Hugh Bunting Memorial Lectures
An annual lecture on a topical issue related to international agricultural development. The lecture is in memory of Prof Hugh Bunting, 1917-2002, a founder member of TAA and world-renowned tropical agriculturist. The lecture is held at Reading, in collaboration with Reading University.
See below for previous lectures, which can be downloaded.
Previous Lectures
19th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
14th October 2025 – Reading University
We were delighted to welcome Dr Geoffrey Hawtin OBE who, in addition to an already highly distinguished career, was joint winner of the 2024 World Food Prize. Dr Hawtin presented a lecture on the subject “Banking on diversity for a food-secure world“.
The event was well attended both in-person and by remote participants online.
Dr Geoffrey Hawtin
Dr Geoffrey Hawtin is an agricultural scientist and research manager with expertise in agrobiodiversity and plant breeding. He has headed two CGIAR Centres: Bioversity International (then IPGRI – the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute) in Rome from 1991 to 2003 and the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Colombia from 2008 to 2009. He led the creation of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and was its first CEO. He has also served as Deputy Director General of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Syria, and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Sciences Division of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.
He has served on the Boards of Trustees of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and the System Management Board of CGIAR.
He has MA and PhD degrees from Cambridge University, and in 2017 was awarded an OBE for “services to global agrobiodiversity conservation, subsistence livelihood enhancement and sustainable food programmes”.
In 2024 he was awarded the World Food Prize, jointly with Cary Fowler, for “their extraordinary leadership in preserving and protecting the world’s heritage of crop biodiversity and mobilizing this critical resource to defend against threats to global food security.”
18th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
22nd October 2024 – Reading University
Professor Tony Simons spoke on the subject “Are Agricultural lands, as well as their goods and services, properly managed?“.
During most of 250,000 years of human existence we have fed ourselves by being hunters and gatherers. From 12,000 years ago, we started widespread cultivation of land for crops. Modern agriculture with high inputs and mechanization started 250 years ago in the global north, and more recently with ‘Green Revolutions’ in the global south.
The 37% of all land that is rural, largely has poor land health and poor land management. One key determinant of land health problems around the world is the disconnect between price, cost and value of land as well as the goods and services associated with it. This raises huge concerns not only for agriculture but given the negative externalities of much of agricultural land use also for the interdependent challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, increasing social inequities and forest loss.
Looking to the future, and in light of these complexities, how can agricultural land be managed better to be simultaneously more remunerative, more sustainable and more equitable? This year’s lecture will discuss the conundrums that tropical agriculture and land use face, and propose some changes in concepts, mindsets and behaviours that countries, corporates, investors and individuals should consider adopting.
Professor Tony Simons is the former Executive Director of CIFOR-ICRAF and currently Senior Fellow at the United Nations G20 Land Initiative, Astanor Ventures and CIFOR-ICRAF. He obtained his Bachelors’ Degree in New Zealand, and his PhD at Cambridge University, UK.
He has published over 160 research articles, and has more than 7800 scientific citations of his work. Tony’s four decades of experience covers public sector, private sector and academia including Shell Forestry, Oxford University and UK Government (ODA/DFID).
From 1995, he worked at ICRAF based in Kenya, and from 2011 was Director General there until October 2022. He holds an honorary professorship at Copenhagen University, and is Lifetime Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy.
Tony is passionate about the transformative change that private sector corporates and investors can bring to international development having established partnerships with ADM Capital, Barry Callebaut, BNP Paribas, Boehringer, CEMOI, Danone, MARS Inc, Nestle, TO Group, Unilever, Veolia and several others.
A recording of the lecture may be viewed below:
17th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
24th October 2023 – Reading University (17th HBML)
Professor Zeremariam Fre spoke on the subject “Working with marginalised communities in the Horn of Africa – Challenges and opportunities for inclusive development”
In his lecture he described the history and livelihood systems in the Horn of Africa emphasising the importance of pastoralism for food security and environmental protection, and the role of indigenous knowledge systems in promoting people centred sustainable development. He reflected on the positive and negative impacts of State policy interventions and the lessons that can be drawn.
A recording of the lecture may be viewed below:
16th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
On 22nd October 2022 Dr Christie Peacock presented a lecture on the subject “Experiences Encouraging SME Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Rural Development”
15th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
It was not possible to present the scheduled 2021 lecture due to continued Covid 19 lockdown restrictions.
