Support African Agriculture as a Business

22-23 February 2018. Arlington, Virginia. Now in its 94th year, the Agricultural Outlook Forum was the USDA’s largest annual meeting, attracting as many as 2,000 attendees from the U.S. and abroad. The forum highlighted key issues and topics within the agricultural community, offering a platform for conversation among producers, processors, policymakers, government officials, and non-governmental organizations, both foreign and domestic.

Extract of the programme

International Markets and Trade
Emerging Markets in Developing Regions
Growing incomes lead to expanding food demand in SubSaharan Africa and Southeast Asia. With a combined population of almost 2 billion, these regions have a growing presence in global agricultural markets and are emerging markets for U.S. agriculture. Dialogue on demand-side changes, developing value chains, and the role of technology, discusses competition and challenges in the region.

Rapid Transformation of Emerging Market Food Systems: Implications for U.S. Exporters
Perspectives on changing food systems, following how the diet transition to processed food spans demand side changes and developments along value chain structures.
Thomas Reardon, Professor and Distinguished Faculty, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI

Strengthening Value Chains to Promote Trade
Strengthening value chains through development, how capacity building creates opportunities on the ground, and challenges to accessing local markets.
Josh Neiderman, Regional Director-Africa, American Soybean Association/World Initiative for Soy in Human Health, St. Louis, MO

Expanding Agriculture Technology and Innovation in Emerging Markets
Historical perspective on how technology and trade change together, linkages between productivity and ability to purchase imported commodities, and implications for the United States.
Steven Elmore, Chief Economist, Pioneer Seeds, Denver, PA

Video coverage: