Oxfam, the international charity, will conduct a online global agricultural policy discussion from December 10 to 21.

Participants will range from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva to Cargill executive Harold Poelma to activists in Africa.

Two essays will be posted daily on a blog site and participants will have an opportunity to respond. The essays will answer four questions:

• What if farmer’s knowledge were the driver of innovations and investments?
• What if women owned the land they till and the food they produce?
• What if all food were produced without fossil fuels?
• What if all farmers could rely on effective systems to manage risk?

Leaders of the discussion

• John Ambler, vice president of strategy, Oxfam America
• Julio Berdegue, principal researcher, Latin American Center for Rural Development (RIMISP)
• Prem Bindraban, director of ISRIC (World Soil Information)
• Nicko Debenham, director, Development and Sustainability Armajaro Trading Limited
• Shenggen Fan, director general, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
• Susan Godwin, Nigerian farmer
• José Graziano da Silva, director-general, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• Rokeya Kabir, founder, Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha, a Bangladeshi women’s organization
• Anna Lappé, founding principal, Small Planet Institute
• Pat Mooney, co-founder and executive director, ETC Group
• Sophia Murphy, senior adviser, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
• Bill McKibben, founder, 350.org
• Madiodio Niasse, secretariat director, International Land Coalition (ILC)
• Kanayo F. Nwanze, president, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• Michael O’Gorman, founder, Farmer-Veteran Coalition
• Harold Poelma, managing director, Cargill Refined Oils Europe
• Kavita Prakash-Mani, head of food security agenda, Syngenta International
• Sarojeni Rengam, executive director, Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific
• Florence Wambugu, CEO and founder, Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International

• Oxfam International Blogs