Tony Salas

Tony Salas
Born
Carlos Antonio Salas Vinatea

(1967-10-12) October 12, 1967
Lima, Peru
EducationUniversidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
North Carolina State University (M.S. 1991, Ph.D. 1997)
Purdue University (MBA 2004)
OccupationsAgribusiness consultant, entrepreneur
Known forFounder of ACM Consulting, co-founder of Shared-X and former Director General of INIA Peru

Carlos Antonio Salas Vinatea (born 12 October 1967), known professionally as Tony Salas, is a Peruvian agribusiness consultant, scientist, and entrepreneur. He founded Agribusiness Consulting & Management (ACM Consulting) in 1996 and co-founded the impact farming company Shared-X in 2015.

From 2002 to 2004 he served as Director General of Peru’s National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (INIA) with the rank of vice minister and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Potato Center (CIP), part of the CGIAR.[1][2][3]

His work on the Impact Farming model has been covered by Forbes, the Financial Times, and was the subject of a case study published by Harvard Deusto.[4][5][6]

Early life and education

Salas was born in Peru in 1967 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. He earned an M.S. (1991) and Ph.D. (1997) in plant breeding and genetics from North Carolina State University, with minors in statistics and phytopathology respectively.[7] In 2004 he completed an MBA in food and agribusiness from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, including an internship at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.[8]

Career

In his early career he co-authored several peer-reviewed papers on plant genetics, including:

  • Salas CA, et al. (1995). "Inheritance and Linkage of Isozyme Loci in Hexaploid Oat". Journal of Heredity 86(5):381–385. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111607
  • Salas CA, et al. (1995). " A molecular linkage map of cultivated oat". Genome 38(2):368–380. doi:10.1139/g95-048
  • Salas CA, et al. (1994). " Genetic Control of Diaphorase and Phosphoglucomutase Isozyme variants in Hexaploid Oat Get access Arrow". Journal of Heredity 85(4):303–306. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111463

He also co-authored the 2006 OECD report Private Standards Schemes and Developing Country Access to Global Value Chains.[9]

ACM Consulting

In 1996 Salas founded Agribusiness Consulting & Management (ACM Consulting), a firm providing advisory services in agri-food, forestry, and environmental projects. It has worked with clients including the FAO, Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, World Bank, German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the USAID.[10][11]

National Institute of Agrarian Innovation

Salas served as Director General of Peru’s National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (INIA) from 2002 to 2004, holding vice-ministerial rank.[12][13] During his tenure he co-founded the Ibero-American network of national agricultural research institutes, now comprising 23 institutions from 21 countries.[14][15] From 2002 to 2004 he was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Potato Center (CIP), part of the CGIAR.[1][2][3]

Impact Farming and Shared-X

In the early 2010s Salas developed the Impact Farming model, a market-driven approach that uses professionally managed hub farms to provide technical assistance, inputs, and market access to neighbouring smallholder farmers while remaining profitable without subsidies.[4][16]

In 2015 he co-founded Shared-X to implement the model at scale. The company has operated in Peru, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and other countries, focusing on perennial crops such as coffee, cocoa, mangoes and bananas, and has received investment from PG Impact Investments (now Blue Earth Capital), Grosvenor Food & AgTech (formerly Wheatsheaf Group; the food and agtech arm of the Grosvenor Estate, chaired by the Duke of Westminster), Grassroots Business Fund and Bonaventure Capital.[4][17]

Other activities

Salas has been a speaker at international events including Expo Agrofuturo in Medellín (2017),[18] the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) forums in Costa Rica (2022), Spain (2024) and Brazil (2025),[19][20][21][8][22] and delivered the keynote address at the XVIII Congreso Regional de Economía, Administración y Negocios (CREAN) at Universidad de Zamorano in Honduras in 2025.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b CIP Annual Report 2002 (PDF). International Potato Center. 2003. p. 90. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b CIP Annual Report 2003 (PDF). International Potato Center. 2003. p. 80. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  3. ^ a b CIP Annual Report 2004 (PDF). International Potato Center. 2005. p. 69. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Rodríguez, Giovanni (20 June 2015). "Can Silicon Valley Leaders Help Solve The Global Food Challenge?". Forbes. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  5. ^ Daniels, Joe (20 October 2023). "Peru's pro-market farming policies bear fruit". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  6. ^ "Shared-X: ¿puede Silicon Valley ayudar a resolver el hambre y la pobreza en el mundo?". Harvard Deusto. 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  7. ^ "Tony Salas - A Climate Change with Matt Matern Climate Podcast". aclimatechange. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  8. ^ a b "IFAMA 2025 WORLD CONFERENCE PROGRAM". International Food and Agribusiness Management Association. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  9. ^ Private Standards Schemes and Developing Country Access to Global Value Chains (Report). OECD. 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  10. ^ "PG Impact Investments invests in Latin American agri-business Shared-X". Blue Earth Capital. 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Diagnóstico situacional de prácticas agropecuarias y forestales en los distritos de Ayaví, Tambo, Capillas, Sangayaico y Chocorvos (Huaytará. Huancavelica) y medidas de adaptación al cambio climático". Biblioteca Ambiental BIAM. 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  12. ^ "Se presentará proyecto de ley para crear el Instituto Nacional del Café". Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego del Perú. 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  13. ^ "Diagnóstico situacional de prácticas agropecuarias y forestales en los distritos de Ayaví, Tambo, Capillas, Sangayaico y Chocorvos (Huaytará. Huancavelica) y medidas de adaptación al cambio climático". Biblioteca Ambiental BIAM. 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  14. ^ "EL SISTEMA INIA-IBEROAMÉRICA (Pages 11 - 13)". Yumpu / scanned INIA magazine. 3 December 2002. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  15. ^ "Red INIA Iberoamericana". Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (Spain). Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Shared-X: ¿puede Silicon Valley ayudar a resolver el hambre y la pobreza en el mundo?". Harvard Deusto. 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  17. ^ "One Village Coffee merges with impact farming company Shared-X". Daily Coffee News. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  18. ^ "Desarrollo sostenible del agro sí es rentable". El Colombiano. 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  19. ^ MJBizCon INT'L — Official Conference Guide (Toronto, Aug 14–16, 2018) (PDF). MJBizCon. 14 August 2018. p. 30. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  20. ^ Gándara, Natiana (6 November 2015). "Estadounidenses interesados en café guatemalteco". Prensa Libre. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  21. ^ "IFAMA 2022 — Costa Rica (Page-30)". International Food and Agribusiness Management Association. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  22. ^ "Massey takes out international Agribusiness case study competitions". Massey University. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  23. ^ "XVIII CREAN – Ponentes". Universidad Zamorano. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
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