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    DELTA FAQs

    The DELTA Model® is a global food system mass balance that uses information about current food production to predict the nutrition available to the average global citizen both now and in the future.

    The model lets the user adjust the production of different food groups, the degree of food waste, and the global population to see the impact of these changes on human nutrition. The most recent version also calculates the cropland area required for food production.

    Future versions of the model will include estimates of the impacts of food system scenarios on total land use, greenhouse gas emissions, and other resource constraints.

     

    Watch a short video of what the DELTA Model® is here.

    A challenge we face is our ability to sustainably nourish an increasing global population without exceeding the capacity of the planet. There are many different ways of approaching this challenge, and many suggestions for what the answer may be.
    The DELTA Model® has been developed to help people explore this challenge themselves by manipulating the major components of the food system to see the impact on the supply of key nutrients.

    The model is found by logging in to your account from the Models and Tools page.

    More information on How to use the DELTA Model® can be found here.

    Features of the DELTA Model®

    The DELTA Model® has several attractive features that make the tool broadly applicable:

    Scenario options contains high level scenario settings and enables the user to switch between predefined food system options.

    Primary production contains the annual production of each of the food product groups in millions of tonnes.

    Secondary modifiers contains a range of other model options for the user to select.

    Food production information is taken from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Balance Sheets and combined with food composition data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) FoodData Central. The core of DELTA is a model that allows the user to modify food production from the FAO food balance sheets and view the impact on the nutrition available to the average global citizen.

    The DELTA Model® has been developed to help people explore this challenge themselves by manipulating the major components of the food system to see the impact on the supply of key nutrients.

     

    The Delta Model generates viable outcomes from complex initial scenarios.

    The DELTA Model® WORKSHOP has been authored by Dr Margaret Murray from Monash University. This workshop helps users explore the challenge of sustainably nourishing an increasing global population without exceeding the capacity of the planet. 
    There are many ways of approaching this challenge, and many suggestions for what the answer may be…

    In this workshop, students can challenge themselves using the DELTA Model® to manipulate the major components of the food system and see the impact on the supply of key nutrients, worldwide.

     

    How it works:

        1. Book a 30min live demo with Dr Nick Smith. (free)
        2. Obtain login access to the Model
        3. DOWNLOAD THE WORKSHOP MATERIAL

    FAQs

    Why only nutrition?

    The only aspect of sustainability outside of nutrition that is currently included in the DELTA Model® is cropland requirement. Future development of the model is focused on further inclusions.

    What is the target for running a scenario?

    The goal for any scenario of the global food system should be to meet the target intake for all nutrients in the DELTA Model®, shown as the black bar on the nutrient supply charts. The DELTA Model® assumes even distribution of food commodities among the global population. In reality, food is not evenly distributed globally. In addition, adverse events such as droughts or floods can affect food production and distribution. Therefore, to account for this, the nutrient supply per person per day should be slightly above the target intake.

    What does food waste include?

    Supply chain waste represents losses that occur from farmgate to retail. In-home waste is food waste that occurs in home by consumers. Inedible material in food used (e.g. inedible fruit and vegetable material skins) is not included in food waste; the DELTA Model® calculates this inedible portion separately. Any mass that does not leave the farm is not counted as food supply, so cereal stalks and husks that are left behind are not included as food waste.

    What does food production include?

    Food production in the DELTA Model® includes all biomass that leaves the world’s farms that enters the food system. Some of this will go to human consumption, while some will be used as animal feed or for other uses, and some will be wasted. Synthetic or non-food sources of nutrition (e.g. fermentation produced protein and mined minerals) are not included.

    Does nutrient provision account for losses of bioavailability during cooking?

    Does nutrient provision account for losses of bioavailability during cooking? No. The model assumes that all bioavailable nutrients in food consumed are in raw form. The reality is that food can be prepared and consumed in many different ways, affecting nutrient composition and bioavailability. However, the complexity of modelling this would bring a significant margin of error into the model. Therefore, the DELTA Model® assumes that all bioavailable nutrients in the raw commodity end up in the food consumed.

    Does the model run optimisations to generate one right answer?

    The purpose of the DELTA Model® is to not be constrained to one perfect answer, but rather to generate scenarios about possible food production scenarios, in order to generate informed discussion and expand thinking. As such, the model does not calculate one right answer.

    Are environmental footprints included in the DELTA Model®?

