Holistic ag-operations platform, Agritask, has announced the appointment of Daniel Stander as senior advisor to its leadership team.
Stander, a global pioneer in decision science and resilience finance, began advising Agritask earlier this year. He was hired in the effort to drive the innovation required to address the productivity challenges facing growers, investors, ag-buyers and governments.
Over the last 20 years, Stander has worked on every continent, advising governments, NGOs and financial services institutions on a variety of complex risks, from natural hazards and environmental stresses to pandemics and cyber exposure.
He has been a pioneer of Resilience Finance, which helps capital find responsible investments in the face of climate extremes. Prior to Agritask, Stander has been the Global Managing Director at RMS, where he helped in delivering the growth of the company.
Even before RMS, Stander was part of the group strategy and development function at an 80,000-employee, £10bn global healthcare group, serving 30 million customers in over 190 countries.
He is also experienced in start-up’s having been a founding member of an award-winning SaaS company, which establishes the use of internet technologies across the insurance value chain.
Ofir Ardon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Agritask, commented on Standers appointment: “Daniel possesses both unrivalled industry knowledge and significant experience in growing technology companies. Businesses and governments around the world have benefited from Daniel’s pragmatic approach to innovation, as well as his sensitive thought leadership. His insights are perceptive, his relationships strong and his passion infectious. These qualities will help us deliver new and differentiated value to the markets we serve, thereby increasing the relevance of our business.”
Stander’s appointment follows that of Dr. Rom Aviv, an expert in insurance-linked securities (ILS), as Managing Director and Head of Insurance at Agritask.
Dr. Aviv said: “Daniel’s business acumen, relentless energy and domain experience will empower us to transform this industry with technological innovations. We are already profiting from his advice – on value-chain digitization and decision science – to the benefit of our insurance sector clients. More than that, though, Daniel’s experience leading mission-driven businesses will ensure we fulfil our societal purpose of eradicating poverty and food insecurity by making crop insurance accessible to all.”
Stander will be based in London, however, he will work closely with Agritask’s teams in Tel Aviv, London and Sofia, as well as Agritask’s clients in South America, Africa and Asia.
He will continue to serve as a private sector representative to the United Nations on matters of disaster risk reduction as well as taking on his new role.
Stander said: “Over 1.3 billion people worldwide work in agriculture, generating about $2.5 trillion for the global economy. More than that, there is a close correlation between agricultural performance and poverty reduction. Yet, if left unmanaged, acute and chronic risks will increasingly undermine global food security, hurting food production, disrupting supply chains and stressing people’s ability to access nutritious and affordable food. Agricultural ecosystems are at an inflection point. Unprecedented opportunities exist to harness advances in remote sensing, data analytics, machine learning and climate risk finance.
“The significant investments Agritask is making in its agronomics platform will hasten the adoption of climate-smart food systems, increasing productivity, enhancing resilience and reducing emissions – while at the same time making agribusinesses more equitable and less volatile. The team at Agritask is already delivering value that seemed impossible just a few years ago. I am excited by the potential. I am keen to collaborate, innovate, deliver and grow.”
