As the world grapples with the dual challenges of population growth and climate change, securing sustainable food systems is a critical priority.
At Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), we recognize that addressing these challenges means future-proofing agrifood systems to meet today’s food needs while safeguarding natural resources for the benefit of generations to come.
Wei Peng, our Global Head of Sustainability for Grains & Oilseeds and global Land Management lead, shared insights into LDC’s approach to building resilient food systems through expertise, technology, and partnerships.
Securing the Future of Food
“It’s a matter of fact that agriculture and food production are responsible for nearly a third of annual global greenhouse gas emissions today, and that agricultural expansion accounts for a significant portion of native habitat loss globally,” says Wei. “And at the same time, climate change and the biodiversity crisis are threatening crop production, disrupting supply chains and endangering food security worldwide.”
LDC is proactively working to shape more sustainable operations and supply chains, individually within our company but also beyond it, in collaboration with partners across our value chains, recognizing that meaningful and lasting change requires that we share knowledge and best practices that empower all of us to embrace the change.
Key to this effort is our commitment to sustainable land use, with a focus on conserving forests and native vegetation, and promoting the adoption of sustainable and regenerative farming practices, with a goal to help safeguard the long-term viability of agricultural land, ensuring it remains productive for future generations.
This process is based on actions to support sustainable agricultural production, to build supply chain resilience to climate change, contribute to biodiversity conservation and global food supply and protecting biodiversity, while improving farmers’ livelihoods.
Empowering Farmers to Adopt Sustainable Practices
“Farmers are at the frontline of climate challenges and their livelihoods depend on sustainable practices – and likewise, they are the heart of our food system, and our business depends on the viability of their production,” says Wei. “That’s why LDC partners with farmers to encourage and incentivize natural resources and ecosystems conservation, and improve their productivity in a lasting way, by implementing sustainable and regenerative agriculture techniques that can protect soil health, preserve biodiversity, reduce water usage, and minimize the environmental impact of crop production.”
Our global regenerative agriculture program aims to support 30,000 farmers by 2030, covering 3 million acres of farmland, with the technical knowledge and tools to implement sustainable farming techniques such as reduced tillage, cover cropping and optimized fertilizer use.
These efforts are further amplified through multi-stakeholder collaborations with governments, investors and business partners to create scalable solutions.
“For example, in May this year we launched our collaborative regenerative agriculture program in Argentina, targeting soy, corn and camelina crops, and aiming to cover 205,000 hectares and involve 400 Argentine producers by 2030,” explains Wei. “And this is just one among many initiatives worldwide.”
Harnessing Technology for Sustainability
With our global population projected to reach 10 billion by 2061 a shift toward more sustainable food production is vital – and at LDC, we believe that combining regenerative farming practices with innovative distribution models and agricultural technology is a key path to meeting growing food demand sustainably.
As part of our regenerative agriculture program in the US, our teams use EarthOptics’ cutting-edge technology that combines in-field soil data collection with remote sensing and machine learning to create detailed soil health and structure profiles. “This technology allows us to support farmers in improving soil health at a lower cost, maximizing resources for impactful sustainable practices,” Wei explains.
Our Data Science team also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor crop yields and detect land use changes (such as deforestation): “Integrating AI with on-the-ground data supports responsible sourcing decisions and helps us to mitigate environmental risks in our supply chains,” says Wei.
Collaboration for Impact at Scale
Tackling the global food system’s complex, multi-layered environmental and social challenges requires collaboration in order to drive and scale positive and lasting change. That’s why LDC believes in the power of multistakeholder partnerships grounded in a shared commitment to fair and sustainable value creation.
In particular, we envision the need for public-private partnerships to help accelerate the transition toward more sustainable food systems.
“We’re proud to partner with like-minded, forward-thinking stakeholders seeking shared solutions to common challenges, including our business partners up- and downstream, financial institutions, technology providers, civil society organisations and others committed to driving progress and impact at scale,” says Wei. “Because future-proofing our food system isn’t just an environmental or social responsibility—it’s an imperative that affects every actor and stakeholder in food value chains – from farmers to end-consumers.”
At LDC, we’re stepping up to drive the changes needed for this vital transition to inclusive and sustainable agri-food systems, helping to build our collective resilience for the long term.
Learn more about future-proofing our agrifood systems this World Food Day and beyond:
