This November, a team of four Ph.D. students from the UF Food and Resource Economics Department took what they’ve been learning in the classroom and competed on the global stage to prove that they could quickly apply that knowledge in the form of innovative solutions to real-world challenges. The results? A second-place finish in the 2024 International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) Global Venture Building Competition.
Advised by Drs. Xumin Zhang and Angelia Chen, the UF team comprised four food and resource economics Ph.D. students: Chenxi Hu (Team leader), Faith Aiya, Meri Hambaryan, and Kelvin Amon.
“The goal was to apply what we’ve learned in class to solve the case study. The resilience and creativity of Meri, Chenxi, Faith, and me made this possible,” Kelvin said. “When we are mentioned as international award winners, Drs. Xumin Zhang and Angelia Chen stand alongside us. Their coaching, encouragement, and time spent with us during preparations have shaped a resilient and creative team.”
Sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, this international competition brought together more than 100 competitors from five continents and over a dozen countries.
The students expressed great thankfulness to the organizers and sponsor for the opportunity to be a part of such a meaningful and thought-provoking competition.
“Winning that award is an incredible honor. The experience not only strengthened our problem-solving skills but also deepened our understanding of real-world smallholder issues,” Chenxi said.
This is not the first time these students have seen success on an international competition stage, placing third at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association case study competition just this past summer.
The theme for the 2024 challenge was “Empowering Innovation, Sustainability, and Food Security through Smallholder Farming” with a specific focus on regenerative agriculture.
“Regenerative agriculture is crucial because it goes beyond sustainability—it actively restores soil health, enhances biodiversity, and builds resilient food systems for future generations,” Faith said. “This competition deepened my understanding of how regenerative practices can be both environmentally and economically viable”
After being presented with a complex 12-page business case study, our students had only a few hours to develop and present their ideas for innovative solutions in a 10-minute video to a panel of global judges across two intense rounds. The students said that topic and format of the competition fostered an interdisciplinary viewpoint, emphasizing the role of stakeholders—researchers, farmers, industries, and governments.
“It was truly a memorable experience,” Meri said. “With the combined strengths of Kelvin, Chenxi, Faith, and myself, we embraced the challenge and worked together to create something impactful. In just four hours, we developed an implementation strategy and delivery plan for a business case. In the second round, we had only two hours to come up with the best marketing campaign—and it’s still hard to believe how we recorded all of it in such a short time! The teamwork, creativity, and resilience we showed throughout the process were key to making it all happen.”
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