"To a certain degree, this process has provided a forum where civil society and the private sector – producer organisations in particular – can participate in continental, regional and national discussions on agricultural investment priorities.
Its private sector boasts world-class producers of cars (Renault, PSA Peugeot Citroën), cosmetics (L'Oréal), insurance (AXA) and oil (Total).
Recently the Word Bank has even adopted the language that in the agricultural sector, the largest private sector group are small producers: they invest more into the agricultural landscape than governments and overseas development assistance.
One element of the answer should come from engaging more with citizens and the private sector as both data producers and users.
This is a shared challenge, involving actions that must be undertaken by government, the private sector and civil society, and producers and consumers of food.
UNICEF, governments, salt producers and private sector organizations are also working to eliminate iodine deficiency, the biggest primary cause of preventable mental retardation and brain damage, through the Universal Salt Iodization (USI) education campaign.
But investors, pointed out Kumar, have wised up and tend to take a dim view of private-sector energy producers who raise money for mega projects that have yet to get off the ground.
ColaLife uses the same principles and networks that Coca-Cola and other commodity producers use, to open up private sector supply chains for simple medicines.
Rio+20 must highlight the essential role of the private sector in sustainable development, as investors, employers, customers, and producers.
The POUNZ project introducing the zinc programme in the private sector assisted three local manufacturers with achieving the GMP audit and the three producers started supplying zinc in 2009.
