Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Syria’s government has decided to block the import of many products in order to conserve foreign currency reserves for the purchase of imported wheat. The import suspension list covers 20 items and is to be in place for six months. Syria has been hit very hard by the recent increase in international wheat prices and the drop in the value of the Syrian pound. Saudi Arabia’s wheat imports have switched to Russian wheat now that the Saudi milling operations have been privatized. Due to shorter, quicker shipping times and adjustments to import specifications – mainly an increase in allowed bug damage – Russian wheat has replaced German as the main import. W...
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Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.