The private sector is committed to play a strong role in transforming agriculture to address urgent global needs, according to Bayer CropScience.

The company's chief executive, Sandra Peterson, told Friday's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: "Through our work with stakeholders across the food value chain, we are uniquely positioned to understand evolving trends and challenges, to connect the dots and drive new solutions."

Peterson, who co-led discussions during a forum session of the "New Vision for Agriculture" on the topic 'Agriculture, Health and Nutrition Linkages', emphasised that partnership and collaboration are integral. "We need to connect the dots and work across the entire food value chain - from seed to shelf," she said.

Bayer CropScience recently joined as a member of the Forum’s global initiative "New Vision for Agriculture". The aim of the initiative is to foster the sustainable intensification of agriculture through a novel partnership model involving public and private collaborations. Under this initiative, national action plans for public-private collaborations have been initiated in six countries - Tanzania, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and India.

The "New Vision for Agriculture" was launched in 2011 as a global initiative aimed at achieving sustainable agriculture, based on an innovative model for public-private collaboration at the national level. Led by more than 20 global companies in close collaboration with governments and other stakeholders, the initiative has engaged more than 350 leaders of business, government, civil society, international organisations and academia.