Monsanto chairman and CEO Hugh Grant was the keynote speaker for the 23rd annual International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) World Forum, being held this year in Atlanta, Georgia.

“IFAMA – a very cool organization,” Grant began his address to some 450 attendees from 28 countries following an introductory video on the forum theme – The Road to 2050: The Talent Factor. “It’s a cool organization because you focus on solutions, you focus on the future, you look at innovation.”

Grant talked about the tremendous need for young people in the food and agribusiness industry, comparing it to last year’s historic drought in the United States. “Today we’re in a different kind of drought – and that’s a talent drought,” he said. “You don’t see plants withering, you see ideas withering and innovation gets starved.”

To help reverse that trend, Grant announced Monsanto’s commitment of an additional $3 million to the Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program (MBBISP), focused on training the next generation of global rice and wheat plant breeders.

Listen to Grant’s address here: IFAMA Keynote address by Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant
IFAMA 23rd World Forum Photo Album