b'Communication is KeyTHERES A LOTgoing on behind the scenes withISF president was to remind everyone what our pur-the International Seed Federation (ISF) that I didntpose and mission was. We have a wonderful industry realize until I joined ISF. After I was voted onto thewith a lot of history and meaning, and we have a won-Board of Directors of ISF, I found it somewhat of a rev- derful task to do. But, of course, we still have plenty of elation. There were a lot of important, complex issueswork ahead of us. and new topics that were highly conceptual even forWe havent arrived at our destination yet, which is a people who have enough experience in the indus- world where everyone has access to quality seeds and try, and it soon gave me the idea of one of the mostsustainable agriculture. important parts of ISF: communication. EDUARD FITODuring my last two years as ISF president, Ive really is the current ISFconfirmed that communication is key to our successpresident andnot just ISFs success, but the entire agriculture indus-director of businesstrys success. Weve been working on engaging with development andother agriculture groups, such as the World Farmers corporate affairs forOrganization (WFO), the Food and AgricultureCommunication is the golden threat that holds his family company,Organization (FAO) and UPOV among many otherseverything together . We need to join forces Semillas Fit.and working in harmony with these organizations comes back to communication. with others to unite our voices and interests. Communication is the golden thread that holds eve-rything together. As the seed industry, we have very little ability to make an impact, to modernize and to influence alone. We are just one part of a much bigger agricultural picture. We need to join forces with others to unite our voices and interests. We can accomplish so much more together.I think one of the most important tasks now is Within ISF, I strongly believe that every singletransparency. Our stakeholders are demanding more organization has a purpose, and that purpose shouldtransparency and more information sharing. They want inspire every single objective and goal in the organiza- to know about us, and we want to know about them tionespecially in a non-profit organization like ISF.as well! Transparency and communication are the only The purpose that we have, which is a combination ofways to gain trust and bring more people into our the vision and mission, is to promote innovation toadvocacy. ensure that everyone has access to good quality seedWe are in this learning mode, where its easy for across the globe. I always try to communicate thisus to start to discover more ways to communicate clearly when I go to events, and Ive been working onand be transparent; however, it also gives others the repeating this since day one.opportunity to learn from us as well! For us to be more If we dont know the purpose of an organization, ortransparent, we need to continuously have our learning we dont clearly communicate our purpose, the mis- mode turned on, not only so people can learn from our sion and vision of our organization will become lost. Ifindustry, but so our industry can learn from others as it comes down to it, Id say my most important task aswell. SW 88/ SEEDWORLD.COMJUNE 2020'