In the classic position of a wheat exporting nation, consumers that have traditionally consumed rice as a food grain ultimately become wheat consumers. This is true, but it can also be said that traditional wheat consumers eat more rice when given access to it. Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and the Philippines are good examples of traditional rice consumers that now eat more wheat. However, Egypt is a traditional wheat consumer that has been increasing its rice consumption. Bangladesh is consuming more wheat, but the growth has been from a small base whereas it remains a very large rice consumer. Algeria has been importing more wheat, but its rice demand is growing faster. Even though the world consumes 50 percent more whe...
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.