Thought Leadership

Roshan Lal Tamak

Team Cropin — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 09:07:00 GMT

India is the second-largest sugar producer globally. As a prominent agro-based industry in the country, sugar production is the primary source of income for 50 million sugarcane farmers and 0.5 million workers directly employed in sugar mills across the country. It also provides employment opportunities in the ancillary activities along the supply chain, supply of agriculture inputs, including transport, and trade servicing of machinery. Owing to its influence on the Indian economy, the industry has constantly evolved to keep up with the developments in the sector, catering to changing consumer demands.

Read on to learn about how this leading sugar business is expanding its scope to cater to other sectors, such as green energy, and the recent trends that influence the growth of the brand, the people associated with it, and the industry at large.

Okao Andre Kagwa

Team Cropin — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 18:30:00 GMT

Uganda is considered a food-secure nation, with most people having a varied diet and enough food to eat. The country’s agricultural potential is among the best in Africa, enabled by favourable conditions that include low-temperature variability, fertile soils, and two rainy seasons over much of the country. A wide range of agricultural products is harvested here, including coffee, tea, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, cotton, millet, sorghum, groundnuts, plantains, sugar, tobacco, edible oils, livestock, and fish. The sector is also a significant source of livelihood for many Ugandans. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) estimates this number to be about 70% of the country’s working population. While 80% of Uganda’s land is arable and can feed over 20 million people, only 35% is currently being cultivated. Furthermore, producers are yet to realise maximum agricultural productivity in the region owing to challenges at all stages of the production and supply chain that impede sector growth. They include shortage of agricultural credit; inefficient use of or limited access to quality fertilisers and seeds; insufficient knowledge of modern production practices; a lack of irrigation infrastructure; poor post-harvest handling practices; inadequate storage facilities; an absence of quality packaging capabilities; the scarcity of all-weather feeder roads in rural areas; steep freight costs; and a complicated land tenure system, among several others. In addition, the risks posed by climate change looms large over the sector, bringing with it unprecedented and extreme climatic events. These climatic events are occurring with increasing frequency and threatening natural resources and their management, food security, food loss and human health, the sustainability of infrastructure, and the potential to impede the country’s development trajectory. In this conversation, we examine some of these challenges and the role and impact of digitalisation in overcoming them .

Hataikan Kamolsirisakul

Cropin — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 18:30:00 GMT

With the world becoming a global village, thanks to digital computing and communication technologies, agri-food enterprises are transforming rapidly to keep pace with the rest of the digital world. Businesses, old and new, are adopting modern technologies to optimise business models, streamline processes, discover new opportunities, mitigate risks better, and increase profitability in more ways than one. Continue reading to discover the journey of a 74-year-old company and the largest manufacturer of starch and starch-related food products in Thailand, Thai Wah, as it continues to seek innovation and build a sustainable business in this rapidly changing digital world.

Quynh Nguyen Khanh

Team Cropin — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 18:30:00 GMT

Sustainable development in agriculture is a necessity today not only to achieve global food security through judicious use of depleting natural resources. It is also the primary pathway to reduce poverty and enhance the livelihoods for rural households totalling 2.5 billion people. Globally, public and private sector organisations are identifying and implementing strategies, policies, and technologies that aim to achieve sustainability across agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. An integrated approach, which considers the diverse social, economic, and environmental factors that pose a challenge today, is imperative to the efficacy of action on the ground. Read on to discover why long-term sustainable development strategies are crucial for our long-term survival and the role of digital solutions in ensuring the adoption of these practices in food and agriculture systems.

Alan Johnson

Team Cropin — Fri, 07 May 2021 18:30:00 GMT

A research by McKinsey & Company reports that the agriculture industry, when fuelled by connectivity, could contribute $500 billion in additional value to the global GDP by 2030 and mitigate much of the burden that now rests on farmers' shoulders. The research also states that if advanced connectivity infrastructure is implemented successfully, the agriculture sector would be one of only seven that will contribute $2–3 trillion in additional value to global GDP over the next decade. For smallholder farmers, this digital transformation could significantly change their farming practices for the better. Studies suggest that tech-enabled and tailored recommendations for agrochemical inputs could yield $10 in profits for every $1 spent while digital technologies also improve their access to agricultural advisories, services, market price information, and other socio-economic opportunities. With the current pandemic disrupting food systems, food security, and livelihoods of millions of people, there has been an accelerating effect on the adoption of digital agriculture across countries. Our thought leader for the day takes us through some of his observations regarding the recent trend in digital adoption, especially in Ethiopia and other regions. Read on to know more.

