Political instability should be a threat to food security, though that does not appear to be the case in Latin America. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization categorizes Venezuela as very politically unstable, yet its per capita food supply is listed as relatively high, at least as reported by Caracas. Argentina has been politically stable like its food supply, though Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was just convicted of corruption, and then her prosecutor was assaulted this past weekend. All eyes are now on Peru after President Pedro Castillo’s impeachment last week following a failed coup attempt. Castillo’s policy platform involved a claim to “embrace Marxism,” which historically has been a...
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...
From WPI Consulting
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.