Broadening Horizons for Young Brazilian and German Agricultural Professionals

Geopolitical tensions. Climate risks. Ensuring energy and food security. Pressure on global agriculture is mounting—closer cooperation is therefore of strategic importance and urgently needed.

Max Müller, Co-Chair of the AI representing the German private sector and SVP of Global Public Affairs at Bayer AG, put the challenge bluntly: “We must produce more food on less land in a sustainable manner, and clearly, Brazil and Germany can lead by example.”

At the annual meeting and the extensive accompanying program of the German-Brazilian Initiative for Cooperation in Agribusiness and Innovation (AI) in April, leading representatives from politics, business, finance, and academia came together to discuss possible responses to these challenges.

Key outcomes:

• • A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a bilateral exchange program for young farmers, signed by ABAG and LADW, supported by the two ministries of agriculture, BMLEH and MAPA;
  • Development of an agenda for a joint Brazilian-German biofuel corridor;
  • Expert dialogue on sustainability regulations and carbon markets, as well as a joint commitment to expanding digital rural infrastructure and digital skills in the agricultural sector.

Another highlight of the program was the “Field Day.” Agricultural experts from Brazil and Germany visited Kartoffelaufbereitungs- und Handels GbR in Hohe Börde and saw for themselves what a biogas plant and German potato cultivation look like, from seed to supermarket.

Impressions from the “Field Day”

Photos: © Liesa Johannssen