FAYETTEVILLE -- Feeding a growing global middle class will stress the world's resources, but it presents a major opportunity for food companies.
That's the concept Patricia Woertz, chairman of the board of directors of Archer Daniels Midland Co., focused on during the fourth Dale and Betty Bumpers Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
"To serve overall demand, the world will need to have produced enough food in the next 40 years as in the last 10,000," she said. "In years to come, virtually every company will need to become more productive. The world will need to become more productive."
Archer Daniels Midland produces food ingredients, animal feeds and feed ingredients, biofuels and other products for companies around the world. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Chicago.
Woertz joined the company as CEO and president in April 2006 and served as CEO until December 2014. She was named chairman of the board in February 2007 and continues to serve in that capacity.
When looking at the impending growth of the world's population and what that means for food production, Woertz said students should think about productivity, connectivity and sustainability.
As the world's population eventually swells to more than 9 billion, Archer Daniels Midland is investing in more storage and transportation to meet growing demand for food, she said.
Woertz said increasing connectivity, through free trade and key infrastructure, is key to her company's strategy. Though the middle class mostly will grow in the eastern part of the world, crop production is expected to stay in North and South America and the European Union.
Technology -- much of which has already been developed -- will have to play a role to supply demand. The world has only so much water and land suitable for crop production, Woertz said.
"The idea of technology being stopped in the world when it is doing so much good and offering so much promise -- I believe the GMO [genetically modified organisms] trend is one that will move forward," she said. "It will need to be part of the strategy."
Using technology to produce more food with fewer resources will increase productivity, resulting in better sustainability, Woertz said.
Michael Vayda, dean of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, said the college is preparing students for a world where they have to meet the challenges posed by a growing population.
The college takes suggestions from companies about problems in the agricultural industry and has multidisciplinary teams of students work to solve them.
"It's like a senior thesis, except it's done as a group," Vayda said. "The final exam is the presentation in front of the sponsor, so the faculty are more like advisers."
Lona Robertson, associate dean, said taking students on service learning trips around the world helps prepare them for global competition. Last summer she led students on a tour of the apparel industry in China.
"They were just on the cutting edge," Robertson said. "These are life-changing experiences for students."
The lecture series started in April 2012 with a visit from former President Bill Clinton. Other speakers were U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Jo Luck, international food-supply consultant and former president of Heifer International.
The series focuses on three areas: the prominence of Arkansas agriculture and food industries, the importance of environmental stewardship for economic strength, and the quality of life championed by Betty Bumpers on behalf of children's well-being, human development and healthy living choices, according to the University of Arkansas.
"My hope is that every person in this room will also tackle many of the issues facing Arkansas and the nation," Dale Bumpers, former governor of Arkansas and U.S. senator, said in a prerecorded video message. "We'll all be the beneficiaries."
Business on 04/01/2015