Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Amy Wu (a member of the WFA Community) has just published a book “From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators Revolutionizing How Our Food Is Grown,” that profiles nearly 30 women innovators and leaders in the growing sector of agtech. Agtech encompasses innovations including drones, sensors, artificial intelligence and blockchain that help growers with the challenges they are facing including severe labor shortage, loss of arable land and water and land management issues.
A few examples of the women profiled include:
Mariana Vanconcelos is the founder and CEO of AgroSmart based out of Sao Paolo, Brazil. Agrosmart monitors crops and provides farmers and the entire food supply chain with agronomic and traceability insights. The company’s mission is to “make agriculture more productive, sustainable and resilient to climate change.” Vasconcelos grew up in a farming family and says that she is driven by wanting to help all farmers be more efficient and increase their yield.
Ponsi Trivisvavet is the CEO of Inari in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Inari is a plant biotechnology company that focuses on seeds and genetics, with a mission to transform agriculture and its impact on society, climate change and the environment. Its current focus is on row crops including corn, soy and wheat that have a vast influence and ability in feeding the world, and aims to create seeds that solve some of agriculture’s biggest challenges, with attributes including needing less water and fertilizer as well as having drought tolerance.
Ellie Symes is the founder and CEO of The Bee Corp. in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Bee Corp. was launched by Ellie Symes in 2016 as a software platform that monitors and grades the quality of hives before pollination. The technology, delivered through a mobile app, helps beekeepers and growers make sure their hives are healthy and ready to go.
The book was inspired by the documentary “From Farms to Incubators: Telling the stories of minority women entrepreneurs in agtech in the Salinas Valley and beyond” originally released in 2017. The short documentary spotlights four women founders in agtech in California. The documentary has been screened at SXSW, EcoFarm, Western Growers, the United Nations Association Film Festival.
“From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators Revolutionizing How Our Food Is Grown,” is published by Linden Publishing (based out of Fresno) and is available for pre-sales through various outlets including Barnes & Noble and Amazon. In 2021 Amy was named one of Food Tank’s 15 Leading Women at the Intersection of Food and Technology. In 2020 Amy was named one of Worth magazine’s “50 Women Changing the World.” To learn more about From Farms to Incubators go to www.farmstoincubators.com.
Amy Wu is an award-winning writer for women’s ag and agtech movement who is bicoastal and splits her time between New York and California.
Screen the short documentary here
Click here to read and excerpt and buy the book
Click here to view a short interview with Amy Wu by Tufts University
