b'past providing a physical plat- objectives, you need the member A KSO HISTORY LESSON form for trading within the sector.feedback, Coles says. Bringing folks together is ourHowever, from there, Keller says The first set of Key Strategic Objectivesresponsibility. learning and moving forward is under ISFfrom 2016-2020focusedKeller says, to him, thats whatnecessary. on five different areas: innovation, thethe ultimate goal of the KSOs are:We have to learn how we can movement of seed, intellectual propertythe big scheme is for ISF to provideprovide the most for our members, rights, biodiversity and engagement. Onemore value to their members, andand with these objectives, were key idea was facing the issue of producingmore value for the seed sector inconfident were moving in the right more with less.general.direction, he says. Not only was member engage-Jean-Christophe Gouache, ISF presidentment important to include as aFive Years and BeyondKSO, but member engagementWith the next five years of stra-from 2016-2018, said that the No. 1 factorwas also at the top of mind whentegic objectives finalized, Coles to relieve those pressures is geneticsconfirming the order and topicsconfesses this is where the hard and plant breeding, and the seed sectorbehind ISFs strategy.part starts.plays a significant role in delivering thoseThis was just the first step, solutions.Member Input NecessaryColes says. Implementation is now Without input from and activewhere all the hard work starts.cooperation among its members,In March 2021, ISF held its Keller and Coles both note it wouldannual March Meetings, where Coles notes that what the seed sector doesnt wanthave been difficult for ISF to final- Coles notes the committees began is nontariff trade barriers created for political or eco- ize their strategy for the next fiveimplementing the KSOs. nomic reasons.years. My goal for the next two years In early 2020, when the COVID-19 shutdownsMember feedback was funda- is to support the ISF team, Coles began, ISF was outspoken about ensuring the lines formental to the process, and wevesays. We have a small, but expert the movement of seed stayed completely open.tried to keep it at the front andtechnical team in Switzerland One of the learnings from the COVID-19 pandemiccenter from the beginning, Coleswho can carry this forward, but was that it showed how important safe and efficientsays. We spent so much timetheir work is dependent upon the movement of seed is, Keller says. COVID-19 pushedthinking of the phrasing that goescontribution that they get from more governments and more private sectors to cooper- into these KSOs, and every word,all the team members within each ate and trust each other more than they previously had. phrase, paragraph and keyword allcommittee. My objective is to sup-In addition, its important to ensure the seed actu- came from member feedback. port them in any way we possibly ally is quality seed. That means ensuring germination,Keller notes that if youre unablecan and to ensure that the actions the purity of the seed, the health of the seed and theto engage with your members,related to KSOs keep moving at seed quality.theres a problem.pace.The fourth focus is all centered on regulations andYou wont be seeing the addedWhen Keller looks to the future creating a positive business environment to supportvalue without feedback, he says.of the seed sector, hes optimistic. the freedom to operate of our members.However, Keller notes thatOne thing happened during The business and policy environment should sup- while this was a top priority for ISFCOVID; seed was recognized as port fair and sustainable business models, Keller says.during the KSO discussion, it wasessential for food production, This is something where we are broadening our scopealso a little challenging.Keller says. Thats huge for our and were working on implementing at ISF. Each of our members havesector and it helps us to intensify In particular, looking at advocating the necessitytheir own priorities, Keller says.our engagement with the food and benefits of IP rights is essential. On top of this,When youre building such anproduction chain. Many people another key focus is raising awareness and combattinginclusive process, its easy to getforget that food production is an illegal seed practices, as well as promoting responsibleoverwhelmed by all the differenteveryday business. We can all lev-business practices. These are a few goals ISF hopes topriorities. erage the learnings of 2020the achieve in the next five years. Coles says without memberseed sector will use this to further The last focus is based on better supporting ISFfeedback, ISF wouldnt have gottenengage and support food produc-members and creating more member engagement. a true global perspective.tion as a foundational contributor We are a network and diversity is our strength,To ensure that this is a trulybeyond 2020.Keller says. We need to stay as a global platform forglobal imperative and a trueWith this in mind ISF continues to exchanging knowledge and collaboration and like inglobally agreed set of strategiclook for more wins in the future.SW28/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2021'