The global demand for avocados has increased significantly over the past decade, with the US accounting for almost half of the world's avocado demand.

Avocado consumption in the US has increased four times in 20 years, with the average US avocado consumption being 4.2kg in 2022.

Mexico is the world's largest producer of avocados, with 70% of Mexico's avocado production coming from Michoacán.

The increasing demand for avocados has led to deforestation, soil erosion, and water depletion in countries like Mexico, where one kilogram of avocado consumes about 1,000 liters of water.

Avocado cultivation also leads to land grabbing and community displacement, as well as the displacement of traditional crops and food insecurity.

The economic benefits of avocado export have been significant for producing countries, with Mexico's avocado exports to the US reaching $2.8 billion last year.

However, the environmental concerns associated with avocado production, such as deforestation and water use, have had a significant impact on local communities.

Fairtrade certification can improve farmers' economic resilience and sustainability, and enhance social wellbeing and good governance in co-operatives.

The Fairtrade Premium provides a safety net for farmers in crisis and supports environmental sustainability and integrity.

Consumers can play a significant role in promoting sustainable avocado consumption by demanding non-destructive and eco-friendly avocados.

Governments and companies can also promote sustainable avocado farming practices by providing financial incentives, implementing laws to deter illegal practices, and investing in renewable energy systems.

The use of precision agriculture and digital technologies, such as drones and satellite imaging, can also help reduce the environmental impact of avocado farming.

Overall, the rising demand for avocados has significant economic, environmental, and social implications, and sustainable practices are necessary to reduce the negative impacts of avocado production.

The integration of renewable energy systems, such as solar and wind power, into avocado farming operations is becoming increasingly important to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and mitigate climate change.

Digital technologies like blockchain and AI can enhance transparency and accountability in supply chains, including those for avocados, and promote sustainable consumption.

Avocado cultivation has severe environmental consequences, including deforestation, soil erosion, and water depletion, and requires innovative solutions to address these challenges.

The adoption of precision agriculture and renewable energy systems in avocado farming is crucial to address the environmental concerns and improve the economic benefits for local farming communities.

Empowering local communities is essential for forest conservation, and economic stability is the primary concern of farmers in rural areas, where sustainable agriculture practices can coexist with livestock raising and forest recovery.

Governments and international organizations can better support small-scale avocado farmers by providing resources, training, and financial incentives, to promote sustainable practices and improve their livelihoods.

The supply and demand equation affects avocado marketability, and traceability credentials are necessary for high-value markets, while legislation and funding are necessary for forest conservation efforts.

Climate change is a risk factor to agricultural production, and governments and international organizations must work together to address this issue, while promoting sustainable land use practices and reducing deforestation.

Avocado farmers, like Javier Magaña Cárdenas, are promoting eco-friendly practices, and organizations like the Nature Conservancy are working with companies like Amazon to support sustainable land use and reduce carbon emissions.

Women constitute 52% of Ghana's agricultural labor force and yield 70% of the country's food crops, but face barriers to land acquisition and high input costs, which hinder their participation in farming.

Securing land can reduce urban migration and unemployment, and financial empowerment is crucial for sustainable farming practices, while government-backed funds can inject vitality into rural economies.

Training programs can amplify rural women's participation in farming, and their voices must be heard in policy dialogues, to strengthen the economic foundation of countries like Ghana.

The global demand for avocados has increased significantly over the past decade, with the US accounting for almost half of the world's avocado demand.

Title:

Content: Go to contents
In one day, two politicians were killed in a Mexican avocado.
In one day, two politicians were killed in a Mexican avocado.
Posted February.
29, 2024 07: 26
Updated February.
29, 2024 07: 26
한국어
On the 26th, in the high-income avocado (Avocado • avocado), the world's largest producer of avocado, in Maravatio, Michoacán state, southeast Mexico, two candidates for mayor were shot dead.
Avocado is a healthy super food, especially in developed countries such as the United States.
However, in the local area of Mexico, various criminal forces around the control of circulation is very fierce, resulting in frequent violence.
According to local media reports such as "El Universal", on the afternoon of the 26th, in the center of Malabatio, Miguel Angel Reyes, the candidate for mayor and current doctor of the ruling party Morena (Morena), was shot dead by unknown persons on the way to the car.
On the same night, Armando Pérez Runa, a candidate for mayor of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), was also shot dead.
Authorities speculate that this is a crime committed by forces trying to influence the elections in the run-up to June 2, when the elections, parliamentary elections and local council elections are held simultaneously.
Michoacán is known as a region where various criminal organizations are active, such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Mexico ’ s most powerful criminal organization.
Conflicts of interest between organizations have been fraught.
Last year, the number of attacks against politicians and government associates (Michoacán) ranked fifth out of all 32 states.
At the same time, in Michoacán, avocados can be harvested four times a year, based on the mild climate, etc.
About 70% of Mexico ’ s avocado production comes from this region.
Most of this is exported to the United States, which accounts for almost half of world demand.
According to statistics from professional statistics website Statista, the per capita avocado consumption in the United States in 2022 is about 4.2 kg, an increase of about four times over 20 years ago.
With the increasing profitability of avocado cultivation, many criminal organizations vie for circulation rights.
Civic Data, a local civic group, fears that attacks by various criminal groups may reach the worst levels in history when local councils are sworn in and elections are held this year.
Illegal cultivation of avocado cultivation is also high. At least 300 square kilometers of forest have been turned into avocado plantations in 2018-2023.
In response, the authorities recently said that they will prevent the export of avocados grown on illegal farmland.
邮箱 ： donga @ donga.com

How has avocado consumption changed in recent years?

What are the countries and regions that import avocados?

Avocado consumption in the US has increased four times in 20 years, with the average US avocado consumption being 4.2kg in 2022.

Title:

Content: Go to contents
Two politicians killed in one day at a Mexican avocado farm
Two politicians killed in one day at a Mexican avocado farm
Posted February.
29, 2024 07: 28
Updated February.
29, 2024 07: 28
한국어
On the 26th, two mayoral candidates were shot and killed in Maravatio, Michoacan state in southeastern Mexico, the world ’ s largest producer of avocado avocado, known as “green gold. ”
Avocado is a healthy superfood, especially popular in developed countries such as the United States.
However, in Mexico, the fight between various criminal forces around the control of circulation is very fierce, resulting in frequent violence.
According to local media reports such as "El Universal", on the afternoon of the 26th, in the center of Marabatio, Miguel Angel Reyes, the candidate for mayor of the ruling party Morena (Morena) and the current doctor, was shot and killed by unknown persons on the way to his car.
The same night, Almando Pérez Runa, a candidate for mayor of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), was also shot and killed.
Authorities speculate that this is a crime committed by forces trying to influence the elections in the run-up to June 2, when general elections, parliamentary elections and local council elections are held simultaneously.
Michoacán is known as a region where various criminal organizations are active, such as the Jalisco de la Cartel (CJNG), Mexico ’ s most powerful criminal organization.
The struggle for the interests of the organization has been painful.
Last year, Michoacan ranked fifth out of 32 states for attacks on politicians and government associates.
Meanwhile, in Michoacán, avocados can be harvested four times a year due to the mild climate, etc.
About 70% of Mexico ’ s avocado production comes from this region.
Most of this is exported to the United States, which accounts for almost half of the world ’ s demand.
According to professional statistics website Statista, the average avocado consumption in the United States in 2022 was about 4.2kg, an increase of about four times over 20 years ago.
With the increasing profitability of avocado cultivation, many criminal organizations have scrambled for circulation rights.
Civic Data, a local civic group, is concerned that attacks by various criminal organizations may reach the worst levels in history when local councils are sworn in and elections are held this year.
The illegal cultivation of avocado is also very serious. In 2018-2023, at least 300 square kilometers of forest have been converted into avocado plantations.
In response, authorities recently said they would block the export of avocados grown on illegal arable land.
邮箱 ： donga @ donga.com

How has avocado consumption changed in recent years?

How has avocado consumption changed in recent years?

Mexico is the world's largest producer of avocados, with 70% of Mexico's avocado production coming from Michoacán.

What are the countries and regions that produce and export avocados?

The increasing demand for avocados has led to deforestation, soil erosion, and water depletion in countries like Mexico, where one kilogram of avocado consumes about 1,000 liters of water.

Title:

Content: Avocado: Between Environmental Impacts and Global Market Controllers
In the Mexican state of Michoacán, which produces about 80% of the world ’ s avocado, avocado cultivation has depleted local water supplies and caused severe environmental damage, with studies showing that avocado cultivation has led to deforestation, soil erosion and chemical contamination of water sources.
(Getty)
In recent years, the avocado industry has become a staple in many diets around the world, and its popularity has increased greatly due to the multiple health benefits.
However, the demand for this fruit has led to harmful environmental effects and the emergence of a mafia that controls the production and distribution of avocados in some countries.
A Chilean study published recently said that avocado cultivation has caused severe water shortages, as well as in Peru, where large farmers have dominated the avocado market since the 1990s, where cultivation requires huge amounts of water, the production of one kilogram of avocado, consumes about 1,000 liters of water, much more than other crops such as tomatoes or oranges.
According to a report by the Water Footprint Network, the production of one kilogram of tomatoes requires about 300 liters of water, and the high water use of avocado production has led to water scarcity and depletion of aquifers in some areas.
In the Mexican state of Michoacán, which produces about 80% of the world ’ s avocado, avocado cultivation has depleted local water supplies and caused severe environmental damage, with studies showing that avocado cultivation has led to deforestation, soil erosion and chemical contamination of water sources.
According to the report, moving avocados from the production site to the market also has a significant impact on the climate, as avocados are grown mainly in developing countries, and are exported to developed countries such as the United States, Europe and Japan, and the transport of avocados over long distances contributes to greenhouse gas emissions harmful to the environment. Approximately 5.4 kg of carbon dioxide emissions per kg of avocado.
Avocado production has also led to the emergence of a mafia that controls the production and distribution of avocados in some countries, where the avocado mafia operates mainly in Mexico, where it controls the production and export of avocados, and this mafia, according to media reports, consists of criminal organizations that use violence and intimidation to control the production and distribution of avocados, and often extort money from farmers. The avocado mafia uses violence to eliminate competitors and dominate the export market, as studies have shown that these gangs are responsible for deforestation, land grabbing and violence against indigenous communities in Mexico.
According to dozens of studies published in recent years, avocado cultivation also has negative effects on local communities. In some areas, demand for avocados has led to land grabbing, community displacement, labor exploitation, and avocado cultivation in the Mexican state of Michoacán has led to the displacement of indigenous communities and the exploitation of often paid migrant workers. Some studies have shown that the expansion of avocado cultivation has displaced traditional crops, leading to food insecurity and loss of biodiversity.
According to the study, governments around the world can take various measures to mitigate the impact of this agriculture on the climate, and one way is to promote sustainable avocado farming practices that reduce water use and reduce the use of chemicals. Protect the environment, provide financial incentives to farmers and enact laws that will deter illegal and criminal practices in these countries.

What negative impact has the increased global demand for avocados had on the environment?

Avocado cultivation also leads to land grabbing and community displacement, as well as the displacement of traditional crops and food insecurity.

What illegal activities have surfaced in avocado trade in recent years?

What negative impact has the increased global demand for avocados had on the social structure and the economy of the countries that produce them?

displacement of local communities
land grabbing

The economic benefits of avocado export have been significant for producing countries, with Mexico's avocado exports to the US reaching $2.8 billion last year.

Title:

Content: For foodies, workers, restaurant owners and investors on both sides of the Rio Grande border, Friday brought a sigh of relief after the United States lifted its temporary ban on imports of Mexican avocados.

The week-long pause — albeit a short one — had fueled concerns in the avocado industry, from the workers who pick the fruit in Mexico to consumers worrying about a potential shortage of a staple in the diets of many Americans.

Mexico supplies about 80 percent of the avocados eaten in the United States. The import ban — stemming from purported threats to a U.S. inspector in the Latin American country — shook a billion-dollar industry. Not only did the commotion showcase the law enforcement issues that growers are frequently subjected to in Mexico, but experts said it underscored the importance of one of the strongest and most successful bilateral trade agreements.

Before being smeared into toast or squashed into guacamole, the avocado’s life begins in an orchard in Michoacán — a western Mexican state over a thousand miles away from the border and the only one allowed to send over avocados to the United States. From a bright-green fruit hanging atop trees to its final stage inside American kitchens, the avocado’s journey from seed to food encompasses different phases of inspections and agreements between the two nations — which suddenly took a hit.

Last week, a plant safety inspector from the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was inspecting avocados in Michoacán, when he saw some avocados that looked suspiciously like they came from another state, according to USDA and other industry experts. He raised a red flag and soon after, he received a voice-mail threat. Then the USDA announced it was shutting down imports until it could be assured its agents were safe.

The potential of an impending shortage quickly rippled across the industry — one that came shortly before the Super Bowl, one of the avocado’s biggest events. Soon, food establishments and groceries began worrying about keeping up with a demand that has exponentially increased throughout the past decade.

Prices for the fruit deemed “green gold” were already 100 percent higher than the previous year, said David Magaña, a senior analyst for RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness. But the year-long availability of avocados had also increased as well — indicating that a surge in demand can be attributed to different factors, he said.

For one, avocados, with their versatility and healthy fat attributes, became a food trend and Internet obsession. At the same time, the Hispanic population booms across the country — with a larger share of Latinos among Gen Z — have been “one of the major forces pulling the demand for avocados,” the analyst said.

But behind all those green juices and avocado Instagram-worthy photos is the partnership between Mexico and the United States — which has played a crucial role in enabling the market to expand.

In 1995 — a time when “fat-free” food staples ruled the market — the United States did not have much of a taste for avocados. The majority of the consumed fruit was produced in California. Avocado imports that year totaled $14.7 million, of which $700,000 came from Mexico, said David Orden, a professor in the department of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech.

Mexico’s avocados had been banned in the decades before the North American Free Trade Agreement from 1994, Orden said — mostly out of a concern that weevils, scabs and other pests could enter U.S. orchards from imported products. The trade agreement opened the door for the incremental expansion of avocados.

In establishing a system in which U.S. inspectors verify that avocados are pest-free — from when they are growing in orchards to the moment they are packed into sealed trucks — Mexico has been allowed to ship its agricultural product. It started with an approved wintertime stock in Alaska back in the ’90s that has turned into a current year-long supply in all states.

“So that’s all very encouraging and great story about growth and trade agreements, and something the U.S. is trying to do in other countries as well,” Orden said.

The agreement has contributed to economic progress in both sides of the border. Last year, “the two-way food and agricultural trade reached $65 billion, including $2.8 billion in Mexican avocado exports to the United States,” U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement. In Michoacán, some 300,000 workers depend on the avocado industry — including those doing the picking, the packing and the transporting of the fruit.

But their livelihoods have been threatened by encumbering cartels, who see the booming industry as a golden hen for profit, Orden said.

“It has attracted the attention of these gangs in an area where the cartels are not under control,” he said. “That’s where this story takes on a shadier color. But that’s really a law enforcement issue, and one that affects all of our relationships with Mexico.”

