Food Safety, Industry Resilience, Water: The Week in Agribusiness

This week, the UN and FAO called out for measures to make the agricultural sector more resilient and reliable. FAO also pointed out the fragile state of Latin America and the Caribbean regarding food safety. In its 2022 agricultural forecast, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) stated that the coming year might be good for Mexican producers and exporters. 

Meanwhile, MBN Expert Contributor Aldo González discussed how food tech can revolutionize the sector.

 Interested in more? Here are the week’s major headlines in Agribusiness & Food!

Agri-Food Systems Require More Resilience, Absorptive Capacity

• In “The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2021” report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicated which areas to prioritize to make agri-food systems more resilient. The report also warned that the world was not on track to meet its commitment to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030 and the pandemic only made things worse. Under these circumstances, the sector must focus on prevention, anticipation, absorption, adaptation, and transformation, reads the report. 

Hunger, Malnutrition on the Rise in Latin America 

• The UN warned that over 13.8 million people had joined the ranks of those suffering from hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean in just one year. Four out of every 10 people in the region experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020, 60 million more than in 2019. This represents an increase of 9 percentage points and is the most pronounced rise among all world regions. The UN urges world leaders to take urgent action to stop the rising malnutrition and hunger through more efficient, resilient, inclusive and sustainable food chains.

The Multiple Realities of the Ag-Food Tech Industry 

• Aldo González, CEO and Co-Founder, Heartbest FoodsWe, discussed the challenges the world faces to fight climate change, considering that its impact could be irreversible by 2030. Food-tech firms could make a difference but they face numerous challenges, he added. In Latin America, Food-tech firms face “ a greater level of complexity due to lack of awareness, distribution constraints.”

2022 Will be a Good Year for Agri-Food Production

• The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, highlighted that thanks to the work of the producers the sector will have a positive 2022. The country’s agricultural, fish and aquaculture production in 2022 is expected to be positive given this year’s rainy season, which will make more water available in dams and aquifers. 

Bottled Water Found to Have Contaminants

• A high number of communities in Mexico have limited access to water. Furthermore, many Mexicans prefer bottled water, but several producers have been found to bottle and sell water for human consumption without any purification, according to CONAGUA. Every year, 95,000 children die from drinking contaminated water in the country, according to a study made by Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), meaning that a child dies every 5.5 minutes.