    As of version 2.0, cropland use is included in the DELTA Model® as the first aspect of environmental sustainability to be modelled. Environmental sustainability is a key part of a sustainable food system but a broad quality. As such, resource footprints (greenhouse gas, total land and water) should be considered by the user when evaluating future possible food systems. Other aspects of environmental sustainability are targets for future model development.

    Can input data be selected by country?

    As of version 1.3, The DELTA Model® allows the user to investigate national nutrient dynamics in 2015 under the Helpful tab. However, there is no functionality for DELTA Model® scenarios at the national level.

    How is transport/supply chain to get food from production to mouth factored?

    The DELTA Model® uses the FAO food balance sheets, which encompass the entire supply chain from farm gate to retail, capturing losses and distribution into different uses. Since environmental footprints are not yet included in the model due to data issues, this aspect of transport and supply chain is not yet included in the model. Indeed, the complexity of the global supply chain is one of the main reasons why many of the environmental impacts of a DELTA Model® scenario are not yet estimated in the model.

    Does the model address the uneven distribution of food and nutrients globally?

    As of version 1.3, the DELTA Model® displays the inequitable distribution of nutrients between different countries in 2015. However, there is no scope to use DELTA Model® scenarios to investigate this distribution in the future. The focus of the DELTA Model® is on the global food production required to meet global nutrient requirements. When running various scenarios in the DELTA Model®, a slight over-production of all nutrients should be the target, to act as a buffer to account for the uneven distribution of food and nutrients globally.

    What is the difference between global demand and nutrition required?

    Demand is the quantity of food global consumers are willing and able to purchase. Nutrition required is based on the target intakes of each nutrient for the global population. For example, while demand may be increasing for protein, the DELTA Model® shows that there is already sufficient protein to meet global nutrient requirements.

    What is the difference between reference diet adjustment and bioavailability adjustment?

    The reference diet selection has the options: base, vegetarian and vegan. Selecting the vegetarian or vegan diets increases the target intake values for iron and zinc, to account for lower bioavailability of these minerals in high plant diets. Because there is insufficient data on the bioavailability of these nutrients in all foods, the target intake increases to account for the fact that a higher iron intake is recommended to meet requirements in a vegan or vegetarian diet compared to an omnivorous diet.

    Contrastingly, there is sufficient scientific data on the bioavailability of essential amino acids from different protein sources. The DELTA Model® adjusts for this bioavailability unless the relevant checkbox is selected.

    Does the DELTA Model® dictate an individual diet?

    No. The purpose of the DELTA Model® is to explore the ability of different food production scenarios to provide the bioavailable nutrients needed to adequately feed the global population. It does not try to provide the answer to sustainable diets for individuals.

    How were the default scenarios created?

    The default scenarios (e.g. 2030 Vegetarian, 2030 Scale-up Current) are rough estimates of what the given scenario might look like in terms of food production. These are intended as starting points for the user to explore from, rather than predictions based on food system forecasts. For example, the 2030 Vegetarian scenario has zero meat and seafood production and uses the 2030 forecast population. This represents a possible food system scenario that the user can then adjust to explore nutritional outcomes.

    How do I use the Nutrient Density tool to identify which foods to build up in the food system?

    To build an efficient food system it is useful to start with nutrient-rich foods, particularly those rich in limiting nutrients. The nutrient density chart is a tool to discover which foods are rich in specific nutrients. Production of these foods can be increased in a scenario to ensure nutrient requirements are met. By navigating to ‘Helpful’ and selecting ‘Nutrient Density’, two charts will appear side by side. The nutrient density chart is on the left, and a chart showing food use of the item is on the right. The purpose of the food usage chart is to help identify which foods are realistically able to contribute to nutrient supply. Foods that have high nutrient density, and also relatively high food use have good practical potential to contribute to global provision of that nutrient. The target nutrient can be changed to view the nutrient of interest using the drop-down box. This nutrient can then be constrained against a number of different parameters. Mass is the default dietary constraint, but this can be changed depending on what the limiting factor is in the scenario.

    Are synthetic nutrients included in the DELTA Model® ?

    No. Synthetic nutrients, such as fermentation produced protein or mined minerals, are not included. To include synthetic nutrients, accurate data is required on their production. For example, accurate data would be required on the biomass feed required to obtain a certain amount of protein via fermentation, which is not yet available.

    What does the Nutrient Contribution Score mean?

    The Nutrition Contribution Score is a metric to give a sense of how valuable each food item is in terms of its nutritional contribution to the global food system. The DELTA Model® calculates this score for each food item by taking the proportion of each nutrient (e.g. Calcium, Vitamin A) supplied by the food item (e.g. Apples, Bananas), and then summing these for all nutrients. Energy and carbohydrates are excluded from the calculation, as a high contribution to these values is not necessarily beneficial to the global population.

