Slow Food International is announcing Edward Mukiibi as the organization’s new President. A Ugandan farmer and social entrepreneur, Mukiibi is committed to shaping the future of regenerative farming communities worldwide.
Slow Food Founder and former President of 30 years, Carlos Petrini, is stepping down to encourage, as he puts it, “governance that leaves room for new generations.” In a conversation between Petrini and Mukiibi, Mukiibi emphasizes that “creating new leaders capable of demanding change is an essential step in the regeneration process,” especially in “a continent like Africa, a land of monocultures, GMOs, land grabbing, and more generally of resource overexploitation by wealthy outside investors who strike deals with African rulers.”
Mukiibi has served on the executive committee of Slow Food since 2012 and became Vice President of Slow Food in 2014. With international degrees in Agronomy, Land Use Management, and Gastronomy, as well as awards in sustainability leadership, Mukiibi is prepared to lead the next generation of Slow Food.
Previously, Mukiibi served as Executive Director of Slow Food Uganda. He also played a pivotal role in developing a network of thousands of Slow Food Gardens in Africa. Mukiibi grew up in the rural Mukono District in Central Uganda, where agriculture was stigmatized and used as a form of punishment in his education. Mukiibi’s mission has been to eliminate this stigma by encouraging young people to seek careers in agriculture.
Early in his career, Mukiibi established the Developing Innovations in School Cultivation (DISC) Project, an educational program that teaches students how to be agricultural entrepreneurs by growing organic, local, indigenous crops in schools.
“Now is the right time to rebuild, strengthen and renew,” Mukiibi says of his appointment as President of Slow Food. “The smallest actions of our communities bring concrete hope and positive impact to our lives, because we are a global family: what affects one of us, affects all of us, regardless of geographic, social and cultural differences.”
Founded in 1986, Slow Food International is present in 160 countries worldwide. Slow Food’s philosophy is to promote good, clean, and fair food. Slow Food’s Manifesto calls for a future where producers and consumers work together to support sustainable and socially just food systems.
Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg will converse with Mukiibi on a panel at Slow Food’s forthcoming Terra Madre Salone del Gusto event. The panel discussion will focus on the strategies global agricultural economies can implement to be more self-sufficient and food secure, and will center on the scarcity of oil, grains, and other commodities in Sub-Saharan Africa as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.
Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is the largest international event celebrating food politics, sustainable agriculture, and the environment. The event, which will host food heroes from around the world, will take place in Parco Dora in Turin, Italy, from September 22 to 26, 2022.
During the event, Slow Food expects to launch a hybrid digital event around the upcoming #RegenerAction global impact campaign.
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Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Flores, Unsplash
