4 November: Dutch sectors | Agriculture | Risk and Resilience Festival

DAY 2 OF THE RISK & RESILIENCE ONLINE EVENT

AFTER THE CRISIS: IMPLICATIONS FOR RISK & RESILIENCE IN agricultur

HOW THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IS SEEKING COOPERATION AND INNOVATION TO MANAGE AND REPAIR CRISES IN TIME.

This coronavirus crisis has demonstrated the risks and vulnerabilities of the agricultural sector. For a moment, there were empty supermarkets, no foreign employees to harvest crops and a substantial drop in demand. It has become clear that the agricultural sector needs to review both its long international chains and the deployment of so many international workers. Moreover, some of the sales countries do not want to be dependent on Dutch products, with geopolitical factors causing them to want to set up their own national production processes. Finally, production will have to become more sustainable to avoid depleting the earth’s resources and triggering a cascade of crises.

The greenhouse horticulture sector has taken up this challenge by coming together to innovate. Technology will play a major role in this, to reduce energy and raw material inputs and to replace some of the labour input from Eastern Europe with robotisation. The speed of change will depend on the development of technology, the degree of climate change, and social and political discussions. A range of techniques and methods can be used to explore the future, including scenario analysis and road mapping. Many of these techniques are already being applied in the sector.

Ticketprice: €45,-. Free registration for UT-students and staff!

Speaker

Prof. Jan van den Ende

Jan van den Ende is a professor of management of technology and innovation at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) . In addition, he is professor of horticulture innovation and visiting professor at LUISS Universita Guido Carli, Rome, Italy.

His field of expertise is the development process of new products and services in firms. His current research interests include firm-internal and -external idea management, control of NPD projects, design management and sustainable innovation.

Jan van den Ende has published in numerous journals including Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Research Policy, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and Group and Organization Management.

He teaches in MBA and Executive Education for firms such as ASML, FrieslandCampina, IFF and MAN. Van den Ende holds a PhD from Delft University of Technology.

Bart Stengs

Experienced professional in financial services. Work experience as credit risk manager and branch specialist in the F&A sector. In addition, as sr. account manager in an international large company environment. Active in hortibusiness, wholesale, industry, business services, semi-government institutions and business real estate. Since mid-May Sector Manager Greenhouse Horticulture at Achmea Agro. Together with the GreenTech branch (€ 4 billion turnover) we are proactively working on the mitigation of innovation risks in this rapidly growing international environment.

Walter Willemse

The entrepreneur behind Risicobalance is Walter Willemse. From 2015 I will be ready to support entrepreneurs with risk issues that can be derived from the objectives of their business. Together with my clients, I will build a long-term relationship of trust in which I will act as a partner. I use my knowledge, experience and network to work together with my business relations on a resilient organisation.

Bart Stengs - Sector Manager Greenhouse Horticulture at Achmea, Manager at Stichting HortiQ, Treasurer at Stichting Hortivation
The Corona crisis has partly affected greenhouse horticulture. The following lessons have been learned over the past period:
o    Vulnerability: The corona crisis shows how vulnerable the (global) food supply and international ornamental plant cultivation is. Sales channels disappeared when the hospitality industry closed its doors, flower stores and garden centers closed, airports/seaports came to a standstill and the borders were partially closed.
o    Emergence Local for local: Consumers started to buy more healthy food and flowers during this period. There was more focus on health and vitality. Domestic sales increased (sometimes spectacularly double digit).
o    Dependence on international labor: The lion's share of greenhouse horticulture labor is done by international workers from the CEE countries (former Eastern Bloc). During the Corona crisis, the borders of these countries were closed, so that foreign workers stayed away and -for a while- there was a threat of a shortage of personnel.
o    Finiteness of the export model: It has become clear that there is a finiteness of large-scale production for distant export markets. This is vulnerable to disruption. In the past, this was mainly due to phytosanitary restrictions (plant diseases) and currency. Now there is a pandemic cause (human diseases).
o    Geopolitics: Some of the sales countries do not want to be dependent on Dutch export products. Long chains are exchanged for short chains and local production. This applies to Russia, China and to a lesser extent the USA.
Conclusion: In general, the Corona has made the greenhouse horticulture sector's risks more visible. Entrepreneurs are also aware of the reduced resilience due to specialization and domino effects in the chain. So far it has not affected my sector (agricultural insurance).
Bio:
Experienced professional in financial services. Work experience as credit risk manager and branch specialist in the F&A sector. In addition, as sr. account manager in an international large company environment. Active in hortibusiness, wholesale, industry, business services, semi-government institutions and business real estate. Since mid-May Sector Manager Greenhouse Horticulture at Achmea Agro. Together with the GreenTech branch (€ 4 billion turnover) we are proactively working on the mitigation of innovation risks in this rapidly growing international environment.
Prof. Jan van den Ende - Professor of Management of Technology and Innovation
Jan van den Ende is a professor of management of technology and innovation at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) . In addition, he is professor of horticulture innovation and visiting professor at LUISS Universita Guido Carli, Rome, Italy.
His field of expertise is the development process of new products and services in firms. His current research interests include firm-internal and -external idea management, control of NPD projects, design management and sustainable innovation.
Jan van den Ende has published in numerous journals including Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Research Policy, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and Group and Organization Management.
He teaches in MBA and Executive Education for firms such as ASML, FrieslandCampina, IFF and MAN. Van den Ende holds a PhD from Delft University of Technology.
Walter Willemse - Risk Adviser Risicobalans, Board member Genootschap voor Risicomanagement
The current crisis requires alertness and adaptability. Developments follow each other in rapid succession and require people and companies to react quickly to changing circumstances. In these times, it is important to spar with people you can trust and make decisions based on different insights. With my company Risk Balance, I assist entrepreneurs in these turbulent times. From my position as a board member of the Dutch Society for Risk Management we have gained a lot of experience about this crisis.
Bio:
The entrepreneur behind Risk Balance is Walter Willemse. From 2015 I will be ready to support entrepreneurs with risk issues that can be derived from the objectives of their business. Together with my business relations, I am building a long-term relationship of trust where I act as a partner. I use my knowledge, experience and network to work together with my business relations on a resilient organisation.
Walter is also a board member of the Society for Risk Management with which he organises the annual Risk & Resilience festival together with the University of Twente.
You are welcome to become acquainted with the possibilities of our services. You can call Walter Willemse on (06) 48 22 96 08.