In geoeconomics spectrum, food security is a vital pole.
Therein lies food, fuel and feedstock matrix. This relates to how a country balances
between competing needs such as human consumption, bio-energy generation and feed
stock requirements for animal husbandry. How Germany fares?
Every country has limited resources in terms of farmland,
water and investment allocation for purposes of producing food, fuel and
feedstock. In this blog post I am making prelim analysis of Germany’s matrix.
Firstly, let me define these three areas:
Food: Crops and livestock raised primarily for direct human consumption providing for nutrients and energy.
Fuel: Energy sources generated from biomass
Feedstock: That part of the agri-products used
to feed livestock.
Food: This alone grants Germany high food security,
essentially arising from domestic agricultural production of staples, grains,
dairy and pork. Even though food production is weak in terms of fresh fruits
& vegetable segments, where substantial part is imported, the overall
position is positive and must be improved further.
Fuel: Germany is a powerhouse in bioenergy,
producing biodiesel, bioethanol, and biogas. In fact, agri-biomass generates
approximately 41.1 Terawatt-hour, of electricity that satisfies about 8-10% of
domestic energy consumption. The value of fuel produced is around € 50 billion annually.
Feedstock: Germany produces about 22.2 million tonnes of compound
animal feed yearly, generating a value turnover roughly of € 8.4
billion. A break-down indicates pig feed of 8.4 million tonnes, accounting for
37% of total. Cattle feed is 6.6 million tonnes and closely behind is Poultry
feed at 6.5 million tonnes.
So far so good. Food sufficiency of 83% alone provides
a big flip to German food security. By the way, it has granted Germany a
covetous status as Europe’ largest
food industry covering of solids and liquid varieties. Germany generates
a humongous annual turnover of € 186 Billion out of which primary agriculture
alone accounts for € 77 Billion.
Next stage is to set a target of food self-sufficiency
bracing at 90%. I am confident Germany
can easily traverse the 7% gap from the present level of 83%. What is more
important is to increase feedstock for animal husbandry use. Simultaneously,
bio energy for industrial purposes must also be enlarged from the current level
of 8.0% to reach 12.0% in the next few years. Incidentally, bioenergy covers biomass,
biogenic waste and biogas.
Navigating strategy amid geoeconomics dictates Germany to further enhance food, fuel and feedstock matrix to become an undisputable leader of Europe.
Cheers!
Muthu Ashraff Rajulu
Strategy Adviser
Mobile: + 94 777 265677
E-mail: cosmicgems@gmail.com
Blog: Strategy Adviser
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