Join Darío’s TFF Ambassador Team in Southern Latin America!

Based in Southern Latin America? Join Darío’s TFF Ambassador Team!

Darío González is the TFF Regional Coordinator for Southern Latin America and the co-founder of Cultivando Futuro, the 2017 TFF Challenge winner. The Colombian-based company is an information and agro-commerce platform that facilitates direct sales between small farmers and consumers, leveraging open data to analyze market trends. 

“Farmers are the cornerstone of humanity. A healthy food system provides nutrition, peace, social equality and cohesion. The foundation of society revolves around the network’s food has created.”

Scroll down to learn more about Darío and his region or directly apply to join his TFF Ambassador Team here. 

How is Covid-19 impacting your regional food systems and what would you consider the biggest challenge/ opportunity for your region in food and ag?

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the deficiencies in our food system. People had very little appreciation for how food is supplied to consumers. When governments started declaring a state of emergency and implementing lockdowns, the main concern was knowing whether society had systems in place to ensure people could stay at home. Doing so required a constant food supply to cities for people to buy, and more crucially, it raised the question; How is a portion of our global society that goes out to work, just to have a meal every day, going to survive? The capacity to keep the entire population locked down to mitigate the spread of the virus, maintain public order and guarantee food security became a matter of national interest. Starving people could recur to any means to provide for their families.

To secure society’s stability, farmers need to keep the food supply functioning as usual, and incentives must be set in place for farmers. It became evident that food hubs would be the place where people risk infection and spread of the virus. In rural communities, the medical system is weak and farmers wouldn’t necessarily be able to access adequate medical attention. If big cities want to preserve constant food supply, they need to assume the responsibility of containing COVID, so the farmers feel confident in keeping the food supply flowing. The opportunity here is the development of remote trade networks. 

How will TFF Ambassadors help the food system advancement in your region?

During this crisis, it has become painfully evident that the food industry professionals were not prepared for the challenges this new reality presented. We watched them go in circles just to conclude that their old ways need to be reinvented. Facing the new reality of the world, they now appreciate that a new skill set is required. We need to redesign the food system in a short time. It has become apparent that a new generation needs to push the food industry forward, a generation that understands how to develop solutions by being agile. This generation understands and loves the countryside and the food industry, and sees it filled with potential thanks to novel technologies. This generation is willing to challenge old models and understands that we need to work on our local problems, leveraging the world’s collective knowledge. These are the qualities Thought for Food Ambassadors embody.

Get to know Darío and meet some of his most passionate local TFF Ambassadors! 👇