Tag Archives: alternative
Report On Status Of Agriculture In Africa Has Been Unveiled
The Africa Agriculture Status Report: Focus on Staple 2013 Crops was inspired by the need to have an accessible and reliable resource publication depicting the status and trends of African agriculture. Given the role agriculture plays in the African economies, it is critical to have such a resource to inform the designing of policies and strategies based on current and accurate information on key indicators. The chapters in the report were guided by the value chain concept. The concept runs from production, through post-harvest handling, to processing and marketing of the commodities, to consumption. It takes into consideration the input-output markets, be they domestic, regional or global. Collective action as a tool in agricultural transformation is also considered, since it plays a key role in addressing the constraints faced by smallholder farmers. The aim of the status report is to have an ongoing data collection effort on key agriculture indicators that are tracked on a regular basis and reported in subsequent publications. This report is divided in two sections : The first section focuses on agricultural growth, competitiveness, factors of production (land, soil fertility, seed production, agriculture financing), output markets, capacity building, agriculture policy, farmer organizations, women in agriculture and extension advisory services. The chapters outline the current status and the interventions offered by various players in the field of agriculture. The second section is a collation of both macro and micro data from the selected countries. The micro data was provided by the Ministries of Agriculture and Bureaus of Statistics in the respective countries. The macro data was from institutions that track key indicators on a regular basis such as the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organizations and The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The expectation, moving forward, is to track the micro data on a regular basis and avail these data to actual or potential consumers of the information. Click here to download the full report – See more at: http://www.agra.org/…h.ZdFSmOLi.dpuf Continue reading
Q&A with Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp Discussing Agriculture and Water
“There is absolutely no substitute for water at any price” – Steve Yuzpe Ideas get bigger when you share them… New York, NY, Point Roberts, WA – September 18, 2013 (Investorideas.com Water Stocks Newswire) Investorideas.com, an investor research portal specializing in sector research for independent investors including water and agriculture stocks issues an exclusive interview with Mr. Steve Yuzpe, Chief Financial Officer at Sprott Resource Corp. Mr. Yuzpe provides insight into global trends and opportunities within the sectors. Q: Investorideas.com Where do you see the biggest opportunities in agriculture and can you give us some of the publicly traded companies you like? A: Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp Sprott Resource Corp. is the private equity group within the Sprott Group of Companies … so public stocks are not my specialty. That said, the Ag sectors that we like are fertilizers (especially phosphate), healthy food themes and water Q: Investorideas.com Outside of traditional agriculture companies and related suppliers like seeds, fertilizer and transportation do you see agriculture getting more into technology, for example water management and treatment technologies within the actual umbrella of an Ag company? A: Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp Yes. I think technology and water management will be very important sub-sectors within the agriculture sector. Technology: has to be part of the solution to deal with the increase in primary production required to feed the planet in the next 40 years. The population will grow by 40 – 50%, but the global grain and oilseed production will need to increase by 80 – 100%. Technology will impact every aspect of primary production (for example, off the top of my head, seed genetics, variable rate farming, farm machinery (smart, auto-steer seeding units), efficient / secure storage, water extraction, enhanced food preservation, etc.) Water: 70% of global water use is from agriculture and significantly more water will be required to increase global production. Improvements in technology, awareness and conservation are all part of the solution. There is absolutely no substitute for water at any price. Q: Investorideas.com How do you see the global eating trends of organic, vegetarian and vegan impacting agriculture, for an example the growing shift from sugar to alternatives like stevia? A: Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp The trend in wealthy countries is an increase in ‘healthy diets’ … I think the themes of organic, hormone free, antibiotic free, nitrate free, grass fed, etc. are poised to gain mindshare of consumers, which should lead to investment opportunities. Q: Investorideas.com I have read that countries in the Middle East and