    Constraints of the SNi DELTA Model®

    Vitamin D and iodine
    Non-essential amino acids include: alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine. These have not been included in the DELTA Model® as the internal processes the nutrients are involved in are challenging to account for accurately, and these nutrients can also be synthesised from essential amino acids. Essential acids isoleucine and valine are also not present in the DELTA Model® currently as they are rarely the limiting amino acid in the human diet. Inclusion of these nutrients in the model is being considered for future versions.

    Materiality
    The DELTA Model® provides scenarios that indicate directional movement to determine any adverse outcomes in food supply and nutrient availability from various scenarios. This is not to say that the outcomes of such a scenario (e.g. no meat) will most certainly result in the simulated nutrient deficiencies, rather it alludes to likely outcomes of changes in production. Changes in future food production will be broad and nuanced, and it is imperative to ensure the direction that such changes shift global nutrient availability is adequate to feed our growing population.

    Microbiome
    A healthy human intestinal microbiome provides numerous services, such as supporting absorption of nutrients and acting as a protection against infection. An unhealthy microbiome can be linked to poor health. Research insight has suggested that although a correlative relationship has been found between microbiomes and disease, the underlying processes that would determine a causal relationship are uncertain. As such, the role of the intestinal microbiome in nutrition is beyond the scope of the DELTA Model®.

    Global averaging of nutrient availability
    DELTA assumes an equal distribution of food globally and produces an average nutrient availability for the global population. This does not capture the realistic distribution of food that is inequitable across the world. This is because the DELTA Model® considers nutrient adequacy at a global scale and provides insight on various food system scenarios and the capability to produce nutrition for all. Both the individual and the global perspectives, and thus both modelling approaches, are necessary when considering the aptitude of the food system. DELTA does include historic information of on the distribution of nutrients at a country level, which provides come insight into the range of availability. However, there are too many variables to project this variation onto future scenarios, and insufficient data to look at the variation in intake or availability within countries.

    Demand versus requirement
    DELTA considers only nutrient requirements. Nutrient demand, where the specific nutrients and amounts are determined by consumers, is quite different and is not captured by DELTA Model®.

    Bioavailability
    The current version of the model contains good data for protein and amino acid bioavailability. For iron and zinc, the availability of data for individual food items is not as great, therefore bioavailability is captured by changing nutrient requirement values. Due to insufficient bioavailability data for all other nutrients, no consideration of bioavailability is made for these.

    Nutrient absorption
    Nutrient absorption is dependent on the meals and food combinations people make in their diet. Individual diets are beyond scope of DELTA, and thus meal effects are not captured.

    Nutrient targets
    The strength of the model’s nutrient requirement estimates are dependent on the EFSA data source. For some nutrients, limited data is available on human requirements, whereas for others there is sufficient data for all age and gender groups to set upper and lower bounds on intake, as well as target intakes.

    FAO data
    The FAO data that informs the model has limitations. Some countries are missing data, and the quality of data reported varies between countries. Moreover, inhome waste estimates are at a regional and food group level. Unfortunately, this data is the best currently available and is sufficient for directional conclusions on future changes to the food system.

    Resolution
    Currently, food items are grouped into 15 food groups for ease of use by a broad audience. This means that any increase in the total production of a food group causes a proportional increase in the production of each food item within it, following the distribution in the baseline data set. This increase is carried through all model calculations: waste, other uses, and the available nutrients. Future versions of the model may allow for user input at a higher resolution.

    Acknowledgements

    The DELTA Model®

    • Design: Andrew Fletcher, Jeremy Hill, Simon Hunter, Warren McNabb, Nick Smith

    • Programming: Andrew Fletcher, Nick Smith, Joshua Ghezzi, Christopher Pearce

    • Research and Nutrition: Lakshmi Acharya, Shalome Bassett, Natalie Russell, Caroline Gunn, Nick Smith, Warren McNabb

    • Resources: We would like to thank shift n for permission to reproduce the global food system map.