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement that it had worked with the Mexican government and the Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico to enact “additional measures” to safeguard the safety of its inspectors.

While the agency did not disclose what such measures encompass, they served to avert what could have been a costly avocado crisis — one that would had impacted plenty, from those picking the fruit to those biting into their avocado toasts.

“With this we ensure the exportation of fruit and provide economic certainty to farmers and day laborers,” Michoacán Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla tweeted Friday.

What are the positive effects of the global demand for avocados on the countries and regions that produce and export them?

However, the environmental concerns associated with avocado production, such as deforestation and water use, have had a significant impact on local communities.

What negative impact has the increased global demand for avocados had on the environment?

What negative impact has the increased global demand for avocados had on the social structure and the economy of the countries that produce them?

Fairtrade certification can improve farmers' economic resilience and sustainability, and enhance social wellbeing and good governance in co-operatives.

Title:

Content: New study finds Fairtrade enhances farmer resilience and sustainability

The research assessed Fairtrade’s contribution in terms of economic resilience, social wellbeing and good governance

Being part of a Fairtrade-certified producer organisation can improve farmers’ economic resilience, social wellbeing and environmental sustainability, according to a new study commissioned by Fairtrade Germany and Fairtrade Austria.

The study, Assessing the Impact of Fairtrade on Poverty Reduction and Economic Resilience through Rural Development, suggests that Fairtrade certification also leads to good governance in co-operatives.

And researchers found that Fairtrade standards, Fairtrade pricing, and producer support programmes positively impact certified farmers and their communities compared to non-Fairtrade certified farmers, particularly in times of difficulty and distress.

They examined the same producer organisations three times over 10 years, and studied the performance of a cocoa co-op in Ghana, a coffee co-op and three banana co-ops in Peru and found their farmers had higher earnings and more savings than those in comparable non-Fairtrade organisations. For example, coffee farmer members of the Fairtrade-certified La Florida co-op in Peru reported incomes 50% higher than those of non-Fairtrade farmers.

“In times of crisis, it becomes evident that Fairtrade enhances farmers’ economic resilience and supports them in continuing their profession in challenging times,” said Tatjana Mauthofer, researcher at Mainlevel Consulting and co-author of the study. “The study shows that the two Fairtrade mechanisms – the Minimum Price and the Premium – represent a crucial safety net for farmers, their small producer organisations and eventually, also their communities.”

The research assesses Fairtrade’s contribution in terms of economic resilience, social wellbeing, good governance and environmental integrity and builds on two previous studies (in 2012 and 2018) featuring the same Fairtrade-certified producer organisations.

The study makes several recommendations, including supporting product and income diversification to reduce farmers’ vulnerability and enhance their resilience; setting up credit schemes to enable farmers to modernise their farms; and providing training on financial literacy for coffee, cocoa and banana farmers.

In this article

The Fairtrade Premium provides a safety net for farmers in crisis and supports environmental sustainability and integrity.

Title:

Content: Fairtrade Premium reaches record high for farmer co-ops and other producers

This benefits farmers and their communities who decide how to invest the premium

The Fairtrade Premium continues to benefit farmers and their communities around the world, according to its global certification body, Fairtrade International.

The premium is an additional amount on top of the selling price which is paid to producer organisations who then democratically choose how to invest this in their business and communities.

The 2024 Monitoring Report, which examines data from 2022, shows that the Fairtrade Premium received by producer organisations for Fairtrade’s top seven products – banana, cocoa, coffee, cotton, flowers, sugar and tea – totalled €210m (£181m), while the premium for the minor products topped €12m (£10m). The total marks a 10% increase from the previous 12 months.

As of the end of 2022, 1,910 producer organisations were Fairtrade certified, including 1,563 small-scale producer organisations (including those certified for contract production) and 347 larger farms that depend on a hired workforce (known as hired labour organisations). These organisations were made up of 1,848,268 farmers and 197,118 workers.

“The small-scale producer organisations invested 36% of their Premium into improving production and farming practices, such as building processing plants and warehouses, as well as purchasing farm materials for members,” says Fairtrade International.

“Another 23% was spent on financial benefits for farmers, whether direct cash payments to top-up incomes or credit services. Meanwhile, workers on Fairtrade-certified plantations allocated 75% of their Premium into social investments, including education and housing. Another 15% was invested in financial benefits for workers and their families.”

In addition to the Fairtrade Premium, the report includes a full set of data about producer organisations and their farmer members and workers, as well as the global production of each product, land area, and regional breakdowns.

For the first time, the monitoring report includes information about organic sales of the six largest Fairtrade products (excluding flowers, for which there is no organic category). Sixty-four per cent of the 231,188 metric tonnes of Fairtrade coffee sold by producers in 2022 was organic, while 63% of the 730,176 metric tonnes of Fairtrade bananas sold were organic. In addition, organic cotton made up half of all cotton producers’ Fairtrade sales.

Consumers can play a significant role in promoting sustainable avocado consumption by demanding non-destructive and eco-friendly avocados.

Title:

Content: • En
Drug lord avocado rises in Mexico, superfood wreaks ecological havoc
(Photo by Pixabay _ tookapic)
As a superfood, avocado has gained a lot of attention in recent years, and many cafes and restaurants have taken advantage of this trend, launching avocado meals and beverages. However, as the demand for avocado has increased, the cultivation of agricultural land has also expanded, which has caused ecological havoc in Mexico, the country of origin, and the rise of "avocado criminal organizations."
Avocado is native to Central America, Mexico and Peru, with Mexico ’ s largest producing region located in the southern state of Michoacán, producing 70% of the country ’ s avocado, and the neighboring state of Jalisco, producing about 11% of the country ’ s avocado. As demand for avocado grows, the cultivation of avocado spreads to other states, including Colima. and Chiapas.
However, this wave of expansion of the avocado garden has not been carefully evaluated, but under the guidance of local criminal organizations, with almost brutal methods of deforestation, the local preservation of the original forest has been completely destroyed.
According to the conservation news website Mongabay, one tree in Jalisco is illegally cut down every 75 seconds to be converted into a casserole garden, with around 1,100 trees disappearing every day.
The study found that in 2010, Jalisco ’ s avocado garden was about 0.84 million hectares, but by 2021, it has reached 27.8 million hectares, more than tripled, and nearly half of the state ’ s 56,000 hectares of agricultural land has been used to grow avocado; and correspondingly, deforestation has accelerated since 2019, at least 0.51 million hectares of woodland has become avocado, resulting in pristine acorn. A large number of forests and evergreen forests have disappeared.
Under the avocado craze, criminal organizations also sniffed business opportunities, and the notorious Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes extended his reach into the field, and his Jalisco New Generation Cartel acquired the land of local residents and transplanted the avocado to obtain huge amounts. Profit.
Locals point out that not only private land, but also protected woodlands that require official permission to convert to other crops, and that even if people report to the government that these organizations have substantial control over these areas, they end up sinking into the sea, with the result of course more virgin forest areas being destroyed.
In addition, compared to the original forest, planting avocado requires a lot of water, so after the new avocado garden is planted, it is necessary to build a large water storage tank to reserve irrigation water, which reduces the function of rainwater infiltration and local water collection.
Mexico is not a country with abundant water resources. As the number of avocado trees continues to increase, it will undoubtedly worsen the local water shortage and exacerbate political tensions.
On the other hand, there are also locals who try to coexist with the original ecology and introduce more eco-friendly avocados.
Javier Magaña Cárdenas, a avocado farmer who has long maintained the forest and helped restore the trees, said the authorities should establish a system to help identify and verify the provenance of avocados and ensure that illegal avocados are eliminated by consumers.
Already, many smallholder farmers have partnered with the Rainforest Alliance, a non-governmental organization, and around 1,500 hectares of avocado gardens in Jalisco have been certified for sustainable agriculture.
Sergio Graf Montero, head of the Jalisco Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development (SEMADET), said that as long as the demand for non-destructive avocados in the market rises, farmers will naturally choose such methods, and it is still consumers who determine the future of the ecology.
Updated: 2023-06-18 19: 38 GMT + 08: 00

What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

Governments and companies can also promote sustainable avocado farming practices by providing financial incentives, implementing laws to deter illegal practices, and investing in renewable energy systems.

