What is the impact of Covid-19 on the food system? Is the world going to change the food system or are governments trying to go back to normalcy? Berry Marttin, executive member on the board of Rabobank, shares his view.
Covid-19 has led to various effects. In the US the price of corn went down, as people drove less. In New Zealand the price of milk went up as soon as China mastered the crisis. But in general, Marttin says, farmers managed to keep production going. However in emerging countries that depend on food imports "Covid-19 showed us that some of the value chains have not performed as we thought they would perform", Marttin says. "Therefore we should take the opportunity to rethink value chains and go back to the drawing table. It doesn’t make sense for every commodity to have these long value chains." Long value chains entail big environmental costs. That's why Marttin stresses "we have to rethink those long value chains". In some places you'll inevitably need them, but where you don't need them, we'd better refrain from them as much as we can. Especially as the opportunity presents itself. Marttin: "I think there is a willingness now among the public to buy food locally. This willingness is very important, we have to use it."
Rabobank advocates 'nature costing'. Unless we show the real costs - the impact on nature - on products, people won't change their behaviour, Marttin says. "We have to understand the true costs of nature for all of the products we consume. Now the public cannot know how much nature is in a product. Once we put a price on nature, it will make much more sense to explain where and why food is being produced and how it should be distributed."
Are politicians aware that this is a moment to rethink the food system? Marttin is worried by the fact they are programmed to restore normalcy as quickly as possible in order to avoid further economic decline. But instead, we have to create a new normal. "I hope we take the opportunity to create this new normal for food", he says.
To put a price on nature, a whole set criteria needs to be developed and all stakeholders will have to accept them. Who's with Rabobank on the way to its new normal? Marttin: “We as Rabobank are working together with other parties on the idea of a carbon bank. Farmers are like carbon managers. Therefore we have to support our clients to improve their carbon emissions. The moment you put a price on carbon you'll see a change in behaviour among farmers."
Is it it only about CO2? No, it is about much more - CO2, water, nitrogen, biodiversity and soils - and, Martinn stresses "access to proper regulations and proper logistics". It is about creating infrastructures that don't exist yet. It takes time to develop the whole set of design criteria and the logic that integrates them. "That is why we need to go back to the drawing table." On top of that Marttin makes a plea for a smallholder green revolution to feed Africa by about 70%. In his view smallholders can double or triple their current production and stay away from cities making a living in the countryside.
Is it going to happen? We need to organize for getting organized. We need to sit down together and define what we want as mankind and take the outcome to the drawing table.
Watch the interview till the end. Marttin is challenging the IFAMA-community to come up with ideas to do so and to turn nature costing into a real life policy instrument. Changing the way all involved in the food chain operate, from farmers, traders, processors, retailers, policy makers and governments to consuming citizens.
We cannot afford not to do something. The cost of not doing it, is less food production. A lot of leaders in the world are finally realizing thisNature costing
Rabobank advocates 'nature costing'. Unless we show the real costs - the impact on nature - on products, people won't change their behaviour, Marttin says. "We have to understand the true costs of nature for all of the products we consume. Now the public cannot know how much nature is in a product. Once we put a price on nature, it will make much more sense to explain where and why food is being produced and how it should be distributed."
Are politicians aware that this is a moment to rethink the food system? Marttin is worried by the fact they are programmed to restore normalcy as quickly as possible in order to avoid further economic decline. But instead, we have to create a new normal. "I hope we take the opportunity to create this new normal for food", he says.
To put a price on nature, a whole set criteria needs to be developed and all stakeholders will have to accept them. Who's with Rabobank on the way to its new normal? Marttin: “We as Rabobank are working together with other parties on the idea of a carbon bank. Farmers are like carbon managers. Therefore we have to support our clients to improve their carbon emissions. The moment you put a price on carbon you'll see a change in behaviour among farmers."
Is it it only about CO2? No, it is about much more - CO2, water, nitrogen, biodiversity and soils - and, Martinn stresses "access to proper regulations and proper logistics". It is about creating infrastructures that don't exist yet. It takes time to develop the whole set of design criteria and the logic that integrates them. "That is why we need to go back to the drawing table." On top of that Marttin makes a plea for a smallholder green revolution to feed Africa by about 70%. In his view smallholders can double or triple their current production and stay away from cities making a living in the countryside.
