This is how smallholders can secure our food's future - and their own
"Smallholders represent both the best custodians of our food basket and the largest number of targeted consumers under the SDGs."
Patrick is a serial social entrepreneur, business professor, thought leader, humanitarian, and founder and Executive Chairman of the Fairtrasa Group, a pioneering social enterprise that lifts marginalized small-scale farmers out of poverty. Fairtrasa is one of the largest organic and fairtrade exporters from Latin America with a vertically integrated business structure.
For his work with Fairtrasa, Patrick has been selected as an Ashoka Fellow, an Endeavor high-impact Entrepreneur, a Yale World Fellow, and a Gabelli Fellow. Moreover, he has been named four times Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the (1) Schwab Foundation, (2) the abc* Foundation, (3) Univision, and (4) UBS Visionaris.
Furthermore, Patrick teaches social innovation and systems change at Fordham University in New York. In 2014, the World Economic Forum named Patrick a New Champion, and he is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. He writes a column at HuffPost and gives talks around the world on social innovation and related issues.
"Smallholders represent both the best custodians of our food basket and the largest number of targeted consumers under the SDGs."