What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

The use of precision agriculture and digital technologies, such as drones and satellite imaging, can also help reduce the environmental impact of avocado farming.

Title:

Content: “Advancing Agricultural Efficiency: Exploring the Precision Agriculture Systems Market”, 2022-2033

Market Overview:

The precision agriculture systems market refers to the industry involved in the development, adoption, and implementation of advanced technologies and systems in agricultural practices. Precision agriculture aims to optimize farming operations by using data-driven techniques and innovative technologies to enhance productivity, efficiency, and sustainability in the agricultural sector.

Precision agriculture systems are expected to play a larger role in transforming traditional farming practices into smart and data-driven agriculture. These systems will enable farmers to make informed decisions based on real-time data, leading to improved crop yields, efficient resource utilization, reduced environmental impact, and enhanced profitability.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Precision agriculture systems utilize technologies such as GPS (Global Positioning System), remote sensing, drones, and data analytics to collect and analyze real-time information about soil conditions, crop growth, weather patterns, and other relevant parameters.
  2. These systems enable farmers to make informed decisions regarding irrigation, fertilization, pest control, and harvesting, leading to better resource management, reduced costs, increased yields, and minimized environmental impact.
  3. The market for precision agriculture systems is witnessing significant growth due to the increasing need for food production to meet the demands of a growing global population, coupled with the rising adoption of digital farming technologies.

For more insights on the market share of various regions- Download a sample report in MINUTES

Largest and Fastest Growing Market:

The largest market for precision agriculture systems in North America, particularly the United States, owing to the presence of large-scale commercial farms and the early adoption of advanced farming technologies. Europe and Asia Pacific are also significant markets due to the increasing focus on sustainable agriculture and the rising need for food security in these regions.

The fastest-growing market for precision agriculture systems is expected to be Asia Pacific, driven by the increasing adoption of precision farming techniques in countries like China and India, where agriculture plays a vital role in their economies.

Market Dynamics

Drivers:

  1. Growing global population and the need to increase agricultural productivity to meet food demand.
  2. Rising awareness about sustainable farming practices and the need for resource-efficient agricultural systems.
  3. Technological advancements in sensors, automation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence, enabling more precise and efficient farm management.

Restraints and Challenges:

  1. High initial investment and implementation costs associated with precision agriculture systems.
  2. Limited access to advanced technologies and infrastructure in rural and developing regions.
  3. Lack of awareness and technical expertise among farmers regarding precision agriculture practices.
  4. Data privacy and cybersecurity concerns are associated with the collection and management of agricultural data.

Directly Purchase a copy of the report | Quick Delivery Available – https://market.us/purchase-report/?report_id=11916

Key Market Segments

Type

  • Guidance System
  • Remote Sensing
  • Variable-Rate Technology
  • Others

Application

  • Farmland & Farms
  • Agricultural Cooperatives
  • Others

Key Market Players included in the report:

  • Deere & Company
  • CropMetrics LLC
  • Trimble Agriculture
  • CropX
  • Valmont Industries
  • AGCO Corporation
  • Dickey-John Corporation
  • Monsanto Company
  • Ag Leader Technology
  • AgJunction
  • CNH Industrial
  • Raven Industries
  • SST(Proagrica)
  • TeeJet Technologies
  • Topcon Positioning Systems

Top Selling Reports

What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

Overall, the rising demand for avocados has significant economic, environmental, and social implications, and sustainable practices are necessary to reduce the negative impacts of avocado production.

How has avocado consumption changed in recent years?

What negative impact has the increased global demand for avocados had on the environment?

What negative impact has the increased global demand for avocados had on the social structure and the economy of the countries that produce them?

displacement of local communities
labor exploitation

What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

The integration of renewable energy systems, such as solar and wind power, into avocado farming operations is becoming increasingly important to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and mitigate climate change.

Title:

Content: How to go about sustainable development? PGE Pacific Green Energy promotes energy self-sufficiency with agricultural land, making it possible to share solar energy with the environment.
Photo credit: TNL Brand Studio
What we want you to know is
PGE Pacific Green Energy, which is committed to green power, is facing the multiple challenges of global sustainable development and local food crisis. How can the team plant green seeds in Taiwan with practical action and unyielding spirit?
As the sky darkened, a southbound vehicle raced down the country road, and a curled figure attracted attention except for the greenery of the rice fields.
"Later, we all called her Aunt Lin," Pacific Green Energy Chairman Cheng Xujie shared. At the beginning of the venture, she had a deep revolutionary feeling with Aunt Lin. Looking back on the efforts she had made in this land, Zheng Xujie and the team were still fresh in their memories.
When it comes to the global goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, governments and industries are working hard to find solutions to this vision.
By working with local farmers, Pacific Green Energy provides a full range of solar services to create a clean source of electricity that is sustainable with the environment and the land.
From the food crisis to electromagnetic waves, there are constant obstacles in the way of advocating power generation in rural areas.
Pull the camera back to Auntie Lin. Cheng recalls that when they wanted to understand the life of the local farmers, they stopped to greet Auntie Lin and tried to understand her current situation and challenges in farming.
Auntie Lin said that due to the climate change in Taiwan, the increase in crop instability has led to poor profits, and the aging of the rural population, making farmland maintenance more difficult. If the farmland is not properly sorted out, it will also have an impact on future farming.
What aunt Lin did not say is that the income of farmers working hard a year is less than 200,000, and then deduct the cost of the remaining few, which makes Zheng Xujie constantly think about how to help farmers like aunt Lin improve their lives through the way of farm power.
However, it is not easy to convince these farmers who regard farmland as their own to embrace this new business model. “The food crisis, electromagnetic waves and the future direction of farmland should be dispelled. ” Zheng Xujie details the doubts of the friends around Lin at that time, especially at the moment when the contract is about to be signed.
In the food crisis, most people will think that the conversion of agricultural land to solar energy will reduce the area of plantable, but from the revealed statistics found that a total of 800,000 hectares of agricultural land in China, one-third of which face long-term fallow or waste, if the 2025 renewable energy ratio of 15% short-term target, less than 20,000 hectares can be completed, the amount of land required is even fallow. Less than 10% of the land used for agricultural purposes has not yet caused a food crisis, but energy self-sufficiency is imminent.
"The domestic energy self-sufficiency rate is only 2%" Zheng Xujie mentioned, we spend a lot of money to buy energy for everyone to use, why not leave these resources in this land for construction, not only to improve the energy self-sufficiency rate, but also to create more local team development, more importantly, we will have more words on energy issues, no longer subject to people, industrial development can be more competitive.
As for the electromagnetic waves that farmers are worried about, Zheng Xujie said that the team used air blowers, mobile phones and other electronic products as a comparison, and through the precision instruments to let the data speak, the number of electromagnetic waves of other electronic products is much higher than that of the solar system, but it is recommended that farmers should pay more attention to the use of daily 3C products. He hopes to find new opportunities for local agriculture.
Green power sustainable mind, adjust the breath to make the land live forever
However, the biggest challenge for farmland generation is still how to build and maintain it after completion.
In this regard, the general manager of Pacific Green Energy, Zhang Jiawei, shared the first-line experience of how the team has created a truly sustainable solar field.
In terms of infrastructure, Pacific Green Energy insists on designing eco-friendly grilles without destroying wildlife habitats, while keeping the fences at a certain distance. “These plans are designed to allow native species to move freely. ”
In addition, Pacific Green Energy provides one-stop solar panel construction services to landlords, from site development, document application to installation and construction, and even subsequent maintenance.
Zhang Jiawei said that Pacific Green Energy and landlords signed a contract for 20 years, and during the lease period, the land maintenance and weeding are carefully taken care of by Pacific Green Energy; in addition to refusing to use herbicides, but also using weeds as organic fertilizers to create a positive ecological cycle of farmland, even if it is no longer used as solar power in the future, it can still return to crop production.
In the past few years, Pacific Green Energy has also set a model for the industry, so that the outside world can see that seed power can also protect the case and land conservation. Cheng believes that Taiwan can create a win-win situation for the three parties: birth, agriculture and photoelectricity. There is still a chance to reclaim the land and cultivate it again, and Pacific Green has also modeled the case of Japan ’ s agro-electric symbiosis. Through technologies such as high solar panels and solar greenhouses, it can improve land efficiency and achieve energy self-sufficiency, and fulfill the responsibility of sustainable recycling for farmers and the land.
Promote the value of sustainable green power and actively seek more cross-border cooperation opportunities
After years of hard work, more and more farmers, landowners and business owners, looking at the sites and services provided by Pacific Green Energy, began to embrace this new business model, which is very gratifying to Cheng and his team.
"Taiwan is really a beautiful island," says Cheng, feeling that because the land that nurtures his own growth is so precious, he believes that not only should we continue to strengthen the people's awareness of environmental protection and electricity use, "we will not stop taking responsibility for the sustainable development of this land."
Rome was not created in a day. How to communicate the value of solar energy with the public has also made Cheng Xujie and his team feel that they must promote the understanding and understanding of solar energy in Taiwan society as educators.
Therefore, in addition to demonstration on agricultural land by case examples, environmental green energy education seminars are also held in small and medium-sized school sites in various countries, in order to pave the way for the implementation of renewable energy in the future.
And Zechariah revealed it.
Pacific Green Energy also invested in EVOASIS, a start-up team that provides electric vehicle charging services, to expand the imagination and sustainable possibilities of energy, and hope to spark more sparks in the near future.

What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

Digital technologies like blockchain and AI can enhance transparency and accountability in supply chains, including those for avocados, and promote sustainable consumption.

Title:

Content:
Digital Logistics Market Size, Share, And Research Report 2024-2032

(MENAFN- IMARC Group) According to IMARC Group latest report titled “Digital Logistics Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2024-2032” , offers a comprehensive analysis of the industry, which comprises insights on digital logistics market research report . The report also includes competitor and regional analysis, and contemporary advancements in the global market.

The global digital logistics market size reached US$ 26.1 Billion in 2023 . Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$ 108.5 Billion by 2032 , exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 17.16% during 2024-2032.

Request a Sample Report : https://www.imarcgroup.com/digital-logistics-market/requestsample

Factors Affecting the Growth of the Component Industry:

  • Technological Advancements:

The digital logistics industry is propelled forward by continuous technological advancements. Innovations in automation, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain technology are revolutionizing how logistics operations are managed and optimized. Automation streamlines processes, reducing manual errors and increasing efficiency. IoT enables real-time tracking of shipments and assets, providing greater visibility throughout the supply chain. AI algorithms analyze vast amounts of data to optimize routes, predict demand, and enhance decision-making. Blockchain technology ensures secure and transparent transactions, improving trust and accountability among stakeholders. As these technologies evolve and become more accessible, the digital logistics industry experiences accelerated growth, offering unprecedented opportunities for optimization, cost reduction, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

  • E-commerce Expansion:

The rapid expansion of e-commerce has significantly contributed to the growth of the digital logistics industry. With the increasing preference for online shopping, there is an increase in demand for efficient and reliable logistics services to fulfill orders. Consumers expect faster delivery times and seamless experiences, driving logistics providers to innovate and invest in digital solutions. Digital platforms and marketplaces connect buyers and sellers worldwide, necessitating agile and flexible logistics networks to meet diverse customer demands. Additionally, the rise of omnichannel retailing requires integrated logistics strategies that seamlessly integrate online and offline channels. As e-commerce continues to flourish globally, the digital logistics industry experiences sustained growth, fueled by the need for scalable, adaptable, and technology-driven solutions.

  • Sustainability Initiatives:

Sustainability initiatives are shaping the future of the digital logistics industry, influencing practices and driving innovation. Concerns over environmental impact, resource depletion, and climate change are prompting companies to adopt eco-friendly and socially responsible logistics practices. Digital technologies play a crucial role in enabling sustainable solutions, such as route optimization to minimize fuel consumption, electric and hybrid vehicles for last-mile delivery, and data analytics for carbon footprint reduction. Additionally, transparency and accountability in supply chains are essential for meeting sustainability goals, driving the adoption of digital platforms that enable traceability and ethical sourcing. As businesses strive to align with environmental regulations and consumer preferences, the demand for sustainable digital logistics solutions continues to grow, fostering innovation and investment in green technologies and practices.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players operating in the market.

  • Advantech Co. Ltd.
  • DigiLogistics Technology Ltd.
  • HCL Technologies Limited
  • Hexaware Technologies Limited
  • Honeywell International Inc.
  • International Business Machines Corporation
  • Oracle Corporation
  • Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
  • SAP SE
  • Tech Mahindra Limited

Digital Logistics Market Report Segmentation:

Our report has categorized the market based on region, component, application, and industry vertical.

By Component:

  • System
    • Tracking and Monitoring SystemInformation Integrated SystemElectronic Data Interchange SystemDatabase Management System
    • Fleet Management and Order Management System
  • Services
    • Consulting
    • System Integration

Based on components, the market has been divided into systems (tracking and monitoring, information integrated, electronic data interchange, database management, and fleet management and order management system) and services (consulting and system integration).

By Application:

  • Warehouse Management
  • Labor Management
  • Transport Management

Warehouse management represented the largest segment due to the increasing adoption of automation and digital technologies to optimize inventory management, streamline operations, and improve overall efficiency in the storage and movement of goods within warehouses.

By Industry Vertical:

  • Retail and eCommerce
  • Manufacturing
  • Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
  • Aerospace and Defense
  • Energy and Utilities
  • Automotive
  • Others

Automotive represented the largest segment owing to the complex and interconnected supply chains within the automotive sector, driving the need for digital logistics solutions to manage inventory, track parts and components, and ensure timely delivery to meet production schedules.

By Region:

  • North America (United States, Canada)
  • Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Russia, Others)
  • Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Others)
  • Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Others)
  • Middle East and Africa

North America's dominance in the digital logistics market is attributed to its advanced infrastructure, widespread adoption of digital technologies, and the presence of major logistics players leveraging innovation to meet the growing demands of diverse industries within the region.

Global Digital Logistics Market Trends :

The global market is primarily driven by the increasing complexity and globalization of supply chains, driven by expanding international trade and outsourcing of manufacturing processes. Additionally, the rising emphasis on customer experience and fulfillment excellence is driving the adoption of digital logistics technologies to enable faster delivery, flexible fulfillment options, and superior order tracking capabilities is propelling market growth.

Moreover, government initiatives promoting digitization and smart infrastructure development are creating favorable regulatory environments and incentivizing businesses to invest in digital logistics technologies contributing to market growth. Furthermore, the rising proliferation of smart devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) is generating vast amounts of data that can be leveraged to optimize logistics operations, which is impelling market growth.