      The Riddet Institute | World Leading Research and Food Innovations

     

    The DELTA Model® Data Sources

    Professor Warren McNabb
    Warren McNabb is a Professor of Nutritional Science at the Riddet Institute; one of New Zealand’s Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE), hosted by Massey University. He leads SNi® and his research interests include digestive physiology and metabolism, nutrition for health, and sustainable nutrition.
    Project Leader | W.McNabb@massey.ac.nz
    Professor Warren McNabb
    Warren McNabb is a Professor of Nutritional Science at the Riddet Institute; one of New Zealand’s Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE), hosted by Massey University. He leads SNi® and his research interests include digestive physiology and metabolism, nutrition for health, and sustainable nutrition.
    Project Leader | W.McNabb@massey.ac.nz
    Dr Nick Smith
    Nick works as a mathematical modeller on the Riddet Institute SNi®. He is responsible for a wide range of SNi's work and the continued development of the SNi models like the DELTA Model®. This is a tool for investigating how global food production meets global nutritional requirements as part of a sustainable food system.
    Research Officer
    Dr Nick Smith
    Nick works as a mathematical modeller on the Riddet Institute SNi®. He is responsible for a wide range of SNi's work and the continued development of the SNi models like the DELTA Model®. This is a tool for investigating how global food production meets global nutritional requirements as part of a sustainable food system.
    Research Officer
    Dr Andrew Fletcher
    Andrew is a Chemical Engineer with a PhD in process control and modelling. Andrew is a Honorary Fellow at the Riddet Institute and has been involved with SNi® since the outset. He is based at the Fonterra Research and Development Centre in Palmerston North and is involved in a range of research, management and strategy roles.
    Honorary Fellow
    Dr Andrew Fletcher
    Andrew is a Chemical Engineer with a PhD in process control and modelling. Andrew is a Honorary Fellow at the Riddet Institute and has been involved with SNi® since the outset. He is based at the Fonterra Research and Development Centre in Palmerston North and is involved in a range of research, management and strategy roles.
    Honorary Fellow
    Professor Jeremy Hill
    Professor Jeremy Hill has played a major role in developing SNi®. He has also been involved in developing strategic partnerships between Fonterra and the Riddet Institute. For example, the establishment of three Professorial Chairs in Food Material Science, Nutrition, and Consumer and Sensory Science. Jeremy is the Chief Science and Technology Officer at Fonterra.
    Adjunct Professor
    Professor Jeremy Hill
    Professor Jeremy Hill has played a major role in developing SNi®. He has also been involved in developing strategic partnerships between Fonterra and the Riddet Institute. For example, the establishment of three Professorial Chairs in Food Material Science, Nutrition, and Consumer and Sensory Science. Jeremy is the Chief Science and Technology Officer at Fonterra.
    Adjunct Professor
    Dr Mahya Tavan
    Mahya is a postdoctoral research fellow working on the development of the iOTA model. iOTA is a dietary optimisation tool for designing sustainable diets that are nutritious, acceptable and affordable. Prior to joining SNi®, Mahya held a research role at the University of Melbourne, Australia where she carried out various research projects on sustainable food production, resource use efficiency and biofortification of fresh food.
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Dr Mahya Tavan
    Mahya is a postdoctoral research fellow working on the development of the iOTA model. iOTA is a dietary optimisation tool for designing sustainable diets that are nutritious, acceptable and affordable. Prior to joining SNi®, Mahya held a research role at the University of Melbourne, Australia where she carried out various research projects on sustainable food production, resource use efficiency and biofortification of fresh food.
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Raquel Lozano
    Raquel is a postdoctoral research fellow creating models for national food systems. Her PhD research focused on helping design horticultural packaging systems to minimise the environmental impact. Raquel was awarded the International Society of Horticultural Sciences Young Minds Award in 2023, and is keen to use mathematical modelling to provide holistic information to decision-makers in the area of sustainable nutrition.
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Raquel Lozano
    Raquel is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow creating models for national food systems. Her PhD research focused on helping design horticultural packaging systems to minimise the environmental impact. Raquel was awarded the International Society of Horticultural Sciences Young Minds Award in 2023, and is keen to use mathematical modelling to provide holistic information to decision-makers in the area of sustainable nutrition.
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Patricia Soh
    Prior to her current PhD, Patricia attained a Master of Science in Human Nutrition at Massey University, Albany. The current focus of her PhD is investigating nutritional concerns within vegan diets.
    PhD Student
    Patricia Soh
    Prior to her current PhD, Patricia attained a Master of Science in Human Nutrition at Massey University, Albany. The current focus of her PhD is investigating nutritional concerns within vegan diets.
    PhD Student
    Ejovi Abafe
    Prior to his current PhD, Ejovi obtained a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Delta State University, Nigeria. The current focus of his PhD at the Riddet Institute is Global land use for the delivery of nutrition.
    PhD Student
    Ejovi Abafe
    Prior to his current PhD, Ejovi obtained a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Delta State University, Nigeria. The current focus of his PhD at the Riddet Institute is Global land use for the delivery of nutrition.
    PhD Student
    Justine Coomson
    Prior to her current PhD, Justine obtained a Masters degree in Population, Family and Reproductive Health and a Bachelor's degree in Dietetics from the University of Ghana. Justine has worked as a research assistant and a clinical dietician in Ghana before coming to New Zealand. The current focus on her PhD is the impact of biofortification and supplementation to diets.
    PhD Student
    Justine Coomson
    Prior to her current PhD, Justine obtained a Masters degree in Population, Family and Reproductive Health and a Bachelor's degree in Dietetics from the University of Ghana. Justine has worked as a research assistant and a clinical dietician in Ghana before coming to New Zealand. The current focus on her PhD is the impact of biofortification and supplementation to diets.
    PhD Student
    Hannah Ramsay
    Hannah is the Project Manager for SNi®. She started her career in the Riddet Institute when she first came to New Zealand and has since done project and event work across various educational institutes. The opportunity to return to Project Management at the Riddet Institute was very welcome, especially given the fascinating research and mahi conducted as part of SNi®.
    Project Manager | H.Ramsay@massey.ac.nz
    Hannah Ramsay
    Hannah is the Project Manager for SNi®. She started her career in the Riddet Institute when she first came to New Zealand and has since done project and event work across various educational institutes. The opportunity to return to Project Management at the Riddet Institute was very welcome, especially given the fascinating research and mahi conducted as part of SNi®.
    Project Manager | H.Ramsay@massey.ac.nz
    Dr Amelia Barker
    Amelia is a Communications Officer at the Riddet Institute. She has many years experience in digital media communications at various organisations. Amelia is passionate about research and enjoys promoting the fantastic mahi (work) that SNi® does.
    Communications Officer
    Amelia Barker
    Amelia is a Communications Officer at the Riddet Institute. She has many years experience in digital media communications at various organisations. Amelia is passionate about research and enjoys promoting the fantastic mahi (work) that SNi® does.
    Communications Officer
    Rangimarie Hunia
    Rangimarie Hunia was appointed an alternate director of Te Ohu Kaimoana at the beginning of 2015 before being appointed a full director in November 2015, and Chair in July 2019. The first wahine (woman) Chair in the history of Te Ohu Kaimoana. In 2017, she was appointed a Chair of Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust. In 2016, she was appointed Chief Executive of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei Whai Maia. Whai Maia is responsible for the well-being of its 5,000 tribal members and focuses on education, health, employment and environmental areas. She played an active role as a member of the Iwi Working Group that was established to facilitate understanding and iwi decision making in response to the 11-year Review of Māori Fisheries Settlement entities. Rangimarie is also a member of Global Women and was a finalist in the Westpac Women of Influence Awards 2014.
    Ngāti Whātua Chair of the SNi® International Advisory Group Chief Executive of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei Whai Maia
    Rangimarie Hunia
    Rangimarie Hunia was appointed an alternate director of Te Ohu Kaimoana at the beginning of 2015 before being appointed a full director in November 2015, and Chair in July 2019. The first wahine (woman) Chair in the history of Te Ohu Kaimoana. In 2017, she was appointed a Chair of Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust. In 2016, she was appointed Chief Executive of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei Whai Maia. Whai Maia is responsible for the well-being of its 5,000 tribal members and focuses on education, health, employment and environmental areas. She played an active role as a member of the Iwi Working Group that was established to facilitate understanding and iwi decision making in response to the 11-year Review of Māori Fisheries Settlement entities. Rangimarie is also a member of Global Women and was a finalist in the Westpac Women of Influence Awards 2014.
    Ngāti Whātua Chair of SNi® International Advisory Group Chief Executive of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei Whai Maia
    Jeroen Dijkman
    Dr. Jeroen Dijkman is the founding head of the Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences at Nestlé Research. The Institute aims to translate novel agricultural science into concrete applications and to identify and develop the most promising regenerative agriculture technologies. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the organization has a decentralized structure and incorporates Nestlé’s existing plant sciences research facilities in France, as well as numerous research and reference farms around the world. The Institute has three focus areas: plant sciences, dairy-livestock sciences and agricultural system sciences. Jeroen has worked for over 30 years, in all major regions of the world, with bi- and multi-lateral donors, i-NGOs, international and national research centres, the World Bank, UN agencies and the private sector on finding ways to use research and innovation to transition agri-food systems towards more productive but also more sustainable and socially inclusive pathways. In his last two assignments prior to taking up his current position, Jeroen combined the roles of Director (International) of the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre and the Senior Technical Adviser of the UN Environment, Climate and Clean Air Coalition agriculture initiative. Subsequently, he was the Managing Director of the Animal Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research. The Animal Sciences Group consists of the Department of Animal Sciences of Wageningen University and three Wageningen Research institutes: Wageningen Bio-veterinary Research, Wageningen Livestock Research and Wageningen Marine Research.
