In the presence of Jean-Yves Roux, consul general of Wuhan, and Caroline Robert, agricultural counselor at the French Embassy, the representatives of Cooperl, Nor-Feed, Asserva, Mg2Mix and Lallemand Animal Nutrition, all members of the Low Carbon Agriculture Consortium exhibiting at the Cahe Exhibition in Nanchang China from May 18-20, 2024, have signed a Memorandum Of Understanding formalizing a mutualized initiative to promote their solutions for more sustainable agriculture to meet the demand of consumers and food manufacturers looking for food with a lower environmental impact.
Created in March 2023, on the initiative of Sitia Robotique and Nor-Feed, with the support of Stratexio*, the Low-Carbon Agriculture Consortium gathers several French SMEs in the agricultural sector wishing to promote and develop their products and services on an international scale.
The consortium is organized into two divisions, animal production and plant production, and currently comprises 12 members, suppliers of products, services or equipment to the agricultural world. They are all "taking concrete action to reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment", said Yann Morel, CEO of Cooperl Asia. To join the consortium, "companies have to demonstrate an objective approach: product life cycle analysis, corporate social responsibility commitment, B-Corp certification, etc.," added Olivier Clech, CEO of Nor-Feed.
The focus of the consortium includes the reduction of xenobiotics and chemical inputs, waste recovery, the circular economy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and water management. Dezhen Shi, Bangladesh and Greater China manager of Mg2mix added that “there is a real groundswell of support in all parts of the world for the development of more sustainable livestock farming. This is not just an issue for Western countries. In Peru, Colombia, the Philippines, Pakistan as well as China, demand is growing to varying degrees, but the interest is there. In a few years, we’re convinced it will be a deciding factor for customers".
The consortium aims to promote a "broad and coherent" range of products and services in China and other countries that help reduce the carbon footprint of plant and animal production, with a clear commercial objective. "The idea is to hunt in packs," sums up Dominique Cantin, MD of Asserva. “This is an original approach for French companies. The principle is that everyone retains their independence but helps each other be more effective together. Whatever our size, we all stand to gain and bring value to our clients”.