China have bought up agricultural lands with water rights globally in anticipation of drought and bigger issues in food supplies from climate change. How will that impact the global picture long term? A: Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp The counties you mention have to deal with the very real threats of food security and food inflation. The rise in commodity prices has already contributed to the overthrow of regimes in the Middle East and in the last 5-years has led to riots across from Bahrain all the way to Morocco and is driving up costs in China and India. The way that water is priced and managed globally leads us to believe that localized water shortages are inevitable. As mentioned above, Canada is lucky that we have significant water resources. Opportunities exist because agriculture is facing serious issues in the near and long-term. We will likely solve some of the issues we are facing, but I don’t see how we can solve them all. The long-term impact is tough to predict. All over the world there has been a strong pushback against foreign buyers of farmland. Q: Investorideas.com Are you looking at South American opportunities and if so where? For example I published an article from another writer recently entitled “It’s a good time to buy land in Argentina”, based on falling coffee and sugar prices . A: Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp We like certain jurisdictions in South America and would definitely avoid others. Our investment style considers geopolitical risk, currency risk, etc., in addition to return profile of the investment. For example, we have a large position in Union Agriculture Group, a large farming operation in Uruguay. We also have a large position in Stonegate Agricom, which has a phosphate deposit in Peru. Q: Investorideas.com What will be the driving force to get more investors into agriculture and water? Do you think like a lot of other sectors, that it will be event driven (water shortages, drought, and contamination) or simply pocket book related as prices rise? A: Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp The agriculture segment is much smaller than other investment sectors. To bring more investors into the sector, we also need to build and develop more companies and products to invest in. It could legitimately be from either event driven or market driven (inflation protection) event, but likely it is from a linked event. A geopolitical or production crisis (weather, etc.) would start prices to rise and fear and greed would exacerbate the price moves. Q: Investorideas.com Where do you think Canada fits into the global market? A: Steve Yuzpe of Sprott Resource Corp Long term, Canada has a very important role to play in primary food production … a large arable land base, already a net exporter of production (with a small population, so little chance that production will be held back from export in a food crisis), significant water resources, geopolitical stability, infrastructure is in place, experienced farmers and a system of strong food safety standards. About Steve Yuzpe, Chief Financial Officer Mr. Yuzpe has over 10 years of financial administration management experience with public and private corporations. Over his career, Mr. Yuzpe has developed specific expertise in financial and internal reporting, strategic development and business planning, corporate governance, investor relations, regulatory compliance, treasury, financings and restructurings. Since 2009, Mr. Yuzpe has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Sprott Resource Corp., and is currently the chairman of One Earth Farms Corp., as well as a director of One Earth Oil and Gas Inc. Mr. Yuzpe has also been involved with Street Kids International, a charity focused on youth at risk, as the Treasurer, member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for more than 10 years. He was also a founding board member of Inroads to Agriculture Institute, an organization whose mission is to help Aboriginal people secure full time employment in the agricultural industry through training and employment support. Mr. Yuzpe holds a Bachelor of Science, Engineering (Mechanical) degree from Queen’s University along with the Professional Engineering designation (P.Eng.) and a Masters in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario. Mr. Yuzpe is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder. Continue reading
Eco-Watches: Groups Attain Mixed Results In The Alternative Market
