News

Free webinar — how trade shocks travel down to human rights risks on farms

Tariffs are usually debated as economic or political instruments, but the pressure they create runs down the supply chain and is largely absorbed at the production end. This session follows that path.

• WhenThursday 24 September 2026, 3 p.m. CEST — 22:00 Korean time
• HostDr. Nolan Quiros, Senior Technical Expert at Agraya
• LanguageEnglish
• FeeFree. Places are limited, so early registration is advised.

What it covers

• How tariffs ripple through agricultural supply chains and farm operations
• Possible effects on labor budgets, working hours, pay structures, and hiring
• How thinner margins strain compliance with voluntary certification and social standards, and the risks this creates for vulnerable workers

AGRAYA SUMMIT 2026 — keynote and live AI translation

The SUMMIT runs from 27 to 29 October in Bologna, Italy. Agraya has released details of one keynote speaker and of how translation will work on site.

Keynote — making finance flow toward climate-smart farming

Jacqueline Khanali Njonjo, Operations Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, will deliver the keynote "Financing resilience: Viability and investment in climate-smart farming". Drawing on more than twenty years in agribusiness and development across Africa, she will look at how climate change is redrawing the map of agricultural finance and investment.

The central question is how banks, investors, and development agencies can make climate-smart farming a financially viable choice for producers of different scales, smallholders included. The keynote also takes up shifting investment priorities and the part that verification and transparency play in earning the confidence of financial institutions.

Live AI translation — Italian and Spanish

All presentations are in English, but live AI translation into Italian and Spanish will be available for every session across the two conference days. Scanning a QR code at the venue lets participants follow along on their smartphones, as audio or as text. Anyone planning to listen should bring their own headphones.

This year's sponsors include BASF and Sohiscert, both companies with Registered Trainers on their teams.

Programme and side events

The three-day ticket covers the full two-day programme plus an optional farm visit on 29 October, a chance to see agricultural production in the region at close range. Members are invited to a Member Dinner on 26 October at Le Serre in Bologna, free of charge. The pre-SUMMIT NTWG meeting falls on the same day, so the two fit together neatly for Korea NTWG delegates.

Who is coming

Retail, certification, crop input, and producer organizations are represented across the board. Among the participating organizations Agraya has named are ALDI, Ahold Delhaize, EDEKA, PepsiCo, Zespri, Driscoll's, Fyffes, North Bay Produce, BASF, Syngenta, Bureau Veritas, KIWA, GIZ India, and the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative. Control Union, a Korea NTWG member organization, and SOHISCERT are also on the list.

Changemaker Awards 2026 — nine finalists from 88 entries across 40+ countries

The award recognizes work that widens the part women play in agriculture. Winners will be announced live at the SUMMIT in Bologna.

Agraya reviewed 88 entries from more than 40 countries to arrive at nine finalists. Their work ranges widely — from agricultural drones to low-carbon rice farming and women-led cooperatives.

GLOBALG.A.P. Technical News 02/2026 released

The second 2026 issue of the official technical bulletin for certification bodies is now out.

The bulletin goes to approved and provisionally approved certification bodies, benchmarked scheme owners, and NTWG hosts and members of technical working groups. Accreditation bodies can also access it.

It is published in the GLOBALG.A.P. document centre under the document type "Technical News", where earlier issues can be found alongside it.

Registered Trainer Newsletter, second edition — course dates and Agraya's 25th year

The second issue of the quarterly newsletter for the Registered Trainer community, covering April to August 2026.

Public course dates

The following courses are scheduled in the online academy. No Korean-language session is offered yet, so the English sessions are the route for participants here.

News from Agraya

• Twenty-five years — Agraya marked a quarter century of work on responsible agriculture.
• 2025 annual report published, setting out the stories behind the figures.
• Online academy redesigned — the learning platform has a new interface and structure.

Guest article — site layout and biosecurity in controlled environment agriculture

In the second instalment of the guest series on controlled environment agriculture, Registered Trainer Dr. Emilia Mikulewicz examines how site architecture governs biosecurity — whether a closed control loop holds up under everyday operating pressure and under audit scrutiny.