This International Women’s Day ECOFI wants to put a spotlight on three members of our board Aude Brion (Angibaud), Chiara Manoli (Ilsa SpA), and Marion Martinez (Yara Europe). These three women are industry leaders with a deep knowledge and expertise about the organic-based fertiliser industry and the plant nutrition sector as a whole and work in organisations at the cutting edge of agri-innovation.  

Aude Brion is a Regulatory Affairs Manager at Angibaud a French company that produces organic and organo-mineral fertilisers. Her day-to-day work at Angibaud includes monitoring regulatory developments around fertilising products in France and at the EU level, focusing on regulatory compliance. Aude’s work in the agricultural world extends beyond fertilisers, including previous work in the feed industry. She has an extensive academic background with degrees in agricultural sciences, biology, and human nutrition.  

For Aude, conducting her studies in both agricultural sciences and the wider sciences was part of her desire to pursue a career in a sector – such as agriculture – that helps society. When thinking about her career, Aude had this to say about what drew her to the organic-based fertiliser industry: 

 

Contributing to more sustainable agriculture, more respectful of the environment seemed obvious to me. It was, therefore, quite natural that I decided to work in the organic-based fertilizer sector, the production of which is fully in line with the logic of circular economy and the valorisation of renewable resources. 

 

Chiara Manoli is ECOFI’s president and works as a Regulatory Affairs Manager at Ilsa Spa, an Italian producer of organic and organo-mineral fertilisers. Chiara’s work at Ilsa includes product registration and organic certification, and over the years, EU regulations have become more and more important for her work. Ilsa is a founding member of ECOFI, and Chiara has been involved with ECOFI and their work on EU regulations, such as the EU Fertilising Products Regulation, for many years. Chiara’s academic background is in agriculture sciences specialising in plant production and protection.  

Chiara says that the unique nature of an agricultural science degree which allowed her to combine her interests in the natural world with her interest in the environment, is what set her on her academic path. Following her degree, Chiara was given the opportunity to carry out a research and development project with Ilsa Spa, and it was here that her deep interest and passion for plant nutrition was born – “Plant nutrition also meant the valorisation of by-products with the aim of developing highly efficient fertilizers, supported by a lively R&D activity”! Chiara says this experience and her work in the organic-based fertiliser industry gave her a “good way to combine my passions for nature and the environment!”. 

 

Marion Martinez is the Senior Vice President for South Europe at Yara International. Yara is a giant in the plant nutrition world and have recently come into the organic-based fertiliser industry. Marion has an extensive and accomplished background in marketing and advocacy within the agricultural sector. She has worked both within and outside Europe, including working on crop nutrition programmes with local research institutes in Africa. At Yara, Marion works on developing their strategy on organic, biostimulants and food chain segments and works with ECOFI on our board to promote and strengthen the organic-based fertiliser industry in Europe. 

For Marion, it was her interest in the natural world and her desire to understand it that led to her decision to study agricultural sciences.  

 

The choice of studying agriculture was quite easy, giving me the chance to learn more about the animal and vegetal worlds, to understand where things come from, what cycles exist in nature, and how interactions work within nature. I got the chance during my studies to also learn more about food production, and I found that part extremely interesting as well, giving me a full view of the chain for feeding people. 

 

Marion began her career in the fertilising sector in 2007 when she joined Yara and their operations in Ghana. She began first as a sales agronomist, which meant she could visit farmers, research centres, and customers. This on-the-ground experience working to help ensure the best crop nutrition options and seeing the impact this work had on farmers’ yields and incomes has been a huge driving factor for Marion in her career. “Agriculture is a key sector; it is about feeding people in the right way”.  

ECOFI are proud to have Aude, Chiara, and Marion on our board working to promote the organic-based fertiliser industry in the EU. All three have a deep passion for plant nutrition and a keen interest in supporting the plant nutrition and organic-based fertilisers industries in their quest for a sustainable and food secure future recognising the importance of farmers and agriculture in achieving this goal.