It was not possible to schedule a Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture in 2020 due to Covid 19 lockdown restrictions.
14th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
Smarter foods – the future for our diets, health and the environment
This year’s lecture focussed on how we might be smarter in our diets and in the food choices we make. Two of our renowned panellists, Professor Julie Lovegrove and Professor Chris Reynolds, came from Reading University’s Institute for Food Nutrition and Health (IFNH), and Professor Rajeev Varshney came from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). They each gave a short presentation followed by a question- and-answer session and an opportunity for further discussion during a reception. The event was co-hosted by Reading University, delivered at the John Madjeski Lecture Theatre, University of Reading, 13th November 2019
13th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
Climate risk management in sub- Saharan agriculture. Three speakers introduced different aspects of managing risks facing smallholder farmers from weather and climate change, followed by a panel discussion. Professor Rosalind Cornforth – Director of the Walker Institute, University of Reading; Professor Peter Dorward – Leader of the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agricul- ture (PICSA), University of Reading; Olga Speckhardt – Head of Global Insurance Solutions of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.Delivered 14th November 2018 at Reading, The event was co-hosted by Reading University.
12th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
‘Integrating women and youth in climate-smart African agriculture’ by Margaret Najjingo Mangheni, Associate Professor of Agricultural Extension, Department of Extension & Innovation Studies, Makerere University, Uganda. Delivered 8th November 2017 at Reading, event co-hosted by Reading University.
11th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
“Climate Smart Agriculture – helping smallholder farmers manage the risks and opportunities presented by climate change”, by Prof Tim Wheeler, Director of Science and Innovation at the UK Natural Environment Research Council. Delivered at Reading University on 9 Nov 2016.
10th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
‘Going the extra mile: helping smallholder farmers obtain the knowledge they need to lose less and grow more?’ by Dr Trevor Nicholls is the Chief Executive Officer of CABI, a scientific research, publishing and international development organisation that improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture. Delivered at Reading University on 8 June 2015.
9th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
Can voluntary sustainability standards incentivise smallholder adoption? – the case of rice by Dr Wyn Ellis, Coordinator of the Sustainable Rice Platform, a global multi-stakeholder initiative working to promote sustainability in rice value chains. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Tropical Agriculture Association, serving as its Southeast Asia Coordinator. Delivered at Reading University on 9 June 2014.
8th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
‘Horticulture – the key ingredient in the developing world for nourishing families, empowering women, and commercialising smallholders’, by JDH (Dyno) Keatinge, Director General of AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center based in Taiwan, and Visiting Professor of Tropical Agriculture at the University of Reading. Currently guiding AVRDC research and development to strengthen vegetable production and promoting vegetable consumption worldwide. Delivered in Reading, 2013.
7th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
‘The future of agriculture through a hunger eradication lens‘ byAndrew MacMillan, an agricultural economist, formerly Director of FAO’s Field Operations Division, delivered at Reading University on 11 June 2012.
6th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
‘The Future of Farming: what needs to change? A Personal View’ by Amir Kassam OBE, FSB, Convener, Land Husbandry Group, TAA, Visiting Professor, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, delivered at University of Reading on 13 June 2011.
5th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
‘Future of Agriculture: Sustaining what, where, how and by whom?’ by AndrewBennett, CMG, TAA President, delivered at Reading University, 7th June 2010.
4th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
In programme chaired by Professor Chris Garforth, this years lecture was on the subject “Sustainable Agriculture and the Future of the World Food System“.
The speaker was Professor Jules Pretty , OBE, FRSA, FIBiol, Professor of Environment & Society at the University of Essex and Deputy-Chair of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE)
3rd Bunting Memorial Lecture
Alain de Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet, Professors in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California at Berkeley, spoke on the subject:
“Agriculture for development or business as usual? Lessons from the World Development Report 2008”
This was a joint lecture by TAA and the University of Reading
2nd Bunting Memorial Lecture
Norman Uphoff, Professor of Government, Cornell Institute of Public Affairs, Cornell University spoke on the subject ”Agricultural Futures: What lies beyond ‘Modern Agriculture’?”
This was a Joint Lecture of : TAA/University of Reading
1st Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture
‘Agricultural Futures: can production and ecosystem services be delivered?‘ by J Gregory, Chief Executive and Institute Director, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee. Delivered at University of Reading on 6th June 2006.
Prefaced by ‘An appreciation of HUGH BUNTING’, presented by Andrew Bennett, CMG,
