A new report by USDA’s Economic Research Service entitled Market Opportunities Expanding for Agricultural Trade and Investment in Africa cites several dynamics of note. By 2200, the region’s population will be 3.4 billion, 20 percent larger than China and India currently combined. Its population is rapidly urbanizing, making food availability and imports more important. Its economies are growing and will be particularly boosted by the new AfCFTA and its removal of trade barriers. While Africa has traditionally been an importer of bulk commodities, it is increasingly a taker of intermediate and consumer-oriented foods. For example, it already ranks third behind East Asia and the Middle East for chicken meat imports but its...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) enters its mandated six-year review on 1 July. The original intent of the review is outlined in Article 34.7, which obligates members to: Provide recommendations and decide on appropriate actions. Extend the USMCA for another 16 years and meet aga...
From WPI Consulting
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.