Overview:
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87% of Challenge Advisory’s implementation strategy recommendation was adopted by the ministry.
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A new framework for assessing the success of the Low Carbon Agriculture Plan implemented which will track 46 key metrics, benchmarks and miles stones over the next 5 years.
Challenge:
In July 2015 The Ministry of Agriculture from the largest South American country engaged Challenge Advisory to work with their Agriculture Research Corporation to help address the long term sustainability challenges facing the countries agricultural industry.
Between 2000 to 2014 the share of agricultural products as a percentage of national exports increased from 24% to 32%. During the same period, the country had experienced a significant loss of its international agricultural competitiveness, while also committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 160 million tonnes annually.
Challenge Advisory was approached to help implement the countries new Low Carbon Agriculture 5 year Plan (ABC Plan) designed by the ministry.
Tasks:
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the initial implementation strategy and provide a recommendation to maximise adoption of low carbon agricultural practices across the value chain.
- Identify sustainable growing technologies to reduce the sector’s exposure to long term climate change and aiding the targeted GHG emissions levels.
- Identify and evaluate the impact of technologies to reduce the sector’s reliance on human labour.
Strategy:
- Profitable sustainability: Challenge Advisory’s initial recommendation was to modify the strategy and resource allocation to ensure sustainable practices were a profit maximising alternative for the agribusiness industry.
- Financing analysis: Introduce specific lines of financing for costing, commercialisation and investments in organic systems of production.
- Technology implementation assessment: Identify areas of maximum value creation by assessing sector segments which were the largest challenges in; GHG emissions, profitability, labour shortages and but also had the lowest barriers to change and technology adoption.
- Implementation: Source and apply technology relevant solutions in 6 areas: Organic systems, No Till Planting Systems, Specialist Crop & Live stock technologies, sustainable forest management systems, Biological Nitrogen Fixation.
Outcome:
Through our strategy, Challenge Advisory successfully aided the government in their pursuit of low carbon agriculture from a policy formulation and technology implementation position.
- 87% of Challenge Advisory’s implementation strategy recommendation was adopted by the ministry
- A new framework for assessing the success of the Low Carbon Agriculture Plan implemented which will track 46 key metrics, benchmarks and miles stones over the next 5 years
Technology implementation: Challenge Advisory successfully ran and evaluated proof of concepts/pilot projects between technology solution providers and targeted members of the value chain.
Precision agriculture: A successful pilot was conducted for a fresh produce cooperative resulting in a 17 % reduction in pesticide use, 14% reduction in nitrogen use and 6% increase in yield.
Farm management: A successful POC of a digital farm management information system provided a new framework for implementation, assessment, and accountability of sustainable agriculture practices and regulatory compliance.
Livestock: Implementation of an automatic calf feeder for a livestock farm showed labour utilisation increase of 32%. The solution is being rolled out across 14 livestock farms.