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Agribusiness Can Lead the Shift to Sustainable Farming
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Agribusiness Can Lead the Shift to Sustainable Farming

Matthias Baeumler, Benjamin Subei and Torsten Kurth
Boston Consulting Group, 2022
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9

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To the uninitiated, digital technology and agriculture might seem like incongruous bedmates. One belongs in the big city and trades in zeros, ones and data bits, while the other exists in the silent, windswept fields, and more primal factors, like soil and water and ancient plant DNA are at play. In this report, the Boston Consulting Group explains why digital technology has every right to be out in the fields, and agribusinesses will soon concern themselves primarily with data and tech. Technology will feed the world while agribusinesses will save it from chemical pollutants.

Summary

The European Union’s Farm to Fork Strategy is raising concern in the agriculture industry.

The call for sustainability is echoing in every industry around the globe, and agriculture is no exception. The European Union has instituted F2F (Farm to Fork) regulations to spur sustainable farming practices, which means producers from overseas who want to sell their goods in Europe will have to comply with the standards as well. Even in countries without new environmental regulations, consumers are leaning toward buying from more environmentally-conscious producers.

Some research suggests that F2F standards will impair productivity, raise food prices and hurt people who already struggle with food security. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the US Department of Agriculture...

About the Authors

Matthias Baeumler, Benjamin Subei and Torsten Kurth are professionals from the Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Berlin offices of the Boston Consulting Group.

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