A new Farm Journal Foundation report highlights how long-term development builds the next generation of markets for U.S. farm products, noting the work of the ASA’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health program as an example. Building the Next Generation of U.S. Agricultural Export Markets specifically points to WISHH’s work in Pakistan and Cambodia as examples of how technical assistance, industry partnerships and relationship-building can lay the groundwork for future U.S. agricultural trade. The report also makes the case for market diversification in fast-growing frontier markets, including many that WISHH works in. The research notes sub-Saharan Africa as having the highest agricultural demand growth of any region over the next eight years.
In Pakistan, WISHH’s FEEDing Pakistan project, funded by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service from 2011-2017, worked with experts like those at Kansas State University, hatcheries, feed mills and aquaculture producers to introduce soybean-based feeds, improve feed formulation and build technical knowledge and buyer relationships. As the market matured, those relationships helped create a foundation for expanded U.S. soybean trade.
In Cambodia, WISHH implemented the USDA Food for Progress Commercialization of Aquaculture for Sustainable Trade (CAST) project from 2018-2025. CAST strengthened Cambodia’s commercial aquaculture sector by working with producers, feed companies, processors and industry organizations. The report describes Cambodia as an emerging market where this work is helping build the local businesses, technical capacity and commercial demand needed to support future imports of U.S. agricultural products, including soybean meal.
The report’s author, North Dakota State University’s Shawn Arita, P.h.D., notes that programs like WISHH “improve food and nutritional security, raise rural incomes, and strengthen partner-country institutions while also expanding opportunities for American farmers.”