Drought in Morocco has become more frequent and the Casablanca-Settat region is experiencing a 78 percent rainfall deficit this year. Meteorologists says that drought in Morocco occurred once every ten years in the 20th century but over the past two decades it has been at five times that frequency. Drought greatly slows the country’s economy while concurrently requiring an increase in food imports. During the 2000-01 drought, Morocco’s wheat imports doubled to 5 MMT. In 2006-07, grain production was only half a normal year’s output. In 2015-16, grain production fell by 70 percent and wheat imports increased by 1 MMT. A new investment program for dams and irrigation may eventually bring help but the country is warmin...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
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.