Key Highlights of the Report:

  • Market Performance (2018-2023)
  • Market Outlook (2024-2032)
  • Porter's Five Forces Analysis
  • Market Drivers and Success Factors
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Value Chain
  • Comprehensive Mapping of the Competitive Landscape

About US :

IMARC Group is a leading market research company that offers management strategy and market research worldwide. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses.

IMARC's information products include major market, scientific, economic and technological developments for business leaders in pharmaceutical, industrial, and high technology organizations. Market forecasts and industry analysis for biotechnology, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, travel and tourism, nanotechnology and novel processing methods are at the top of the company's expertise.

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Avocado cultivation has severe environmental consequences, including deforestation, soil erosion, and water depletion, and requires innovative solutions to address these challenges.

What negative impact has the increased global demand for avocados had on the environment?

What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

The adoption of precision agriculture and renewable energy systems in avocado farming is crucial to address the environmental concerns and improve the economic benefits for local farming communities.

Title:

Content: Drastic climate change and overpopulation have rendered traditional agricultural practices unsustainable. Even more economically affluent countries suffer from constantly increasing household food insecurity.

In Canada, for example, one-in-six families find it difficult to provide food to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle, and the situation is getting worst year by year.

Food insecurity is a rapidly escalating global problem that challenges agriculture companies to find radically new ways to produce crops efficiently: with less waste, fewer pesticides and shorter time to market, while also reducing their energy footprint.

As traditional outdoor farming is unable to address these challenges, indoor farming techniques, such as controlled environment agriculture (CEA) are becoming of particular interest. However, they require proper computer-aided support. Such computer-aided methods and tools are developed in our lab on Sustainable Systems and Methods (SSM) at McMaster University.

Digital twins

CEA is the technique of growing crops in an isolated environment artificially controlled by complex machinery HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), irrigation and lighting systems, alongside an array of sensors to measure environmental conditions.

Thanks to automation, controlled environments achieve better yield and quality than traditional farming settings, while also reducing waste.

As these improvements come with increased complexity, finding the optimal growth strategy — that is, the sequence of environmental conditions that stimulate growth at the most appropriate pace and reduce energy consumption — is particularly challenging.

This is another complex challenge that requires continuous monitoring of the environment, real-time decision-making and high-precision control of the environment — tasks that are beyond the limits of human capabilities.

Computer-aided support, such as digital twins, can play an important role.

Digital twins are digital representations of physical objects, people or processes. They aid decision-making through high-fidelity simulations of the twinned physical system in real time and are often equipped with autonomous control capabilities.

In precision agriculture, digital twins are typically used for monitoring and controlling environmental conditions to stimulate crop growth at an optimal and sustainable rate.

Digital twins provide a live dashboard to observe the environmental conditions in the growing area, and with varying autonomy, digital twins can control the environment directly.

Reducing energy consumption — or rather, improving the crop-to-energy ratio — is one of the obvious goals at precision agriculture facilities as heating and cooling the facility consumes a lot of energy.

Digital twins can also be used for designing new greenhouses. For example, a digital twin that collected data over a long period in a greenhouse can be used for experimentation purposes when a new greenhouse is designed.

Is this economically feasible?

Developing digital twins and improving the digital maturity of farming companies are the main cost drivers in the adoption of digitally enhanced CEA.

The costs associated with the development of the digital twin are mostly related to hardware elements and software development. Home-brew solutions, experimentation with cheap devices and gradual expansion of functionality are good first steps and help adopt the right digitalization mindset.

However, professional grower settings require industry-grade sub-systems, which are in a completely different league in terms of costs, and employing them requires a carefully prepared organisational digital strategy.

Agriculture is among the lowest-digitalized sectors, and digital maturity is an absolute prerequisite to adopting digital twins. As a consequence, costs related to digital maturity often overshadow technical costs in smart agriculture.

A company undergoing the early stages of digitalization will have to think about choosing a cloud provider, establishing a data strategy and acquiring an array of software licences, to name just a few critical challenges.

Organizational costs are hard to assess, but they might render the economic outlook of a company bleak. This is a particularly painful growing stage that requires proper consulting.

There have been recent success stories of industrial-academic collaborations that helped scope ongoing digitalization efforts at agricultural companies.

What’s next? ‘

The need for food security and sustainable production is as urgent as it’s ever been.

Amid dramatic climate change, forest fires all across Canada, extreme air pollution in Europe, an ongoing energy crisis and the continuous growth of population, food self-sufficiency is among the top goals of humankind.

Meeting the second sustainability development goal of the United Nations General Assembly — that is, to eradicate global hunger by 2030 — will require a complete paradigm shift in agriculture.

One way to meet this ambitious goal is by advanced digitalization and digital twins.

There are still obstacles to tackle before we get there, but with the constantly decreasing price of hardware and computing power, digitally driven smart agriculture is becoming a reality.

By Istvan David, McMaster University, Canada

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What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

Empowering local communities is essential for forest conservation, and economic stability is the primary concern of farmers in rural areas, where sustainable agriculture practices can coexist with livestock raising and forest recovery.

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Content: 00: 00
Expo 2020 Dubai Today
Combating deforestation on land
T + T - normal size
Protecting and conserving biota, especially tropical rainforests, is vital to climate goals, especially in countries with abundant forest cover, but recent observation data show significant deforestation in many of those areas, including the most extensive.
Brazil ’ s National Institute for Space Research noted in October 2021 the highest level of forest loss recorded in the Amazon that month, since monitoring began five years ago, and the problem is not limited to the Amazon.
The second largest tropical forest in the world, the Congo River Basin, lost more than 15 million hectares, or 8% of its original cover, between 2001 and 2020.
Global targets for promoting biodiversity such as those agreed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) are vital to raising awareness of ecosystem loss and ensuring accountability at the global level, but much of the actual work on environmental conservation must necessarily be done locally.
Empowering people in those biodiverse areas so they can live with their environment is essential in order to ensure the survival of forest-related biomes, but gaining blue from forests is not an easy task.
Activities such as mining and logging are more profitable – at least in the short term – than in other areas such as forest management, sustainable agriculture and eco-friendly tourism.
The recent survey of land-use dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon, which took two years, gives us some insights into how governmental and non-governmental actors can promote forest conservation at the local level.
First of all, understanding the needs and concerns of the population is vital: civil society organizations in the Amazon, for example, have recognized that economic stability is the primary concern of farmers in rural areas, and have used this information to introduce new agricultural practices based on the latest scientific advances.
Doing so has led to the coexistence of activities such as livestock raising, coffee production and forest recovery.
Other programs developed in this period taught small rural farmers forest management techniques and how to replant native species.
Mentors working with NGOs have provided technical assistance to farmers and created demonstration units to help residents understand the benefits of the new methods.
The enthusiastic promotion of technologies as well as evidence of improved production are critical factors in encouraging local farmers to adopt them and engage in sustainable forest activities.
In addition to offering forest-friendly agricultural practices, Amazon civil society organizations are working with small producer cooperatives to integrate remote communities into larger markets.
These networks allow farmers to make money from forests without harming them, but this infrastructure is fragile: according to data compiled by Conexus, the annual income of sustainable cooperatives in the Brazilian Amazon in 2019, from which their members benefit, was less than half of Brazil ’ s minimum wage for that year, meaning such low returns make it difficult to draw farmers away from more profitable and less sustainable activities.
For sustainable forests to be embraced by local communities, they must be seen as a reliable source of stable income, and government institutions can reduce economic volatility through legislation and initiatives.
Unfortunately, recent changes are actually reducing the existence of viable sustainable forests in Brazil.
Community-led organizations are vital in promoting sustainable forests, but their ability to effect change is limited by a lack of capital.
Activities such as teaching farmers in rural areas more sustainable technologies, creating markets that encourage investment in forest products, and developing ways to integrate Amazon communities into value chains are both time-consuming and costly.
Forest conservation depends on several interrelated factors.
Legislation to support forest conservation efforts and more funding for initiatives such as those mentioned here will help promote actions that are positive for the environment, but without structural changes at the national and local levels to enable rural people to earn a living from sustainable forest activities, the most important forest biomes on Earth will continue to be destroyed.
* Member of the editorial board of Siri News, economist and partner at the Conixos Soustentavis-Conixos Institute, a non-governmental organization focused on the development of rural and forest projects that conserve Brazil's biosphere.
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What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

Governments and international organizations can better support small-scale avocado farmers by providing resources, training, and financial incentives, to promote sustainable practices and improve their livelihoods.

