Mainstreaming Scaling with the Syngenta Foundation: Lessons from a Small Agri-Food Foundation

Simon Winter became SFSA Executive Director in 2017. He joined from TechnoServe, where he had been SVP, Development in Washington, D.C, and previously led operations in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2015-2017, Simon was also a Senior Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a member of the Griffith Foods Sustainability Advisory Council, the Dalberg Trust Board, the ACRE Africa Board, and, the TechnoServe, South Africa Board. He is an adviser to the World Economic Forum’s food and agriculture work, including being an Ambassador for the Food Innovation Hubs.  He is an adviser to the Steering Committee of the Farm to Market Alliance, where he served as Chair from 2019 to 2023. Past board roles include: Root Capital and a founding member of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs Steering Committee. His earlier career included management positions at McKinsey & Co, development consulting, economic planning for a Ministry in Botswana, and roles on three continents with Barclay’s Bank. A UK citizen, Simon holds a PhD in Economics from SOAS, London.

Caren is the founder and director of Enabling Outcomes Ltd. and has over twenty years’ experience in sustainability and international development in the food, agriculture, mining, banking, and apparel sectors.  She develops best-practice strategies with a focus on development outcomes. This work has included strategy design, KPI and metrics management, evaluations, standards and certification system innovation, stakeholder engagement, research, and facilitation. She has worked in NGO and consultancy roles and serves a diverse clientele of NGOs, foundations, multilateral and membership organizations, and corporations. Prior to founding Enabling Outcomes, Caren was the London Director at SustainAbility. She also held the role of Head of Global Product Management at Fairtrade International and is the former Director of Certification and Director of Category Management at Fair Trade USA.

fields such as, Monitoring and evaluation, Research and policy analysis, Teaching, Program Planning and Implementation, Project management, and stakeholder engagement. She holds Doctorate Degree in Agricultural economics from Indian Agricultural research Institute, PUSA, New Delhi. Dr. Anitha Govindaraj, has worked with different Government and Private organisations such as Small farmer Agri-business consortium (SFAC), Govt. of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (AIGGPA) a Think tank for Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, XIDAS, FICCI etc. She has handled many research projects in various subject areas and led many project teams related to fields of Rural development, farmer producer organisations, Rural Livelihood, revival of traditional water bodies, Agriculture credit, Crop Insurance, Food inflation, governance etc.  

Dr. Anitha  is currently working with Syngenta Foundation India and heading the project “ 10K Women Agri-entrepreneurship development program in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh”. This is a collaborative project of Syngenta Foundation India along with State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) of state rural development departments with the funding support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). She also heading the Farmer producer organisation (FPO) promotion project of Syngenta Foundation Inda, has steered the team and registered 10 FPOs using the AE network across 5 states in India.  She is actively engaged with livelihood promotion activities of Small and marginal farmers and particularly collectivisation of women producers.

Raj Kazi Borhan Amin is a seasoned professional with over 28 years of experience, skilled in project design, development, and backstopping. His core strengths lie in market systems development, value chain optimization, and enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs. He has served as a consultant and senior advisor for several development cooperation organizations, including IFC/World Bank, GIZ, JICA, USAID, SDC, and the EU.

Raj’s expertise extends to nurturing young entrepreneurs and supporting start-ups by providing strategic guidance on business planning, market access, and investment readiness. He is passionate about transforming innovative ideas into successful business ventures, offering tailored support to drive growth in agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries. His work in promoting sustainable business practices and policy advocacy for SME development has positioned him as a key advocate for public-private partnerships in fostering economic progress.

As CEO and Managing Director of SEBA Limited, SEBA AgroTech and Seeds Limited, and SEBA FoodTech Limited, Raj leads with a strategic vision that aligns with his companies’ objectives while fostering a dynamic team environment. His ability to craft market entry strategies, forecast financial outcomes, and execute operational plans underscores his reputation as a skilled strategist and visionary leader.

Mark Huisenga is a Senior Program Manager and leads USAID’s Bureau for Resilience, Environment & Food Security’s Scaling Team in the Center for Agriculture. In this role he manages the Partnership for Inclusive Ag Transformation in Africa, a partnership led by AGRA, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, the British FCDO and the German BMZ. He also leads the Bureau’s work on seed systems. He frequently provides USAID/Missions with technical support to advance USAID’s scaling objectives. An investment analyst by training, he has conducted due diligence of agricultural investments from fruit to livestock to commodity exchanges. He serves as a technical advisor on several boards and committees for USAID. Before joining USAID in 2009, Huisenga was Director of Agriculture and Rural Economies at the Millennium Challenge Corporation where he designed and managed Compact investments in agriculture. Prior to this position, Huisenga worked as a manager and then Director of Cargill Technical Services and as an international consultant where he provided technical oversight of agricultural projects. He has over 30 years of experience in the food and fiber industries in over 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. 

For twenty-five years Dr. Richard Kohl has identified and solved complex problems for foundations, social and private enterprises, and international agencies. He is highly valued for his abilities to assess programs, synthesize his findings into compelling narratives, and crystallize them into high impact solutions. For the last fifteen years, he has specialized in developing and implementing scaling and growth strategies. Richard is an internationally recognized thought leader and expert on scaling impact. Dr. Kohl integrates his expertise in scaling up with 25 years as a Buddhist practitioner/teacher and business coach; he works with organizations where they are now. The results are sustainable impact at scale.