Producers from different industries face challenges at a global and local level that have caused that in 2023, we will still focus on the importance of the supply of raw materials, for the availability of food for human consumption and correct animal nutrition in the industries livestock and aquaculture.
After the most restrictive periods of the pandemic, there are still inflationary spirals as a result of imbalances in the world agri-food system, aggravated by armed conflicts -mainly that of Russia and Ukraine-, and other factors such as climate change, which has affected the production of raw materials in various regions of the world: droughts or meteorological phenomena such as heat or floods, which have also affected food production.
In this way, the availability of food became more expensive – due to the decrease in the production of grains and fertilizers, and due to the reconfiguration of the supply, transfer and logistics systems – which undoubtedly hits the poorest population in the country and of the world.
Although in Mexico we are self-sufficient in the production of balanced feed for animal nutrition, the national deficit of the main raw materials such as yellow corn, wheat, soybean paste and micro-ingredients such as folic acid, among others, increase the risks and pressures for our sector.
For this reason, one of the most important challenges in terms of the sufficiency of raw materials for the production-commercialization chain of protein of animal origin is to maintain a network of regional suppliers that reduce the impact of freight and guarantee the availability of supplies. quality.
And it is that currently, national harvests of forage grains destined for the production of balanced feed for animals only cover 45% of the domestic demand. In contrast, the national production of eggs, milk and meat grows to meet domestic consumption.
There are other factors in which it is essential that the entire industry contribute, such as environmental conservation. In our sector we continually seek to contribute to the use of better technology to, for example, consume less energy in production processes and reduce the impact of the carbon footprint.
Finally, one of the most important challenges is to double meat production in 2050 and meet consumption for more than 9.75 billion inhabitants, with process improvement and sustainable production of animal protein to cover the diet of families seeking improve their diets based on better nutrients, even despite international and global factors.
For this reason, it is essential that we have the necessary raw materials to continue covering this demand through the strengthening of national production and less dependence on external factors that are not in our hands to control.
*The author is Director General of CONAFAB.
