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Agribusiness / Food in Americas

  • How fair is our food? Big companies take reins on sourcing schemes

    WORLD, 2017/09/06 From cocoa to tea, food and drink giants are setting their own standards for ethical sourcing of raw materials, moving away from third-party labels such as Fairtrade. Mondelez International (MDLZ.O), owner of chocolate brands Cadbury and Toblerone, Unilever (ULVR.L), behind tea brands such as Lipton and PG Tips, and Barry Callebaut, the world’s biggest producer of chocolate and cocoa products, have all introduced their own schemes. They say their targets are additional comprehensive and some claim their schemes are additional effective in tracking whether a product is ethically sourced each step of the way. With companies under financial pressure, analysts say it has as well been a way to save money.
  • U.S. warns South Sudan: Continued chaos is not acceptable, aid may be pulled

    UNITED STATES, 2017/09/03 The top U.S. official for humanitarian aid has delivered a stern warning to South Sudan’s president that the Trump administration is reexamining its policy toward one of the world's poorest and most dangerous countries as the African nation slides into lawlessness. Mark Green, the administrator for the United States Agency for International Development, met Friday with President Salva Kiir Mayardit. Green said he raised U.S. concerns over the dangers humanitarian aid workers face in delivering food and medicine in the country as well as a pervasive climate of criminal activity by government forces, criminal gangs and opposition forces. Since civil war erupted almost four years ago, a third of South Sudan’s population has become internally displaced or fled the country in Africa’s worst refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
  • ARGENTINA: Country Reaches Deal To Export Lemons To Mexico

    ARGENTINA, 2017/07/21 Next several years of negotiation, Argentina closed a transaction to sell fresh lemons to Mexico, next both nations agreed on phytosanitary requirements for the Argentinean exports of the fruits.
  • José Demicheli, Director of ADBlick Agro

    ARGENTINA, 2017/05/28 With only 44 million inhabitants, Argentina produces enough food to sell to and feed 400 million people worldwide. The agricultural sector was what made Argentina an economic powerhouse at the turn of the 20th century. Today, it is part the majority prominent sectors of the economy, and one which the government hopes will be an engine for economic increase as Argentina further integrates its economy with the world. While much of this sector is in the hands of wealthy landowners, entrepreneurs are finding new ways to exploit the economic potential and innovate. José Demicheli saw this potential a decade ago at the same time as he founded ADBlick Agro. His project came not from a family history in agriculture or through connections, strictly a business venture. Today, ADBlick is made up of one thousand Argentine investors who become stakeholders in the company’s agribusiness investments. With the new structural changes to the sector stemming from the reduction of export tariffs, the sector is poised to take off.
  • Panama’s government steps up support for agriculture amid falling exports

    PANAMA, 2017/04/15 As the sector braves dual headwinds from volatile climate conditions and tighter competition from cheap imports, state support for agriculture is increasing in Panama.
  • Trinidad and Tobago sharpens focus on value-added agriculture

    TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, 2017/04/11
  • Grounded tanker freed from Cape Breton shore

    CANADA, 2017/01/16 The grounded bunkering tanker Arca 1 has been freed from the coast of Little Pond, N.S., and is presently tied to a dock in the Sydney harbour next being stranded for a week. McKeil Marine Ltd., a marine transportation firm, and the Canadian Coast Guard worked together to remove the vessel during high tide Sunday morning. "The work was done safely and professionally and proficiently. There were no lives lost, no injuries and no harm to the environment," said Keith Laidlaw, a senior response officer with the Coast Guard's environmental branch. The Arca 1's crew of six were removed from the tanker in a helicopter rescue last Sunday. Rescue workers scoop crew from tanker stranded off Cape Breton First attempt to tow tanker grounded off Cape Breton ends in failure The tanker was towed out of the area around 10 a.m. today, next high seas and winds foiled before attempts to free the vessel. "Weather forced us to wait until presently to do it and it really was the best time to do it," said Laidlaw. Initial, crews pumped out the ballast water in the hull. Ships carry ballast to increase stability and it was pumped out to make the Arca 1 lighter and easier to tow. "They took several hundred tonnes (300 tonnes) of ballast water off the vessel...and it floated free," said Stephen Bornais, a spokesman for the Canadian Coast Guard who was at the scene at the same time as the ship was removed.
  • Atlantic Canada's seafood industry gets a boost as China lowers tariffs

    CHINA, 2017/01/16 Atlantic Canada's seafood industry is starting 2017 with a boost for the bottom line thanks to lower tariffs on seafood entering the booming China market. The Jan. 1, 2017, tariff cuts announced just before New Year's Day by China's ministry of commerce will benefit about a quarter of Canada's seafood exports to China. The exports to China were valued at $634 million as of October 2016. World Affairs Canada told CBC News crab, frozen halibut and albacore are part the export products most benefiting from the tariff reductions. Tariffs on these products will be reduced on average from 11 to five %, leaving additional money in the pockets of seafood companies in 2017.
  • Speckle Park Cows have proven to be a popular breed with international buyers at Agribition.

    CANADA, 2016/11/30   Australian ranchers Glen Waldron and Kim Groner are back at the Canadian Western Agribition for the initial time in three years. The duo are in Canada looking for genetics to bring back to their operation, Elite Cattle Co. in the national of Queensland. Waldron said that Canadian cattle breeds suit the Australian market well. He added that there’s about 40 other Australians at the show this year, which is not uncommon.
  • USAID’s goals of attracting investment and increasing food security in northern Ghana

    UNITED STATES, 2016/10/22 The United States Agency for International Improvment(USAID) and the Ghana Grains Council held the sixth annual Pre-harvest Agribusiness Forum in Sunyani on October 20. The event brought together additional than 1,000 farmers, buyers, processors, equipment dealers, transporters, financial institutions and others who work in agriculture and agribusiness. The aim of the annual event is to foster long-term business relationships, discussions, and the exchange of ideas in order to drive economic increase in Ghana’s agriculture sector.