the interview | Arnaud Petit, Executive Director of the International Grains Council (IGC)

Arnaud Petit was appointed Executive Director of the International Grains Council (IGC) in February 2018.  IGC is an intergovernmental organisation based in London offering independent analysis on grains, oilseeds, rice and pulses markets to its member governments to promote international trade in grains. It also provides information to non-government subscribers. IGC provides an important international platform for discussions between policy makers and the private sector. It also serves as the Secretariat for the Food Assistance Committee helping to facilitate networking within the donor community to improve the efficacy of food assistance.
From 2005- 2017 Mr. Petit worked at the European Farmers and agri-cooperatives Union (Copa-Cogeca), as Director for Commodities and Trade. He was also a Member of the Executive Committee of the European Technology Platform “Plants for the future” (2009-2017) and a Member of the Experts Group on EU-US trade negotiations at the European Commission (2014-2017). From 2000 -2005 he served as Policy Advisor for European Affairs at the National Chamber for Agriculture in Paris, and Deputy Member of the European Economic and Social Committee (2000-2005). He holds an MA in Agricultural Economics from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, Montpellier, France

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What made you focus on the grain industry as a career?
The grains industry is a very dynamic one. I’ve never seen two marketing years with similar in trends. The most interesting with the grains industry is to monitor a diversity of activities in food, feed and biofuels sectors.
 

What issues have shaped the grain sector and IGC over recent decades?
The increased complexity of the grains value chain induced more market transparency on the various grains market.
This is why the IGC’s scope of activities enlarged from wheat in 1945 to more than 17 commodities today, including rice and oilseed complex. The grains sector took also the benefit of the globalisation of the economies involved. The recent development in trade policies as well as the resilience of the sector during the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that the cooperation between countries and between public and private sector is vital. This is the aim of the International Grains Conference to be held on the June 8-9, 2021.
 

Is there concern that supplies might fall short of demand at some point?
During the two last decades, the supply has been able to cope with the increased demand of food and industrial usage. This has been predominantly achieved by increased productivity (up by 990 MT) rather than the extension of arable crops area (up 102 million ha). But beyond the global supply, the fact that stocks-to-use ratio of the main exporters is not improving in the short to medium term might be a concern for the grains market stability.
As the IGC’s Executive Director what are the concerns your sector faces in terms meeting future demand?
The Covid-19 pandemic crises highlighted some trends in cereals consumption including in Asia, where the consumption of cereal-based product remain firm. The milling wheat market would expand more quickly in comparison to the last five years. This mean logistics and trade facilitation will be even more relevant in the future.
 

What are your views on whether grain producers can meet the food demands of a global population that will reach 9.5 billion by 2050?
Yes, grain producers are entrepreneurs and market signals are incentivising them to improve their productivity. Farming activity has been always part of solutions for society, being that starvation, land management and now climate change mitigation. Grain producers need the right toolbox in order to produce efficiently and a grain market that is functioning well.