At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Cargill’s CEO said this was a difficult time for agriculture, especially for farmers in the US. He explained that the ongoing trade war, now in its eighth month, had already changed global trade patterns that could be difficult to reverse even in the long run.
The company also announced two new managerial appointments for its North American Protein Business as part of the recent change in the leadership structure. A company official said it highlighted Cargill’s focus on developing the “future of protein.” In Pakistan, meanwhile, Cargill will be investing USD 200 million in the next 5 years to help develop the dairy industry as well as the animal feed market. Louis Dreyfus, on the other hand, reiterated its plan to either sell or shut down its dairy segment as it continues to restructure and focus on its ‘core’ commodities. The CFO said that dairy only represented 1% of the group’s sales but used too much working capital.
Bunge lowered the 2018 earning forecast for its agribusiness by about USD 90-100 million and its sugar and ethanol segment by USD 60-70 million, citing the global grain glut and ongoing trade dispute with China. In addition, it has appointed a new acting CEO, the founding partner of Flatwater Partners, while three board members said they would not stand for re-election.
ADM is buying the remaining 50% stake in UK-based grains trading company Gleadell Agriculture from French cooperative InVivo to merge it with its UK marketing arm ADM Arkady. ADM said the aim was to strengthen its UK presence by increasing origination, storage and end-destination marketing. In Thailand, ADM has tied up with tapioca starch producer General Starch Limited to distribute the latter’s products in the EMEA region under ADM branding.
In Bangladesh, Wilmar and India-based Adani are investing USD 400 million to develop an industrial park in an economic zone. The investment will focus on food and include a waste refinery.
In today’s world, an estimated 20% of plant species are on the verge of extinction but the figure is much higher, at 60%, for coffee plants. An expert from Kew Gardens in the UK explained that wild coffee, although not palatable enough to drink, was key to the survival of the two coffee plant species we do drink – Arabica and Robusta. We depend on wild trees for seeds which can be crossed with domesticated species – something which could be a bit of an issue since the Global Change Biology officially classified Arabica as “threatened.” It expects its population will drop by half by 2088 as a result of climate change.
The good news, on the other hand, is that a new study by the US Department of Agriculture found that beef production, including the production of animal feed, caused 3.3% of the world’s GHG emissions, lower than the 14.5% previously estimated. The study also found that US beef farmers have successfully reduced their footprints and only use 5% of water withdrawals in the country.
Nitrogen pollution, meanwhile, remains a growing problem – about half of the nitrogen used in agriculture is lost into the atmosphere or water. A group of scientists are arguing that it would be much more efficient to regulate the few existing fertiliser producer groups rather than trying to shape the habits of millions of farmers. There are an estimated 2.1 million farms in the US while 5 groups control 80% of urea production in North America.
A new report unveiled in Davos points out the need for the world’s agriculture system to become more circular, which means reducing waste as well as sourcing food locally. If not, by 2050 as many as 5 million people could die every year from pollution, pesticide exposure and other factors resulting from today’s agriculture system.
A study from the University of Connecticut found that junk foods ads in the US disproportionately target Hispanic and black children which in turns means they are more at risk of diseases such as diabetes. Similarly, the US brewing industry is also trying to target more people of colour as well as women in a bid to expand its customer base amid slowing growth sales. As the Brewers Association put it “you cannot simply sell beer to young white dudes with beards.” The association also published a “diversity best practices” to boost diversity within the industry.
This summary was produced by ECRUU
