The second Participants’ Council (PR) of 2011, which is the gathering of the institutional members of Agri-ProFocus (APF), of which 27 were present, took place on 13 October in Utrecht. We are looking back on a positive meeting that leaves us with a lot to think about. Here, you will find a short impression of the key elements of the meeting.

As chairman Gerard Doornbos could not be present, Board member Willemijn Lammers (ICCO) took this role upon her. The meeting was hosted by ICCO and its PR representative Jeroen de Vries briefly introduced the main thematic topic of the day: food security.

Then some of the new members presented themselves: ICRA, the Hunger Project and MDF. A special welcome also to Soil & More, the latest and 35^th member of Agri-ProFocus! More on Soil & More can be found here.

Director and team members of the Arnhem office presented updates on the Agri-Hubs and on policy influencing in the Netherlands, after which the Progress Report May–October 2011 was approved. Peter Gildemacher (KIT) presented the new APF knowledge agenda.

After the break, several speakers were invited to give their views on food security and the (possible) role of Agri-ProFocus in the Dutch food security & development policy.

Frans Verberne (director of ETC) presented the food security knowledge agenda and called for more knowledge questions to be handed in by APF members. Jim Woodhill (director of WUR-CDI) gave an overview of the Food Security Support Initiative (FSSI) and the Multi-Annual Strategy Plans (MASPs) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He asked us to think about what the critical added value of Dutch food security support is to the development sector. Paulus Verschuren, formerly working for Unilever but currently Senior Strategy Advisor Business & Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chairman of the recently established Platform Food Security, presented current developments in policy and vision, as well as some elements from the Food Security letter to the Second Chamber of Parliament, which will likely be published officially this week.

Lastly, there was time for discussion, mainly on the roles and responsibilities of NGOs, the private sector, governments and research institutions in public-private partnerships.