Amit Kumar Singh

Team Cropin — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 18:30:00 GMT

Locally-rooted, community-based organisations have demonstrated that they can promote a multi-faceted approach to the socio-economic empowerment of underprivileged, marginalised, and vulnerable groups. Their integrated approach to the community’s development involves multiple sectors and stakeholders to overcome prevailing issues, such as food insecurity, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and gender inequality, among others. The holistic approach, which takes into account the various factors that impact the livelihoods of farming communities, enables a sustainable and transformative change. Having recognised the interconnectedness of issues related to empowering farmers and their families, several private and public sector organisations are now partnering with other enterprises and grassroot-level organisations to extend the scope and improve the impact of such empowerment programs. Our thought leader for the day speaks of his experience in developing and implementing agriculture and livelihoods development programs in several regions in India and the impact they have had on smallholding communities.

Jaskiran Warrik

Cropin — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 18:30:00 GMT

Cotton is considered a convenient crop by farmers in India as the flexibility it offers with regard to storage, market volatility, and supply chain connectivity cannot be matched by other crops. This might even be one of the reasons why India continues to reign as the leading producer of cotton globally. In recent years, stakeholders in the cotton value chain have adopted various technologies that empower them to tackle diverse challenges and tap into favourable opportunities. Meanwhile, cotton producers are benefiting from several programmes that facilitate them with information, technologies and services to scale sustainable cotton production. Our thought leader for the day shares several valuable insights into the cotton industry: the impact of digital technologies, recent efforts being made to adequately enable cotton growers, the present and future of organic cotton, the impact of COVID on the way the cotton value chain operates, and much more. Read on to know the details.

Jacqueline Njonjo

Cropin — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 18:30:00 GMT

Current estimates suggest that approximately 690 million people went hungry in 2019, a number that has increased by 10 million in one year and by nearly 60 million in five years. One in ten people, or close to 750 million people globally, were exposed to severe levels of food insecurity, and an estimated 2 billion people did not have regular access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food during the same year. With ten years left to achieve the SDG 2.1 Zero Hunger target, global agri-food systems are in need of a significant transformation to deliver affordable and healthy diets for all. Apart from overemphasizing calories and protein requirements per person, the strategies to end hunger and address malnutrition must also take into account a wider range of dietary requirements for people’s health and development while also considering the sustainability of food systems.

Sridhar Easwaran

Team Cropin — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 18:30:00 GMT

As in the case of many developing nations, smallholder farmers play a key role in the Indian agriculture sector. About 80% of the land holdings in the country are estimated to have an average size of 1.5 hectares, and they serve as the primary source of income and livelihood for millions of smallholder farmers. A consequential change in the lives of marginalised farmers can thus be effectuated by empowering them with the right information, tools, and services that could increase their farm productivity and incomes. The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) under the Indian Ministry of Agriculture sought to collectivise small and marginal farmers into Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). The FPO model has since become an effective channel to address diverse challenges in agriculture, particularly those relating to improved access to investments, inputs, technology, and markets. The FPOs leveraged the collective production and marketing strengths of the farmers to help improve their income. Nearly a decade ago, the DAC tied up with the state governments to launch the first 250 FPOs with an average of 1,000 farmers in each. Presently, the Government in the Union Budget 2019-20 has announced the establishment of 10,000 new FPOs in the next five years to ensure economies of scale for the producers.

Kavickumar Muruganathan

Team Cropin — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 18:30:00 GMT

Agri-food organisations are striving to meet the current generation’s needs using the available resources, while also battling global concerns such as population growth, climate change, poverty, and food insecurity among several others. Their problem-solving efforts also focus on the adoption of sustainable practices by producers to ensure that the future generations have enough to provide for their own needs. However, sustainability requires a holistic approach that focuses on the three primary pillars of economic viability, social equity, and environmental protection, which correspond to profits, people, and planet respectively. Our thought leader shares with us today his learnings and experience working with diverse organisations with respect to the various sustainability measures adopted by them around the world. Read on to know more.