Title:

Content: Sustainable farming holds the key to economic prosperity

Agriculture holds the key to economic transformation for Kenya and the East African region. However, the challenge lies in practising sustainable agriculture to unlock its true value from food production to agro-processing.

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) takes place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, as a region and human race, we have many challenges ahead.

Some, are brought on by climate change, population pressure and political or financial instability within our economic and geopolitical space. Still, as a country and region, we have many unique advantages including political goodwill which, if used wisely, will allow us to build a robust agricultural economy.

Let me start by dealing with a favourite topic of mine, irrigation and water security. At Kakuzi, we have 19 dams which collect rainfall - allowing us to use the water for irrigation during dry season.

The critical part of our water security is not just the dam but the catchment itself.

If we don’t preserve the water catchment fields, our dams won’t fill with water, or they could silt up. In short, sustainable and secure irrigation requires that we sacrifice something, in this case, acres and acres of land, which act as water catchment areas.

These fields are preserved with natural habitat and managed to avoid soil erosion, bush clearance or overgrazing. In these fields, we must overcome the temptation to dig up the land and plant crops.

The next key challenge for agriculture after water is energy and not just the cost but also availability. In Kenya, our key export crop of tea requires energy to turn it from lush green leaves to dry tea; bear in mind that 4.5 kilos of green leaf converts to 1 kilo of black tea as the rest is water.  As we encourage farmers to grow more green tea leaves, we must also consider how to dry leaves.

-Chris Flowers is the Kakuzi Managing Director.

In every tea-growing country, the energy for drying tea is a significant issue, whether it’s coal in India, gas in Bangladesh or fuel wood for us in East and Central Africa. Engineers have calculated the energy required, and it’s staggering. We must find sustainable solutions for this, as it’s not an easy or quick fix.

We all know the impact of energy prices on fertiliser, which is just another reason why we need to minimise our use wherever we can. Composting and mulching at Kakuzi to improve soil health and enhance soil fertility is a crucial component of our agricultural practices. Given that only 10 per cent of a macadamia nut is the edible kernel, a lot of biomass is available for conversion to energy or compost.

Teaching farmers sustainable agricultural techniques and when to apply different nutrients and in what quantities is part of what we do. Our online avocado academy ‘Kakuzi Avocademy’ is designed as an e-learning portal for farmers. Through the e-learning platform, we strive to advance shared prosperity values allowing smallholder farmers to learn and make the best crop husbandry decisions.

For many years now, I have been saying that we must explain how farmers can sell their fruit for the best value before we can tell them to plant an avocado tree.

Unfortunately, the fact is that the supply-demand equation for a perishable product such as avocados is a reality. Produce a product with limited marketability in a period of oversupply at your peril. This is precisely what happened in the avocado market earlier this year.

An oversupply of fruit in Europe through large Peruvian shipments and late European and North African production meant minimal marketing options for Kenyan smallholder fruit.

As I mentioned above, discerning customers choosing to eat a superfood such as macadamia or avocado want to know what they are eating and how it was produced. This is not because good Kenyan fruit is of substandard quality but simply because a lot of fruit from the country doesn’t have traceability credentials. If we as producers cannot demonstrate these traceability credentials, then high-value markets are limited and becoming more so.

We should also avoid the trap of thinking that emerging markets in the far east are less stringent than our traditional European markets. Sending substandard fruit to an emerging market can only depress demand, not enhance it.

Further up in the Rift Valley in the tea fields of Nandi and beyond, agricultural interest, mainly crop diversification, is also rising. The number of people seeking advice on avocado and macadamia potential in the region predominantly known for tea is growing.

Undoubtedly, this is the best time to get on the agribusiness side of things. As the name suggests, agribusiness means agricultural production for consumption and sale to raise much-needed financial resources. Like any other business, Agri-preneurs must carefully consider profit and loss fundamentals.

Considering profit and loss means engaging the investing community in the agricultural space to appreciate the role of credit access, mechanisation, technology and human resource management for efficiency.

Having been on the agricultural front my entire life, I can attest to this field-based industry’s value and potential to power rapid economic transformation. Kakuzi is an example of a leading agribusiness firm involved in commercial agricultural endeavours, including livestock rearing and agroforestry beyond our renowned avocado and macadamia production.

In Kenya, the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda 2022 - 2027 rightly notes that the agricultural sector has the highest growth multiplier effect on other economic sectors due to strong backward and forward linkages. There can be no denying that agriculture is our most globally competitive sector but getting it right is complex. Patience, long-term thinking and getting the fundamentals of sustainability, quality and traceability correct is the key.

Sometimes numbers tell the value of an agricultural enterprise better. For example, last year, notwithstanding the challenges of an “OFF” year cycle, Kakuzi PLC exported  Sh94 million worth of HASS avocados for our smallholder farmers. The previous ON-year cycle had seen us ship HASS Avocado cartons worth Sh152. 2 million for smallholder farmers.

In this venture geared at supporting smallholder farmers access quality international markets, we made payouts amounting to more than Sh31.4 million for the smallholder farmers from Kakuzi’s local community in Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Meru and Trans-Nzoia counties.

This is but one of the proof points that agribusiness is a viable economic avenue that can empower our farmers if we do it correctly.

However, we must remain alive to the vagaries of climate change as a risk factor to agricultural production and work towards building resilience.

Chris Flowers is the Kakuzi Managing Director.

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What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

sustainable agricultural techniques
supporting smaller companies

The supply and demand equation affects avocado marketability, and traceability credentials are necessary for high-value markets, while legislation and funding are necessary for forest conservation efforts.

Climate change is a risk factor to agricultural production, and governments and international organizations must work together to address this issue, while promoting sustainable land use practices and reducing deforestation.

What strategies can make global avocado trade more ethical?

Avocado farmers, like Javier Magaña Cárdenas, are promoting eco-friendly practices, and organizations like the Nature Conservancy are working with companies like Amazon to support sustainable land use and reduce carbon emissions.

