Plantations International’s Commitment to Environmental Responsibility through Sustainable Agriculture: As guardians of large tracts of plantations, Plantations International operates to rigid forestry stewardship standards, ensuring the plantations are managed to strict environmental and social criteria ensuring we are cognizant of our responsibility towards environment protection in ensuring the sustainability of not only our business but also the larger community around us. Through best agricultural practices, we believe our operations present excellent opportunities for economic maximisation and environmental footprint minimization. We are committed to managing land and plantations in a way that keeps illegal logging, forest fires and poor farming practices at bay. We are also determined to increase environmental productivity, from land delineated for agricultural and conservation purposes to resource management.
There will be 9.6 billion people in the world by 2050, that will require more than 70% more crops than we have today. This combined with a reduction in arable land and the effects of climate change will result in sector over-performance. Agriculture has outperformed most asset classes throughout history, particularly on a risk basis when considering volatility. The NCREIF Index which is the world’s agriculture benchmark has yielded an annual return of 13.69% since 2000 with a standard deviation of only 7.58%. This far outperforms equities, real estate, bond and other asset classes. Performance is expected to improve further over the next decade due to strong demand supply fundamentals.
Food security is traditionally defined as food availability and one’s access to it. Over the years however the definition of food security has developed into more descriptive terms as its importance has risen. The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and dozens of others today have their own interpretation of food security. Furthermore, low levels of food security place significant stress on government expenditures. It forces governments to invest substantial resources in the short-term through social safety net programs and conditional cash transfers. It also increases their reliance on food imports which is detrimental to long term food self-sufficiency. The FAO has reported that high rates of malnutrition can lead to a GDP loss of as much as 4-5%.
With offices, plantations, and representatives across Asia, Europe, and Africa, Plantations International is a multinational plantation and farm management company that specializes in providing sustainable agricultural and forestry or “agroforestry” management services for its clients. Plantations International has clients ranging from private individuals to large landholders and corporate investors. We put teamwork, innovation, and our passion for creating “Ethical & Sustainable Capital” at the heart of everything we do.
The number of people facing undernourishment and severe food insecurity is estimated to have reached 821 million – around one person out of every nine in the world – according to the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In addition to contributing to under nutrition, food insecurity also contributes to obesity. Lack of securing healthy nutritious food has resulted in an over reliance on unhealthy processed foods. The problem of obesity is most significant in North America, but it is worrying that even Africa and Asia, which still show the lowest rates of obesity, are also experiencing an upward trend. Food wastage’s carbon footprint is estimated at 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2. Developing countries suffer more food losses during agricultural production, while in middle- and high-income regions, food waste at the retail and consumer level tends to be higher.
Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years. Sea level rise became faster over the last century. Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas. Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees. Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues. Plantations International often use the term “climate change” instead of global warming. This is because as the Earth’s average temperature climbs, winds and ocean currents move heat around the globe in ways that can cool some areas, warm others, and change the amount of rain and snow falling. As a result, the climate changes differently in different areas.