Posted on January, 28, 2025 at 08:17 am
Global trade and food security and a separate forum focused on artificial intelligence (AI) were the focus of the International Grains Council’s (IGC) 61st Council Session on Jan. 23 in London.
The meeting was chaired by Hamed Oussama Salhi, first secretary (Agriculture), Embassy of Algeria in London. Separately on Jan. 22, the IGC Grains Forum 2025 titled “Opportunities and challenges of Artificial Intelligence in the grains trade” was co-organized with the government of Algeria and opened by Nourredine Yazid, ambassador of Algeria to the United Kingdom.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to enhance efficiencies of all stakeholders across the grains value chain by optimizing supplies, while also addressing storage and transportation challenges,” the IGC said. “The technology will also aid decision making processes across the sector.”
The Council agreed to develop a platform to share information surrounding the potential of AI and regulatory framework developments with the private sector.
During the conference, council members, together with representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Mediterranean Agricultural Markets Information Network (MED-Amin) and Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) discussed food security and trade monitoring. The IGC Secretariat introduced its new food security and trade monitoring dashboard to support national strategies on these issues.
The Council also approved the translation of the Grains Market Report into Arabic, to enable Arabic-speaking stakeholders operating in national or regional markets to gain better access to grains, oilseeds, rice and pulses market information.
The Secretariat updated members on developments with ongoing projects related to trade and rice market transparency as well.
The port connectivity and congestion project is centered on the mapping of a real-time shipping database (900 ports) with new indicators, providing information on loading times, waiting times at port, loading capacity and the relevance of a particular port (in terms of volumes) to global trade. This project is intended to provide a full understanding of the connection between port specifics and logistics, together with the impact of logistical disruption on trade flows.
Rice market volatility has led the Secretariat to set up a working group to establish an accepted definition for Japonica rice, a process aimed at developing a Harmonized System (HS) code for the commodity. The Secretariat also will organize meetings to address productivity gains in Africa as well as price discovery tools for stakeholders.
The next IGC Grains Conference to be held June 10-11 at the Institute of Directors, London, and will be titled “New Horizons: Charting the future direction of global grains trade.” More information is available on theconference website.
Source: World Grain