Marttin is challenging the IFAMA-community to come up with ideas to do so and to turn nature costing into a real life policy instrument changing the way all involved in the food chain operateThat's quite a different perspective from the industrial farming systems that have evolved in Brasil, Marttin's native country. “Food is very global and at the same time very local. You need to cooperate to make this global food system work. We need to get together and try to create shared value. Understand your common destiny. It is a challenge, but we cannot afford not to do something. The cost of not doing it is less food production. A lot of leaders in the world are finally realizing this. The sense of urgency is there. Nowadays issues like climate, ecology and food are big topics. If we don`t work together with the whole value chain, also with the consumer, it is not going to work. We need to double the food production and reduce the accompanying emissions almost to zero. For this we need to change the way we consume, what we consume and when we consume.”
Is it going to happen? We need to organize for getting organized. We need to sit down together and define what we want as mankind and take the outcome to the drawing table.
Watch the interview till the end. Marttin is challenging the IFAMA-community to come up with ideas to do so and to turn nature costing into a real life policy instrument. Changing the way all involved in the food chain operate, from farmers, traders, processors, retailers, policy makers and governments to consuming citizens.
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"For this we need to change the way we consume, what we consume and when we consume".
May be it's more useful to say: We need to change the way we produce, what we produce and when we produce it. Rabo's influence on the latter is much higher. The first statement is more a matter of blindness or turning away.
Jan Peter, I’m not sure you’re right he is turning away from that. Could you give us examples of production systems that need to be changed? Another question: how do you judge Marttin’s plea for a small holder revolution in Africa? He’s aware it won’t be 100% efficiënt, but prefers to be a realist.
This is the 3th time I listen to Berry Martin. (April 2015 on a dairyfarm meeting, ?2017 at It’s the Food my Friend (where he ate a vega snack and could almost not believe it was Not meat)
Again this 3th time I’m balancing.
At first I hear a person at Rabobank with influence that wants to go to a new direction, the better direction also on my opinion. Including nature in the price is very welcome for the future generation to be able to live on this world. Also I like that Berry looks at the world and not just the Netherlands or Europe.
On the other hand his story is not consistent. It hops from water to carbon all on the name of nature. Not a word about pesticides and Nitrogen (in Europe and America) issues. If you listen very well he speaks of small farmers in Africa, (small) farmers in the world. Not a word about the farmers in Europa or in hometown country the Netherlands**. I know he lives in Brazil and has one or more farms there. And again not a word about agriculture in Brazil. Dick tried to ask Martin: Is this all what is nature? Berry does not answer that question in my opinion. Martin goes on about regional production and that logistic / transport over long distance is no longer a good idea. I does not become clear if he means finished products and/or just resources. Not a word about the menu in the world, the range of products in our food stores.
Why is it that I’m afraid it’s al lot of words with cherry picking for what is easy (water foodprint and Carbon) so they can say we are busy with it and look at what we have reached in 10 years.
We should ask Rabobank how the look at biofuels and how much money is involved in loans to stakeholders in this production value chain. What role played and plays Rabobank in that development? How do they look at it now, and how did they look on It 10 years ago? Is Rabobank able and willing to accept the consequences of (early) changes on that matter and depreciate / amortize if necessary?
Also I’m missing the subject of sharing the profits in the chain. Rabobank is a cooperation of farmers…. Or is that (internationally) lost… Why does Dutch Rabobank finance the world?
Doesn’t farmers in for example Africa have the right, should have the opportunity, to create there own cooperation in the country as the Dutch did many years ago? Why does the money have to leave the country to shareholders in the Netherlands? Isn’t that money also involved in a too long value chain.
The path of money is (also) to long?
**Dutch farmer should be aware: Ask yourself if you are not mentioned are you still relevant in the future in the eyes of Rabobank….
In my opinion he should focus on the production side of the problem. Entirely. It's where he/they/the bank came from. Something with splinter, beam, eye. I want to have the feeling that's serious and not some words. And yes, I'm a bit/much suspicious. Weird?
"Could you give us examples of production systems that need to be changed?"
It's an other idea, an other lens to look through: when you do change production systems (in the right way: more useful, less garbage) consumption will follow. So yes, almost all production systems need to be changed. Period.