holds a Ph.D. in agriculture from Ehime University, Japan and works at the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), an inter-governmental organisation based in Tokyo, Japan.  In 2011, he received the Organic Farming Innovation Award from the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) and in 2015 he received the Hivos Social Innovation Award. He is former Vice-President of IFOAM–Asia and a current advisory group member of the Sustainable Organic Agriculture Action Network (SOAAN).