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4befe99c-eee3-11e2-b8ec-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2fKiu01ri By Syl Tang It was just a matter of time before ecology touched the watch industry. With nearly 15m watches sold in the US alone in 2012, several new companies are trying to make the business a bit greener with biodegradable and natural material watches. In 2008, Marcella Maselli became troubled by the plastic watch trend. Michael Kors had entered the marketplace with plastic bracelet timepieces, and the Italian company Toywatch was experiencing enormous success. Ms Maselli, director of product development for E Gluck, the company in charge of the Armitron and Anne Klein licences, says: “Everywhere I looked, I saw plastic. I wanted to make something with the look but not the environmental impact.” She started working on a line called Sprout, which would be based in New York, and be biodegradable. But it was not quite as easy as she had hoped. Traditional plastics are oil-based, and therefore not biodegradable. Finally the company used polymer polylactide, extracting starch from corn, converting the sugar into lactic acid, and turning it into pellet form, which then became mouldable and injectable corn resin. Made entirely of plant-based feed, corn resin watch bracelets break down naturally over time. Sprout could not figure out some of the elements: the hands, the crown and movement had to be traditionally made. However, the crystal was replaced with one that a biodegradable mineral, and the traditional watch battery with a mercury- and lead-free option. The result was a watch that would biodegrade by 80-93 per cent in a landfill in an estimated three years, with decomposition speeding up in a compost environment. During the process, the watch would not leak toxins or chemicals, which is the biggest problem with traditional plastics. There are some style limitations to the Sprout eco-friendly watches. “Because of the nature of the materials, you cannot do everything with corn resin,” says Ms Maselli. You can’t make a gold watch or a silver-plated watch.” Not being able to take on every trend has not hampered the company. Sprout has expanded to 80 styles carried in 1,000 sales outlets, including the US department store Nordstrom, where new models such as cork and bamboo variations are introduced five times a year. Also chasing the alternative material option is WeWood, a company that started making watches in 2010 with wooden bands, and cases that had not been treated with chemicals, ideally using already harvested scraps. Historically, wooden watches have not fared well. If the wood had not been treated with chemicals, insects consumed the material. With other watches, wearers discovered the wood would simply deteriorate over time. And some cost thousands of dollars. Based in Florence and Los Angeles, WeWood makes no secret of the difficulties. Neither of the two founders, Daniele Guidi, an accessories distributor, and Alessandro Rosano, a shoe designer, had any experience. “From when we made the first sample, to understand what was going wrong, to make things work well together, [was] a work in progress. [From] that first watch to today, the failure [rate] has been reduced drastically,” says Mr Guidi. The company found its test groups by tracking the way the watches they sold fared in an increasing number of climates and locations. Wooden watches had existed for some time through other companies such as Tense, Martin & MacArthur, AB Aeterno, and SpringBreak, but WeWood’s reclaimed message, wide variety of styles and modest prices seemed to resonate. Made primarily in Indonesia and China from maple, black wood, recycled teak and rosewood, WeWood’s pieces, which retail for between $120 and $140, and weigh just 1.5 ounces, became popular with consumers. Singers Rihanna and Ke$ha, and pop group the Black Eyed Peas, are fans and the company ships to more than 30 countries. WeWood plans to make a watch with entirely ecological movements. Only the springs would be metal. But to make this a reality, the cost would be astronomical, at $20,000-$30,000 each. “This sort of thing appeals to the 20- to 25-year-olds, says Katie Nadler, chief executive of the fashion recommendation engine, TopShelf. “The ‘millennials’ became aware from a young age of the potential long-term environmental damage of everyday actions. It’s a thoughtful approach on what they wear.” However, TopShelf, which makes about 100,000 monthly purchase recommendations to its subscribers, says that, despite a growing number of requests, eco watches are still a very small percentage of the 10,000 to 15,000 watch purchases that it recommends. “The major catalyst for volume growth in eco-friendly watches will come when industry giants such as Fossil start to focus on it,” says Ms Nadler. An industry analyst who asked not to be named noted: “There’s just 11 brands that surpass $100m in sales each. It’s absurd for a start-up watch company to try to take them on.” WeWood admits it struggled initially with low production numbers and a lack of resources. Some feel that ecologically focused watch companies are simply riding a larger trend for anything green. According to LGI Network – an NPD Group company that tracks 72 watch brands – although 90 per cent of the market is battery-driven watches, the trend is just a matter of marketing. Fred Levin, president of LGI, says: “When you look at how much energy we use elsewhere in our daily lives, your watch is such a small part – the battery even smaller. It lasts for three years and is one of the most efficient sources of energy … This is a non-event. It’s just that marketers always focus on ways to appeal to consumers.” Continue reading
