LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – The International Grains Council held its annual conference here this week, in conjunction with London Grains Week, to discuss challenges and opportunities of international grain trade, market trends, and food security. USA Rice participated as a delegate.
The
International Grains Council (IGC) is an intergovernmental organization based in London that seeks to improve global market transparency, promote fair trade, and enhance food security. It oversees the International Grains Trade Convention and provides data, market summaries, and analysis for cereals, oilseeds, rice, and pulses.
Discussions during the two day conference centered around challenges posed by the volatility of global grain logistics as a result of port congestions, shipping bottlenecks, freight rate volatility and supply chain disruption, but also about the opportunities new gene editing techniques provide to enhance crop resilience, improve yields and how they can help to move the needle to a more sustainable agricultural production.
“The conference provided a valuable platform for the private and public sector to meet and exchange views and ideas, and to have discussions to help shape the future of the regulatory environment to continue to facilitate free trade,” said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. “In conversations with delegates, the same theme was reiterated again and again: agriculture is the most important asset and feeding the world’s increasing population is our common responsibility. Farmers everywhere face similar challenges of low farmgate prices and high input costs, coupled with market uncertainties through trade and shipping disruptions, so conferences like this offer a valuable platform to share information and participate in the ongoing dialogue.”