuri is the India practice head for Eurasia Group, fellow at the Ananta Aspen Centre and former Foreign Editor of the Hindustan Times. He wrote about international politics and economic issues for the Telegraph and the Statesman newspapers in Calcutta from 1985 to 2000 before joining the Hindustan Times for 20 years. As a member of the Aspen Strategy Group of India for over a decade, he is a delegate for a number of track two strategic and climate dialogues including those with the United States, China, Israel, Turkey, South Korea, Britain and a US-India- Japan trilateral. Mr. Chaudhuri served two terms on the National Security Advisory Board to the Prime Minister of India from 2011 to 2015. He was a member of its task forces on maritime security, neighbourhood policy and China among others. He is an advisor to the Council for Energy Environment and Water and the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation and is editor of a forthcoming magazine on geopolitics and technology for the USISPF chamber of commerce. He has a number of affiliations including the Mont Pelerin Society, Aspen Institute Italia, Asia Society Global Council, New York, and Institute for International and Strategic Studies, London. He is a graduate of Cornell University and has lived and travelled in over 50 countries.
Dr Bhagirath Choudhary - Ex Board Member (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce & Industry & Director (Independent), AFC India Ltd , Founder & Director of SOUTH ASIA BIOTECHNOLOGY CENTRE (SABC)
Dr Bhagirath Choudhary is founder & director of South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), a DSIR recognised Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO) based at Jodhpur, Rajasthan. He has been associated as a board member of the Agricultural & Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA), and also serving as board member of AFC India Ltd, Mumbai. He has dedicated his two decades of professional agriculture career working with smallholder growers and has contributed enormously to the transfer of bio-innovations from the lab to the land for the growth prospects for the bioeconomy of India. In the past, he was associated with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) & International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications of Cornell University, USA and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Moderator:
Kartiki Randhawa, Programme Executive, Ananta Aspen Centre
Opening Remarks from H.E. Ms. Neeta Bhushan, High Commissioner of India to New Zealand.
Ms. Neeta Bhushan joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1994. As a career diplomat, she has served in several countries including Japan, Bangladesh, Germany, UAE and U.S.. Ms. Bhushan was Additional Secretary (Central Europe) before taking over as High Commissioner of New Zealand in September 2022. She is also accredited to Niue, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa as a High Commissioner. She has studied at Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, and she has done Economics (Honours) from Hindu College, Delhi University. She also has an M.Phil. Degree from Madras University, as well as spending time at the National Defence College as Faculty from the Foreign Service. Her Research Thesis was on “WTO: Glorious Past, Turbulent Present and Uncertain Future”.