Barry COLLEY

Dr. Barry Colley has a PhD. in agricultural and extension education. He has parlayed a 30 year career in International and US Agriculture. Much of his diversified work experience as concentrated on the small holder farming sector. He has served as a consultant, grant writer, project director and team leader, a small farm business developer, vocational and agricultural trainer and farm cooperative organizer especially. High on his agenda is cross fertilizing food security with climate change, and child nutrition with low input bio-intensive food production agriculture with a seamless link to appropriate post-harvest handling and storage technology. These components drive farm and agribusiness development, sustainable livelihoods and create trade across the global community. He is co-founder and CEO of Seven Harvest, Inc. a non-profit formed in 1998 with a mission to scale-up food enterprises to improve community economic development and social capital. As the Co-founder of Torch Bearers Diaspora and its Senior VP for International Programs, Dr. Colley’s passion to create economic growth and sustain wealth security in African is driven by his belief that university graduates of Africa and its Diasporic community will become renowned and socially responsible business who create employment in Africa’s private sector. His career has included assisting Ethiopian farmers recover from drought with Africare managing international training programs in dairy production and milk collection for Land 0’ lakes, Inc., conducting farm demonstrations in alternative vegetable crops in eastern Arkansas for African American farmers, directing the formation of a vegetable farm cooperative with emerging black farmers in South Africa including, support for cooperative by-laws, forming a commercial vegetable operation with nursery, cold storage pack house facility, marketing and distribution. Colley spent 8 years directing Heifer International’s Africa program, Enterprise Development Program and Global HIV/AIDS program. Since 1995, he has operated and directed commercial greenhouses and seasonal high tunnels to train beginning farmers and farmer networks in eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee. Recently, he served as the organizing chairperson to establish the Arkansas Delta Seeds of Change a multi-sector economic development coalition of 42 community-based, public and private sector organizations.