Howard-Yana Shapiro is the Global Director of Plant Science and External Research, Mars Incorporated. Howard has guided Mars toward the goal of 100% sustainably sourced cacao production since joining up with the company in the late 1990s. His more than 35 years working with sustainable agricultural and agroforestry systems, plant systems, plant genetics, and food production systems across the world have led to his being a party to functional ecological enhancements the world over.
Howard-Yana Shapiro is aware of his appearance: "I come from Mars" (pun intended)
“I actually am from Mars”, the long-bearded Howard-Yana said as he opened his talk (a reference to our previous performers, Nepco, and their alien intervention). Describing his role at Mars, Howard-Yana says “it’s all about uncommon collaborations.”
“Solutions cannot be found in isolation. It takes a vast network and Mars is starting to take external research seriously.” To do so, they must rely on other partners because you can’t do it by yourself, no matter how big you are.
Howard-Yana Shapiro has a unique approach combining fieldwork and lab hours with his personal experience as an anthropologist – he understands the world from farmer’s eyes as well. How much robustness is left in the system of nature? “We must know where cacao comes from!” A current agricultural issue threatening world produce is that farmers cannot live from small crops that produce 450 kilograms per hectare. That’s why he set out to map and cultivate the Cacao Genome from within Mars in an uncommon, extremely open, research project. “This was a big paradigm shift: it was an unprecedented, never before seen collaboration” across corporate, government and researchers. When the project finished, Mars sent out all the information straight away. It’s even available to all its competitors…
In the end, we all benefit: farmers earn more and economy goes up fairly, slavery will disappear, and we will have sustainable biological agriculture. For that to succeed, we will need to take a hard look into our daily practices: “If done well, this collaboration will change the way we think today, tomorrow and the future”.
Fun fact
Did you know the world’s largest chocolate factory is located in Veghel, the South of the Netherlands?
Further reading:
- Howard Yana Shapiro: the man from Mars saving the planet
- Howard Yana Shapiro’s LinkedIn page
- Publications by Howard Yana Shapiro: Chocolate: History, Culture and Heritage; Gardening for the future of the earth
- The Guardian, May 2009: Howard Yana Shapiro, the Man from Mars trying to save the Planet
- The Cacao Genome Project & Database (public domain) http://thelink.is/cacaogenome
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