Story
Team
A lean team to plan, finance and run a national network of farmer-owned farms.
Founders
The founding team of Buddha Food System.
Emma Sokha Hin
Co-founder — Strategy and blended finance
Leads strategy, investor relations and the blended finance architecture that funds each farm package.
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Sudarshan Chaudhary
Co-founder — Field operations and farm data
Biodynamic organic farmer, trainer and indigenous climate advocate from Saptari. Leads field operations and farm data.
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Sanjaya Mahato
Co-founder & COO — L1 / L2 network scale-up
Political sociologist (PhD) and Executive Director of the Nepal Indigenous Development Society. Leads the cooperative cluster network.
View profile →Core staff
Nine roles over the first two years, hired in two waves. Year 1 covers crop planning, training, the first L1 clusters and finance; Year 2 adds the regional hub, global offtake and carbon. Names are illustrative.
Ramesh Tamang
Agronomy & Crop Planning Lead
Designs the national crop mix and calendar so production matches offtake demand and organic standards.
View profile →Bimala Gurung
Farm School & Training Manager
Trains and certifies new farmer-entrepreneurs in intensive organic market gardening and farm management.
View profile →Kamal Rai
L1 Cluster Coordinator
Runs collection points, local distribution and the cooperative commission flows back to farmers.
View profile →Anish Poudel
Finance & Farmer Credit Officer
Tracks disbursements and the 5-year repayment of each farm package; prepares investor reporting.
View profile →Arjun Shrestha
Data & IoT Engineer
Builds the farm-to-hub data pipeline: yields, sales, sensors and the evidence behind every indicator.
View profile →Sita Magar
L2 Regional Hub Manager
Runs the warehouse, drone services and sensor network serving several L1 clusters.
View profile →Sunita Thapa
Procurement & Logistics Manager
Pools national purchasing of inputs and organises transport from hubs to buyers.
View profile →David Kessler
Global Offtake Manager
Secures contracts with processors, cosmetic industries, export buyers and city organic networks.
View profile →Maya Lopez
Carbon & ESG Lead
Manages soil-carbon measurement, carbon credit issuance and scope 3 reporting for buyers.
View profile →Advisory board
Illustrative profiles covering the four expertises the model relies on most.
Dr. Anjali Verma
Blended finance
Former structured finance specialist in emerging-market agri-lending at a development finance institution.
View profile →Prof. Bishnu Adhikari
Agronomy
Soil scientist specialising in organic intensive farming systems in the Himalayan foothills.
View profile →Karin Voss
Carbon & ESG
Former carbon methodology lead, advises on smallholder carbon credit measurement and verification.
View profile →Rajiv Malhotra
Food supply chain
Former regional operations director in last-mile agricultural aggregation and cold chain.
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