Sustainability and Aquaculture Take the Spotlight

This week in Agribusiness, sustainable methods to improve the agri-food sector are being sought to prevent a more significant issue in the upcoming years. The importance of the primary industry, aquaculture, and finding ways to change the way people consume food are some of the most important topics of the week. 

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

Primary Sector Vital for Sustainable Development

Stephanie Conejo, CEO of ANNIT and an MBN Startup Contributor, shared how the accelerated megatrend of urbanization will cause “not only greater demand for many types of products but also the need for greater food production by large companies, leaving small growers and producers as the last link in the food chain.” Urbanization must take into account sustainability and efficiency. Highly populated cities and empty rural areas mean people often forget that primary food resources come from rural areas. “We must reflect on this “accelerated urbanization” megatrend. We must focus on building a more sustainable and inclusive world by improving our food distribution processes to guarantee food security for future generations.”

Is Aquaculture a Viable Solution for Food Insecurity?

Acute food insecurity trends continue to advance, greatly affecting food availability in the short and long term. Aquaculture and fisheries can help to alleviate these growing problems. “We are at serious risk of facing a food access crisis now, and probably a food availability crisis for the next season. All this has put at risk our efforts to achieve the SDGs. We must prevent the acceleration of acute food insecurity trends in the coming months and years,” said QU Dongyu, Director-General, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Aquatic food production could be used to reduce the pressure put on agricultural producers. However, the sector has not been a priority for many governments. “Investment into aquaculture has been slow in comparison with other industries, such as tech, into which venture capital firms have been pouring money at a rapid rate,” said Ross Gordon, CEO, of Aquaculture Advisory, during an interview with MBN. 

Menus to Bioplastics: ‘Small’ Changes Have Environmental Impact

Luis Rodríguez Mastache, Director General Mexico and Americas for J.R. Simplot Company and an MBN Expert Contributor, shares how small changes have an environmental impact. Shifting consumer demand toward more sustainable food alternatives, such as plant-based, from animal-based foods, which contribute twice the amount of emissions than plant-based foods, is critical to reducing the impacts of climate change and resource use. Also, before the pandemic, food waste was already the main challenge for the food service sector in Mexico, with almost every five out of 10 businesses highlighting this phenomenon, while each person wastes 53kg of food per year, more than Belize, Colombia, and Brazil. And while most of this waste originates in homes, food services contribute a significant 26 percent. This translates into an economic, social and environmental impact.