About Us

I hold a PhD in Biology, have worked as a scientist in Madagascar and in Burkina Faso in the development of viral insecticides, have founded and led a company in the development, manufacture and commercialization of viral insecticides in Canada and the USA, and have been a civil servant with the Canadian government advising growers, food processors, agrochemical and agrobiological companies, and government in their respective roles in national and global cooperation across political borders.

 

As a result of my professional and private experiences I am convinced that we can only solve world hunger if we cooperate worldwide as if there were no international borders. In terms of plant protection and the products that are needed to ensure that we can produce and store healthy food, feed and fibre crops, I know that all the necessary tools and agreements are in place and ready to use. 

 

We at IDRG Plant Protection, want to inform, teach and coach people on how to develop a smooth global cooperation for the authorization of plant protection products and their uses, hoping that this way we can together contribute to ensuring food security around the world. We know it can be done. Let’s do it!

I hold a Masters in Insect Population Biology and a PhD in Biology, with focus on biological pest control. For 6 years, I worked in several African countries leading ecologically-based pest management projects. I created and led for 6 years a biocontrol company in North America focused on the discovery and use of naturally occurring insect viruses, including their registration, in Canada and the U.S.

 

The success of the authorization of VIROSOFT CP4 in North America led me to accept the lead role for a risk reduction and regulatory program for the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to further support global cooperation in the area of safe pest management. 

 

Since 2012, I work with partners across the globe, building global cooperation between growers (to get access to safe pest management techniques), plant protection product manufacturing companies (to use global registration opportunities developed by OECD) and governmental regulatory authorities (to cooperate towards the harmonization of the use of plant protection products). 

 

In a world where food and feed produce keep going to waste simply due to a lack of regulatory harmonization between nations, it has become increasingly imperative to use the existing cooperation methods that we have developed. We need to change our dysfunctional international system for regulating plant protection product use into an integrated and cooperative system that allows for better protection of both plant and human health, combining all the resources we have. Most tools are in place. What needs to be done is to learn how to use these tools to the advantage of all stakeholders including growers and consumers.