Title:

Content: Amazon announces partnership with Nature Conservancy to invest in nature-based carbon removal solutions in Brazil
The initiative will target the Amazon rainforest and focus on reforestation and regenerative agroforestry while driving sustainable local economies.
Amazon ’ s investment aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 10 million metric tons by 2050, equivalent to the emissions of 2 million cars a year.
SEATTLE -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- To support global solutions to the climate crisis, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced the launch of the Agroforestry and Restoration Accelerator program in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental organization.
The accelerator will create a more sustainable source of income for tens of thousands of local farmers in the Brazilian state of Pará, while restoring native rainforests and sequestering carbon in a natural way to combat climate change.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, nature-based solutions play a key role in avoiding the severe impacts of climate change.
Governments and the private sector can reduce carbon emissions while removing carbon from the atmosphere by investing in nature-based solutions at scale.
The Agroforestry and Ecological Recovery Accelerator program is one of these carbon removal projects and is part of Amazon ’ s efforts to deliver on its commitments under the Climate Pledge.
The Climate Declaration was launched by Amazon in partnership with Global Optimism.
The signatories of the declaration are committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
Failing to meet the goals set out in the climate declaration, Amazon will first continue to innovate and invest to decarbonize its own business.
The company has already purchased 100,000 electric delivery vans and is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world.
Amazon will also invest in nature-based solutions beyond its value chain through the Right Now Climate Fund.
The fund will work to support accelerators and other projects to restore degraded land through a variety of pathways that improve the lives of local communities and remove atmospheric carbon dioxide.
In addition, Amazon and other partners will allocate at least $1 billion through the recently announced public-private initiative LEAF Coalition to protect the world ’ s rainforests, thereby halting deforestation and reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Kara Hurst, vice president of Amazon ’ s global sustainability business, said: “Restoring global forests is one of the most meaningful actions we can take today to address climate change, and to succeed, innovative solutions are needed.
We are proud to partner with the Nature Conservancy to launch agroforestry and ecological restoration accelerator solutions that prioritize high environmental integrity and high levels of community well-being.
Amazon looks forward to improving the lives of local communities in Brazil through active innovation and financial support, while helping to protect the planet for future generations. ”
Christiana Figueres, Co-Founder of Global Optimism and former UN Climate Chair for the Paris Agreement, said: “The scientific community agrees that natural systems play a primary role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and this view is supported by the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Protecting existing ecosystems and restoring degraded land is a critical strategy for carbon reduction, especially in the next 10 to 20 years.
If there are projects that can achieve this while maintaining the integrity of nature and the livelihoods of local communities, they can be invaluable in helping to advance the transition and sustain local prosperity in the long run following the climate crisis.
I appreciate the work done by the Amazon and the Nature Conservancy, "he said.
Amazon ’ s initial investment in the accelerator will support 3,000 farmers over three years and restore about 20,000 hectares of forest — the size of the city of Seattle — that could reduce up to 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2050.
The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre and a number of local civil society organizations, will implement the accelerator by helping small farmers restore degraded livestock pastures to native rainforests and agroforestry.
The agroforestry system will provide farmers with a sustainable source of income through the marketing of cocoa and other crops.
The accelerator will also experiment with innovative ways to support farmers and foster sustainable markets for rainforest commodities, including through the use of digital technologies, while also promoting new approaches and satellite-based technologies to quantify and monitor carbon removal.
Jennifer Morris, CEO of the Nature Conservancy, said: “Parra is home to about 9% of the world ’ s rainforests, but it faces an unprecedented rate of deforestation, with up to 3,300 acres cut every day in the past year.
In the past 13 years, the only farming method in Pará seems to have been logging and burning, with smallholder sites accounting for an average of 40% of the total area logged in the state. For 20 years, the Nature Conservancy has worked with smallholder farmers, community leaders, government officials and indigenous people to identify and implement win-win solutions, such as agroforestry, to help bring people and nature together to thrive.
“The new partnership with Amazon will allow us to provide the resources and technical assistance needed to move this project forward and demonstrate the viability of the regenerative agroforestry and carbon market business model in the Amazon community. ”
The governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, said: “We must unite to achieve this century ’ s goal, which is to develop our economy and secure people ’ s incomes while protecting and restoring forests. ”
The state of Pará is ready to meet this challenge, and our strategy has been explicitly written into the Amazonia Agora plan, which promises to reduce deforestation rates and advocate forest restoration in order to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2036.
The state of Pará welcomes investments by companies like Amazon in sustainable agroforestry and greening.
This investment will greatly benefit community groups, natural resources and biodiversity in the state, "he said.
To learn more about Amazon ’ s commitment to sustainability, visit: https: / / sustainability.aboutamazon.com.
About Amazon
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Women constitute 52% of Ghana's agricultural labor force and yield 70% of the country's food crops, but face barriers to land acquisition and high input costs, which hinder their participation in farming.

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Sow, grow, empower to inspire inclusion: Transforming Ghana’s future by nurturing the agricultural prowess of rural women and youth for enhanced food security

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Thu, 7 Mar 2024 Source: Dr. Stella Agyemang Duah

The agricultural sector stands as a significant contributor to Africa’s economic

development, impacting the livelihoods of approximately 60% of the continent's

population. Within the Ghanaian agricultural ecosystem, women emerge as the

unsung heroines, constituting 52% of the agricultural labor force and yielding 70% of the food crops in Ghana. Yet, economically, they benefit the least.

Just like a major part of the African continent, Ghana’s rural women and youth

play an irreplaceable role in the agricultural sector, not only for their communities but for the entire nation. However, they are confronted with challenges, the foremost being the barrier to land acquisition.

Trapped in the background, often behind bureaucratic walls, these women struggle to harness their full potential. High input costs, including hybrid seeds and fertilizers, hinder rural women and youth, confining them to seasonal farming or being at the mercy of other large-scale farmers who often exploit them. There is a need to prioritize securing land through a collaborative effort with kingmakers, the government, and the private sector for women who intend to pursue farming.

This could potentially reduce urban migration and unemployment. It also has the potential to enhance the revenue generation of the government. Thankfully, the Youth in Agriculture Programme (YIAP) has been making efforts to contribute to this endeavour. However, more effort needs to be made to salvage the situation. The financial challenge and women present another hurdle, with the high cost of

inputs, acting as a formidable challenge. Increasing costs of farm inputs such as hybrid seeds, herbicides, and fertilizers create a chasm, preventing these women and youth from embracing modern agricultural practices and relegating them to seasonal farming.

The remedy lies in a holistic approach. First and foremost, there must be a

concerted effort to secure land for rural women and youth. A bold resettlement

program, allocating community lands for specific crops, can breathe life into

these regions. Collaboration with kingmakers and the private sector can facilitate cost-effective land acquisition, curbing urban migration and unemployment.

Financial empowerment is the next imperative step. Subsidies or free provisions

of farm inputs can enhance sustainable farming practices for these women.

thereby increasing their ability to participate meaningfully in commercialised

farming. Government-backed venture capital funds can inject vitality into rural

economies, creating a ripple effect that resonates through school feeding

programs and enhances export capabilities.

Training programs in mechanized farming and access to technology can amplify

their participation, transforming difficult tasks into manageable feats. The

government's role is pivotal here, not just as a provider but as an enabler, offering mechanized services and technical support to amplify sustainable agricultural practices.

Crucially, the voices of these primary producers must be heard in policy

dialogues. Their lack of formal education does not diminish the insights they have collated from hands-on experience. Effective policy engagement, drawing on

their practical insights fortifies the entire agricultural value chain. The recent importation statistics ring as a wake-up call, with cereals and poultry products leading the chart. Ghana's agricultural prowess should be a shield against reliance on foreign products.

The call to action is clear: empower rural women and youth, unlock the potential of available technologies, and transform the agri-food systems. In doing so, not only does Ghana strengthen its economic foundation, but it also paints a narrative of empowerment, resilience, and prosperity for generations to come.

As we commemorate International Women’s Day 2024, let’s inspire inclusion for sustainable agriculture and food security.

Columnist: Dr. Stella Agyemang Duah

Securing land can reduce urban migration and unemployment, and financial empowerment is crucial for sustainable farming practices, while government-backed funds can inject vitality into rural economies.

Training programs can amplify rural women's participation in farming, and their voices must be heard in policy dialogues, to strengthen the economic foundation of countries like Ghana.