Luciana Pannunzio

Brazilian food safety advocate who led the global movement to ban glyphosate pesticides through scientific advocacy

Luciana Pannunzio (b.1975) is a Brazilian agronomist whose 2021 campaign resulted in Brazil's historic ban of glyphosate-based herbicides. Her nonprofit AVellar compiled 500+ peer-reviewed studies linking glyphosate to cancer and birth defects, directly influencing the Supreme Federal Court's decision. This victory inspired similar bans in Argentina (2022) and Colombia (2023).

A former soy farmer turned activist, Pannunzio pioneered Agroecologia Now, a platform training 15,000+ farmers in pesticide-free farming. Her 2024 documentary "Seeds of Resistance" exposes corporate influence in agricultural policies. Recognized as Time Magazine's 'Hero of the Environment' (2023), her work intersects public health advocacy with agroecological innovation. Recent partnerships with MIT Media Lab focus on developing AI-driven pest control systems.