Souleymane Bassoum from Senegal is Director of AGRECOL-Afrique. He is a recognized expert on sustainable agriculture policies in the West African region, focusing on methods that are economically feasible, socially and culturally compatible and adapted to the local ecological conditions. On the international level, Mr Bassoum has actively contributed to the activities of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement s(IFOAM). His main areas of work are sustainable and ecological agriculture and fair trade. He has a degree in agriculture.

Gonzalo Fanjul from Spain is a research coordinator at Intermón Oxfam (Spain). Having closely followed the agriculture negotiations at the WTO for the last several years as well as issues concerning the developmental impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, he has a profound expertise on agricultural trade issues. He has contributed to shape the developmental debate on agricultural trade through several contributions to publications from Oxfam and others.

Arze Glipo from the Philippines is the Executive Director of the Integrated Rural Development Foundation of the Philippines (IRDF). She is also the Administrator and Convenor of the Asia Pacific Network on Food Sovereignty (APNFS), which embraces more than 30 civil society organizations. On the basis of her experience with international advocacy activities targeting the WTO as well as through her work at the rural grassroots level, she has developed a profound knowledge on trade related poverty issues. Arze Glipo has a Master in Development Economics.

Aileen Kwa, Singapore, currently stationed in Geneva, is a policy consultant on trade issues. She has been monitoring trade negotiations since the Singapore Ministerial in 1996 and has also worked with developing country delegations in Geneva, especially on agricultural issues. She is co-author of the book „Behind the Scenes at the WTO: The Real World of Trade Negotiations“.

Hannes Lorenzen from Germany is adviser to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament for the Greens/EFA Group. As such, he is specialized in European agriculture policies. Formerly he has worked for GTZ and KfW in Lesotho and Mexico. He is the co-founder of Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN) and several European rural development networks (ENESD; Forum Synergies; PREPARE). He has a Master in Sociology and Agriculture and a postgraduate degree in International Rural Development (TU Berlin).

Sophia Murphy, British and Canadian, currently living in Australia is Senior Advisor at the US-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (Oxford) and a Master in Social Policy, Planning and Participation in Developing Countries (London School of Economics). Sophia Murphy has more than ten years hands-on experience in international economic policya fter her work with NGOs in Canada and the United States as well as with the United Nations in Geneva.

Daniel de la Torre Ugarte, in the US since 15 years, originally from Peru is associate director of the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center. His primary research area is agricultural supply management and the feasibility to implement it internationally. Furthermore, he deals with the potential of bio-energy crops. He has worked with farm organizations representing family farmers and given policy advice to US government bodies as well as international organizations. Daniel de la Torre’s broad list of publications includes the report "Rethinking US Agricultural Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide". He has a PhD in Agricultural Economics (Oklahoma State University).
  

Oduor Ongwen from Kenya is the country director of SEATINI Kenya, the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute. From 2000 to 2004, he was the Executive Director of EcoNews Africa. Odour Ongwen formerly chaired the National Council of NGOs of Kenya and the Kenyan NGO Regulatory Committee. He holds a master degree in Economic Policy of Developing Countries and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Chemistry (University of Nairobi).

Anna Luisa Ferreira Pijnappel from Brazil works as a consultant for the Department of International Affairs at the Brazilian Ministry of Rural Development (MDA). In this context she closely follows the agricultural trade negotiations at both the WTO and MERCOSUR. One of her special interests are the effects of trade agreements on family farming in Brazil. Previously, Anna Luisa Ferreira worked as a journalist for different Brazilian and Dutch media. She has a master in international affairs (Universidade Fluminense).

Dr. Rita Schwentesius Rindermann, in Mexico since 18 years, originally from Germany is the director of CIESTAAM (Research Center on Economic, Social and Technological Aspects of International Agriculture Policies) at the University of Chapingo, Mexico. Her research work is closely linked to the Mexican rural grassroots as well as to policy-making. She has worked with social and farmers organizations like UNORCA and ANEC, with movements like "El Campo no Aguanta Más" as well as with Mexico’s Federal Government or the World Bank. Her expertise in agricultural trade issues is widely recognized, i.e. with her intensive work on the agricultural chapter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). She has a Master in Plant Production and a PhD in International Agricultural Economy (Humboldt University Berlin).

Facilitator: Wolfgang Sachs from Germany is Senior Research Fellow at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (Wuppertal, Germany) since 1993. His primary fields of responsibility include globalization and sustainability, environment and development as well as new models of wealth. He has worked as a researcher and visiting professor in various universities (i.e. Pennsylvania University, US; Schumacher College – GB). From 1984 to 1987, he was editor of the magazine "Development". Wolfgang Sachs has published several books and articles on the environment and development. He has a Master in sociology and theology and a PhD in social sciences.

Assistant Facilitator: Tilman Santarius from Germany joined the Wuppertal Institute in 2001. In the Institute’s Berlin Office he is senior research fellow working in the fields of trade, climate policy, and globalization. His primary research area is the interface between trade and environmental policy. In 2002–4 he served as coordinator of the key project on globalization and sustainability at the Wuppertal Institute. Together with Wolfgang Sachs, he is lead author of the book: Fair Future. Resource Conflicts, Security, and Global Justice. A Report of the Wuppertal Institute. London, 2007. Tilman is active in both the environmental movement and the movement for an alternative globalization. He has a master in sociology, anthropology and economics.