    Head of Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences
    Jeroen Dijkman
    Dr. Jeroen Dijkman is the founding head of the Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences at Nestlé Research. The Institute aims to translate novel agricultural science into concrete applications and to identify and develop the most promising regenerative agriculture technologies. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the organization has a decentralized structure and incorporates Nestlé’s existing plant sciences research facilities in France, as well as numerous research and reference farms around the world. The Institute has three focus areas: plant sciences, dairy-livestock sciences and agricultural system sciences. Jeroen has worked for over 30 years, in all major regions of the world, with bi- and multi-lateral donors, i-NGOs, international and national research centres, the World Bank, UN agencies and the private sector on finding ways to use research and innovation to transition agri-food systems towards more productive but also more sustainable and socially inclusive pathways. In his last two assignments prior to taking up his current position, Jeroen combined the roles of Director (International) of the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre and the Senior Technical Adviser of the UN Environment, Climate and Clean Air Coalition agriculture initiative. Subsequently, he was the Managing Director of the Animal Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research. The Animal Sciences Group consists of the Department of Animal Sciences of Wageningen University and three Wageningen Research institutes: Wageningen Bio-veterinary Research, Wageningen Livestock Research and Wageningen Marine Research.
    Head of Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences
    Berry Marttin
    Berry Marttin was born and raised in Brazil. Over the course of his career at Rabobank, he gained extensive experience as an international banker in both wholesale and retail banking, working in various senior executive positions in Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Curacao and Brazil. Mr Marttin moved to the Netherlands in 2004 to become Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rabobank Amsterdam. In 2009, he joined the Managing Board with special focus on Rabobank’s international Wholesale and Rural banking activities and further responsibilities including Leasing (DLL), Rabo Carbon Bank and RaboResearch. His principal other activities outside Rabobank include serving as President of the EACB (European Association of Co-operative Banks) and Member of the Board of Neumann Foundation. Moreover, Mr Marttin serves as the first Chairman of the Global Steering Committee of the Food Action Alliance, where World Economic Forum together with IFAD, WBCSD, CIAT, AfDB and Rabobank and over 20 global leaders unite to deploy large scale action through game changing initiatives for food systems transformation. In 2021, he was invited to join the UN Food Systems Summit Champions network, a network encompassing leadership from a broad range of constituencies, in all parts of the world, who are championing food systems and food systems transformation.
    Former Member of the Managing Board Rabobank Group
    Berry Marttin
    Berry Marttin was born and raised in Brazil. Over the course of his career at Rabobank, he has gained extensive experience as an international banker in both wholesale and retail banking, working in various senior executive positions in Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Curacao and Brazil. Mr Marttin moved to the Netherlands in 2004 to become Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rabobank Amsterdam. In 2009, he joined the Managing Board with special focus on Rabobank’s international Wholesale and Rural banking activities and further responsibilities including Leasing (DLL), Rabo Carbon Bank and RaboResearch. His principal other activities outside Rabobank include serving as President of the EACB (European Association of Co-operative Banks) and Member of the Board of Neumann Foundation. Moreover, Mr Marttin serves as the first Chairman of the Global Steering Committee of the Food Action Alliance, where World Economic Forum together with IFAD, WBCSD, CIAT, AfDB and Rabobank and over 20 global leaders unite to deploy large scale action through game changing initiatives for food systems transformation. In 2021, he was invited to join the UN Food Systems Summit Champions network, a network encompassing leadership from a broad range of constituencies, in all parts of the world, who are championing food systems and food systems transformation.
    Member of the Managing Board Rabobank Group
    Dr Jason Clay
