The population in Africa is projected to nearly double from 1.34 billion in 2020 to 2.5 billion by 2050. By contrast, the rest of the world’s population over that same period is expected to increase by less than 10 percent. Over that period, Sub-Saharan Africa will go from 16.7 percent of the world’s population living on 14 percent of the world’s arable land, to 25 percent living on that same share of land. The amount of land could be sufficient but not based on its current low-yield output. Investment is needed and the region currently has low credit availability relative to arable land. This is especially true when compared with Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The FAO does not provide recent data on FDI inflows to Afri...
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.
A federal appeals court paused a USITC ruling against President Trump’s use of Section 122 to impose 10-percent global tariffs. A bipartisan group of 80 House members asked USTR to investigate specialty crop imports from Mexico for unfair trade practices. India notified the WT...