June 22, 2015

As keynote speaker, Albright shared her views on the role of the private sector before 400 guests from 45 countries who attended the three-day biennial AgriVision 2015 in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands, on June 16-18.
AgriVision has been organised biennially by the Dutch firm since 2000 and serves as a forum for informed discussion at a strategic level on current and future concerns in the protein food chain.
"When it comes to the private sector's involvement in issues of food security, I am one who believes that businesses have a responsibility to achieve growth in the right way. Companies need to do well by doing good", Dr Albright said, adding:
"First, I think leaders in global food and agriculture should to do more to engage on food security issues at a substantive level-going beyond just press releases and corporate social responsibility reports. That means placing a high value on the nutritional quality of food, a sustainable food supply, sensibly using water, and working to ensure climate security in all aspects of your business.
"Second, I think that private-sector leaders need to be in continuous and candid dialogue with leaders in the public and non-profit sectors. Food insecurity is one of the most complex challenges of this century because it is a combination of so many other seemingly insurmountable challenges-including climate change, inequality, disease, conflict and political unrest. Every one of these issues, and especially food insecurity, will require a multi-sector approach with key stakeholders working in concert if we expect to make true progress.
"And third, I think that private-sector leaders in food and agriculture need to pay special attention to the smallholder farmers, who are mostly women, who bear much of the global burden of agricultural production but see little of its profit".
Highlighting the importance of increasing efficiency, Dr Albright pointed out that the global trade in agriculture, which exceeds $1 trillion each year, is more than 200 times the annual operating budget of the World Food Program. This means a 1% annual gain in the efficiency of global agriculture markets could free up enough money to cover all global food aid costs many times over, she said.
Nutreco is a wholly owned subsidiary of SHV Holdings N.V., a family-owned multinational with net sales of €14.9 billion ($19.7 billion) in 2014.