    Jason Clay is the Senior Vice President for Markets and Executive Director of the Markets Institute at WWF, which was created to identify and address emerging global issues, trends, and tools impacting conservation in more timely, cost-effective, and scalable ways. His career has ranged from working on a family farm and for the US Department of Agriculture. He taught at Harvard and Yale and spent more than 35 years with human rights and environmental NGOs. In 1988, Clay founded Rainforest Marketing, set up a trading company within an NGO, helped Indigenous people and local communities access global markets, and launched Ben & Jerry’s Rainforest Crunch, plus more than 200 other products with sales of $100 million. From 1999 to 2003, he co-directed a WWF, the World Bank, UN FAO, and NACA consortium to identify the most significant environmental and social impacts of shrimp aquaculture, as well as practices to reduce them. From 2004 to 2012, he convened multistakeholder roundtables to create performance-based standards for commodities including salmon, soy, sugarcane, cotton, and beef. He developed WWF’s Market Transformation program in 2006 to work on agriculture, aquaculture, livestock, and corporate engagement. Clay continues to lead WWF-US efforts to improve private sector supply chain management and help their producers address the most significant impacts. In 2008, he created the Carbon and Commodities program to address supply chain GHG emissions. He has helped whole sectors improve their sustainability performance (e.g., the Global Salmon Initiative). He is now working with the global leather industry to support a DCF leather fund and is testing support for a 1% environmental performance payments to support the transition costs and incentives to finance what producers need to do to become legal and deforestation and conversion free. He is launching a two-year proof of concept for Codex Planetarius, a set of minimum global standards to reduce the key impacts of food and commodities traded internationally. Clay has authored 18 books and 500 articles, and has given more than 1,500 invited presentations. He studied anthropology and agriculture at Harvard, the London School of Economics, and Cornell (PhD).
    Senior Vice President, Markets at World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
    Dr Jason Clay
    Jason Clay is the Senior Vice President for Markets and Executive Director of the Markets Institute at WWF, which was created to identify and address emerging global issues, trends, and tools impacting conservation in more timely, cost-effective, and scalable ways. His career has ranged from working on a family farm and for the US Department of Agriculture. He taught at Harvard and Yale and spent more than 35 years with human rights and environmental NGOs. In 1988, Clay founded Rainforest Marketing, set up a trading company within an NGO, helped Indigenous people and local communities access global markets, and launched Ben & Jerry’s Rainforest Crunch, plus more than 200 other products with sales of $100 million. From 1999 to 2003, he co-directed a WWF, the World Bank, UN FAO, and NACA consortium to identify the most significant environmental and social impacts of shrimp aquaculture, as well as practices to reduce them. From 2004 to 2012, he convened multistakeholder roundtables to create performance-based standards for commodities including salmon, soy, sugarcane, cotton, and beef. He developed WWF’s Market Transformation program in 2006 to work on agriculture, aquaculture, livestock, and corporate engagement. Clay continues to lead WWF-US efforts to improve private sector supply chain management and help their producers address the most significant impacts. In 2008, he created the Carbon and Commodities program to address supply chain GHG emissions. He has helped whole sectors improve their sustainability performance (e.g., the Global Salmon Initiative). He is now working with the global leather industry to support a DCF leather fund and is testing support for a 1% environmental performance payments to support the transition costs and incentives to finance what producers need to do to become legal and deforestation and conversion free. He is launching a two-year proof of concept for Codex Planetarius, a set of minimum global standards to reduce the key impacts of food and commodities traded internationally. Clay has authored 18 books and 500 articles, and has given more than 1,500 invited presentations. He studied anthropology and agriculture at Harvard, the London School of Economics, and Cornell (PhD).
    Senior Vice President, Markets at World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
    Professor Manny Noakes
    Professor Manny Noakes has a PhD in nutrition as well as having trained as a dietitian in her earlier years. She is more recently a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Prof Noakes is a former Director and Senior Principal Research Scientist, Nutrition and Health at CSIRO, Australia. She currently runs her own nutrition consultancy and is also a non-executive Director for Meat and Livestock Australia. She is considered a key opinion leader and advisor in nutrition and health, has extensive media and public speaking experience. She has over 25 years’ experience in many fields of nutrition and health, and has undertaken numerous clinical dietary intervention trials in weight management, functional foods and cardiovascular health. She has also undertaken research on diet and sustainability and redefined the environmental agenda from a food and health perspective. Prof Noakes has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications which have been cited more than 9000 times and has an H index of 52. She was instrumental in the development and release of five editions of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, which was launched in 2004 and has been translated into 17 languages and sold over one million copies in Australia. The Total Wellbeing Diet has been further commercialised to a successful online programme. Prof Noakes is the recipient of three CSIRO Medals, is a Distinguished Alumni of Flinders University, holds a research excellence award from the University of Adelaide and is a recipient of the Zonta Club Woman of International Achievement award.
    Nutrition Consultant
    Professor Manny Noakes
    Professor Manny Noakes has a PhD in nutrition as well as having trained as a dietitian in her earlier years. She is more recently a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Prof Noakes is a former Director and Senior Principal Research Scientist, Nutrition and Health at CSIRO, Australia. She currently runs her own nutrition consultancy and is also a non-executive Director for Meat and Livestock Australia. She is considered a key opinion leader and advisor in nutrition and health, has extensive media and public speaking experience. She has over 25 years’ experience in many fields of nutrition and health, and has undertaken numerous clinical dietary intervention trials in weight management, functional foods and cardiovascular health. She has also undertaken research on diet and sustainability and redefined the environmental agenda from a food and health perspective. Prof Noakes has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications which have been cited more than 9000 times and has an H index of 52. She was instrumental in the development and release of five editions of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, which was launched in 2004 and has been translated into 17 languages and sold over one million copies in Australia. The Total Wellbeing Diet has been further commercialised to a successful online programme. Prof Noakes is the recipient of three CSIRO Medals, is a Distinguished Alumni of Flinders University, holds a research excellence award from the University of Adelaide and is a recipient of the Zonta Club Woman of International Achievement award.
    Nutrition Consultant
    Lain Jager
    Lain Jager is best known for his time with the hugely successful kiwifruit marketer Zespri where he was CEO from 2008 to 2017. During his tenure as CEO, Zespri grew strongly through the impact and recovery from the bacterial vine disease Psa, grower returns doubled, and the share price grew from $1.00 to $8.00. Today, Lain is involved in a range of investment projects in Tourism and Agribusiness, serves as a Director on several Boards, was the Chairman of the Primary Sector Council that produced the Fit for a Better World Report focused on the New Zealand Food and Fibre Sector, and is the Co-Chair of Te Puna Whakaaronui – a Food and Fibre think tank. Lain and his wife Debra live on a lifestyle block in Tauranga, New Zealand.
    Chair of the Thought Leaders Group for Te Puna Whakaaronui Food and Fibre Think Tank
    Lain Jager
    Lain Jager is best known for his time with the hugely successful kiwifruit marketer Zespri where he was CEO from 2008 to 2017. During his tenure as CEO, Zespri grew strongly through the impact and recovery from the bacterial vine disease Psa, grower returns doubled, and the share price grew from $1.00 to $8.00. Today, Lain is involved in a range of investment projects in Tourism and Agribusiness, serves as a Director on several Boards, was the Chairman of the Primary Sector Council that produced the Fit for a Better World Report focused on the New Zealand Food and Fibre Sector, and is the Co-Chair of Te Puna Whakaaronui – a Food and Fibre think tank. Lain and his wife Debra live on a lifestyle block in Tauranga, New Zealand.
    Chair of the Thought Leaders Group for Te Puna Whakaaronui Food and Fibre Think Tank
    Samuel Thevasagayam
    Samuel Thevasagayam is the Director of Livestock and Aquaculture within the Agriculture Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversees the implementation of foundation’s strategy in animal health, animal production, animal nutrition, animal systems and livestock off-take markets in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Samuel started his career as a small animal clinician and lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He then moved to work in academic research, Pharmaceutical R&D (veterinary and human), Business Development and the not-for profit sector, living/working in four continents before joining the Gates Foundation in 2012. Samuel graduated from the faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Gained his PhD in veterinary virology from the University of Hertfordshire for his research on foot-and-mouth disease virus at the Pirbright Institute and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
    Director of Livestock and Aquaculture within the Agriculture Development Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
    Samuel Thevasagayam
    Samuel Thevasagayam is the Director of Livestock and Aquaculture within the Agriculture Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversees the implementation of foundation’s strategy in animal health, animal production, animal nutrition, animal systems and livestock off-take markets in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Samuel started his career as a small animal clinician and lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He then moved to work in academic research, Pharmaceutical R&D (veterinary and human), Business Development and the not-for profit sector, living/working in four continents before joining the Gates Foundation in 2012. Samuel graduated from the faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Gained his PhD in veterinary virology from the University of Hertfordshire for his research on foot-and-mouth disease virus at the Pirbright Institute and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
    Director of Livestock and Aquaculture within the Agriculture Development Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
    Natalie Ahlborn
    Natalie's role is to inform the SNi from a nutritional perspective. She also supports the team by representing SNi's work through speaking engagements and other outputs.
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Patricia Soh
    Prior to her current PhD, Patricia attained a Master of Science in Human Nutrition at Massey University, Albany. The current focus of her PhD is investigating nutritional concerns within vegan diets.
    PhD Student
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