Episode 11: Sustainable Commodities and the Importance of Trust with UNDP’s Andrew Bovarnick

In this episode, Kim and David sit down with Andrew Bovarnick, the United Nations Development Programme Global Head, Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems (FACS). In this engaging discussion, Andrew shares highlights of his professional journey from researching in the Ecuadorian tropics, to his environmental economics and policy training and now his current priority to bring economic instruments and market-based incentives into the conservation work supported by UNDP. With his focus on collaboration, Andrew is leading UNDP’s commodities platforms approach to establish long-term stakeholder engagement around the world. As successfully piloted in the cattle ranching community of Paraguay, these platforms bring relevant parties together to debate, discuss, disagree, and ultimately formulate collective actions to positively transform their sectors to the benefit of all; nature included.
“We sometimes assume...that there are a lot of opposing agendas. But... it may just be about bringing the stakeholders to the table and facilitating conversations to find those common areas of interest”

Andrew Bovarnick