US soybean farmers (L to R: David Lueck (MO), Daryl Cates (IL), Bill Wykes (IL))  visit a feed factory in Kumasi, Ghana with, then, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Krysta Harden on a USDA-led Agricultural Trade Mission to Ghana in 2015.

By Jim Hershey, Executive Director, World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH)—A Program of the American Soybean Association

America and its farmers have taken their role of “feeding the world” seriously for decades. Food assistance programs, such as PL 480 started after World War II and, more recently, initiatives like the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program, have provided badly needed nutrition to millions of people. While humanitarian assistance is important, trade is a necessary tool for long-term agricultural development and food security, reaching even greater numbers of people.  In many countries, local production cannot meet the market’s needs, so it is important to remember that trade is vital to feeding the world and improving diets.

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) February outlook underscored the importance of trade. It forecasts 2017 US agricultural exports at $136 billion. Strong global demand for oilseed crops, such as soybeans, is expected to generate sales of $31.6 billion. Volumes and values of this trade continue to grow, as consumers with rising incomes are able to add more nutrition, including proteins, to their diets.

Soybean farmers worldwide have benefited as food and feed industries learn the value of soy protein. World trade in soybeans has more than doubled in less than 20 years to 130 million metric tons. This growth trend was driven by evolving consumption patterns in countries such as China and regions such as South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service programs have played an important role in partnering with US farmers for trade and development.

Growing economies allow for increased consumption of meat, milk, and eggs, often accompanied by a positive impact on nutritional status. However, chronic undernutrition is still a significant problem. Stubborn stunting rates are now a direct target of the Sustainable Development Goals. One doesn’t need to be a health professional to understand the link between a diet deficient in quality protein consumption and a child’s poor muscle mass and brain development, with a long-term, negative impact on an individual’s earning potential.

Increases in the availability and affordability of the types of food people want to buy and consume result in improved food security. Agricultural development and trade are proven drivers in that process. Food security also contributes to political stability, and the lack of it, increases the risk of social unrest and political upheaval.

 In response to these factors, US soybean farmers created the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program in 2001 with the goals of increasing opportunities for trade, growing the world economy and improving food security. WISHH achieves their vision through the development of agricultural value chains that increase the use of soy protein. Our USDA-funded Food for Progress Program in Ghana is a good example of the nexus between development and trade. Ghanaian farmers are working hard to increase their yields of maize and soy, in part through collaboration with USAID’s Feed the Future Program. These farmers need a healthy, expanding poultry and egg industry. The WISHH Program is undertaking capacity building projects for the feed and poultry value chains aimed at improving the quality of the feeds available to Ghanaian broilers and layers.

Goals of the project include improving feed conversion ratios in poultry production, thereby lowering its cost. Ghanaian maize and soy production is chronically insufficient to supply the industry’s needs 12 months per year, so imports, primarily soy protein, fill the gap. U.S. soybean farmers see the clear advantage of improving the entire Ghanaian soy value chain, as broad-based economic growth strengthens a trading partner and contributes to a healthy democracy.

As Wade Cowan, a recent past president of the ASA, and soybean farmer from West Texas wrote in an AgriPulse feature also published in the Council’s blog in 2015:

American agriculture has a lot to offer. Commodities like soy can help enhance nutrition and diversify diets; our land-grant research institutions are at the forefront of the agricultural research that helps to advance on-farm efficiencies, both here and abroad; our technology companies and equipment providers are global leaders; and our farmers themselves are skilled not only at applying these resources on their farms, but also explaining and sharing that knowledge with a broad range of audiences.

Increased trade in US soy results in improved global nutrition, increased economic growth in developing countries and decreased risks of political instability. So does agricultural development! Through WISHH and its role as a trailblazer for trade, US soybean farmers are teaming up and helping train developing country food and feed entrepreneurs who are also ready to step up to meet the world’s growing demand for affordable, available, nutritious and delicious foods.