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Nov 20, 2023
By Charlie Townsend
From left: In 2022, WISHH leaders Daryl Cates, Morey Hill, Brad Doyle and Bob Haselwood meet with a food distributor to learn how the woman-led company adopted new food safety practices, attained food labels and is introducing new products as a result of its work with WISHH’s USDA Food for Progress Project in Cambodia.
In the late 1990s, mobile phones still flipped or were as big as a banana. Steve Jobs was looking ahead to his 2007 iPhone release. NASA was moving into new frontiers after Sojourner succeeded as the first rover to explore the surface of the Red Planet, Mars. Soybean growers were also looking to the future. Their vision for diversified soy trade is now a growing reality through ASA’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health.
Qualified State Soybean Boards, particularly Illinois, were looking to the future of population growth and protein demand. Their economic analysis showed them the fastest-growing economies were going to be in countries such as Nigeria and Cambodia. These QSSBs needed to take action to be ready to engage with customers and organizations that had never met anyone from U.S. soy organizations, or maybe even anyone from the United States. Knowing that protein plays an essential role in human nutrition, these visionary U.S. soybean growers founded WISHH in 2000 to serve as a catalyst in developing and emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The trends continue to support the farmers’ vision. For example, while population growth in other regions has slowed, Africa’s has increased by 2.42% per year for the past 30 years. Just over one billion people live in Africa, half of whom are under the age of 20.
“These soybean growers did a great job,” WISHH Executive Director Gena Perry says, explaining, “The future they envisioned for WISHH has grown into both animal feeds and human foods that can all benefit from U.S. soy as an abundant and high-quality protein.”
The path to develop a market for U.S. soy protein is as different as the 29 countries where WISHH works today. WISHH’s unique approach unites trade, development and global food security. By working hand-in-hand with local partners, WISHH unlocks local protein solutions that contribute to the countries’ global food security, development and trade.
“While WISHH’s strategy has grown and adapted, we remain true to our roots of farmer leadership,” says Perry. “We are thankful to have ongoing soybean grower guidance through WISHH’s farmer-led program committee.”
This map shows which countries WISHH is working in to unite trade, development and food security.
Alltech Nutrients Limited, a Nigerian food company, continues to prefer U.S. soy for quality and innovation thanks to its 16-year partnership with WISHH. Through WISHH’s long-term trade and development partnership, the company has bought 255 metric tons of U.S. soy since 2018. This includes 80 metric tons of soy flour and other high-protein U.S. soy products purchased from U.S. companies, such as Benson Hill.
“WISHH has shown us the obvious reasons why we are continuing to import U.S. soy: It is top quality and consistent. What we get from WISHH and U.S. soy is hard to find elsewhere,” says Alltech Business Development Manager Chimezie Obialor.
He notes that, through its work with WISHH, Alltech got remarkably stronger during the tough years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nigerian company has doubled in size to 40 employees, who are manufacturing and selling defatted soy flour to Nigerian bakers and textured soy protein to snack food makers. These companies are taking advantage of U.S. soy’s quality and ability to boost protein levels in their foods. Soy protein is a powerhouse for food security in Nigeria. With more than 200 million people, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and the seventh in the world. The annual growth rate of the population is approximately 2.7%, and more than half are under 30 years of age.
Based in Lagos, Alltech’s trade relationships are well positioned to take advantage of the new Lekki Deep Sea Port, which is partly operational under construction. The port will strengthen Nigeria's position as a regional maritime hub and be equipped with ships able to transport over 14,500 containers.
Alltech LTD employees walk through the company’s warehouse in Lagos, Nigeria, during lean management training courses offered by WISHH. The training helped the company become more efficient and supported its pro-soya marketing strategies.
Beyond supporting the trade of U.S. soy for Alltech’s top tier products, Alltech’s journey with WISHH is enriched by technical trainings offered in the United States and Nigeria. “Our partnership with WISHH over the years has been value-packed,” says Obialor. “The partnership has been of tremendous support in developing the Nigeria market with value-added U.S. soy products and, invariably, has grown our business.”
Alltech staff participation in the “Baking with Soy Flour” class at the Northern Crops Institute and INTSOY, along with courses at the National Soybean Research Laboratory in Champaign, Illinois, in 2011, laid the foundation for a journey of ongoing learning and improvement. Furthering its technical prowess, staff at Alltech attended other courses intended to solidify their commitment to staying at the forefront of soy industry advancements for Nigeria.
Obialor also notes how proud he is that Alltech is leading this charge with WISHH in his country, particularly when it comes to getting more protein into foods. “The costs of protein from meat only continue to increase; we know there is growth opportunity for soy protein in products, as well. Soy offers an excellent alternative to meat protein in terms of quality and costs.”
Through these courses, Obialor and his staff learned soybeans are the only plant-based protein that contains all nine essential amino acids. For a country where meat consumption can be challenging, soy offers a nutritious and delicious substitute.
The technical support from WISHH has affirmed Alltech’s pro-soya marketing strategies. To provide this sort of training and guidance, WISHH leverages money from multiple QSSBs with USDA Market Access Promotion, Foreign Market Development, and Agricultural Trade Promotion funding.
WISHH’s lean management trainings have greatly contributed to the company’s business growth and ability to weather COVID-19 and other economic challenges. Obialor notes that Alltech became more efficient while doubling staff size and eliminating various forms of waste, strengths that separate the company from its competitors.
Alltech CEO Frank Nwabudike praises WISHH’s support during this 16-year partnership with Alltech, noting the collaboration has noticeably increased U.S. soy’s presence in Nigeria and created a win-win for both partners. Alltech continues to explore various ways of increasing U.S. soy in its product offerings.
“Our partnership with WISHH has been an exciting one,” notes Nwabudike. “I have had, and still have, partnerships with different companies and organizations in different fields across the world. However, the relationship we share with WISHH has added tremendous value in helping us develop a market that was previously untapped. WISHH helped my company as well as Nigerians see the enormous value in soy and value-added soy products from the United States.”
In the Trade title of the farm bill, the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development programs get the majority of the attention, but did you know there are international food assistance programs (i.e., food aid) in the farm bill?
America’s international food aid programs have enjoyed bipartisan support and feed millions of vulnerable people around the world every year. Programs like Food for Peace (administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID), Food for Progress and McGovern-Dole Food for Education (administered by USDA) help address global food insecurity while advancing foreign policy and humanitarian goals.
But what does international food aid have to do with trade policy? The short answer is—everything!
Food aid is a building block upon which trading relationships can be built. Several former food aid recipients, such as South Korea and Kenya, were once beneficiaries of U.S. food aid. Now, those countries are well-established trading partners. Continued investments in the farm bill’s international food assistance programs allow U.S. soy to continue to be used through products such as corn-soy blend (CSB), texturized soy protein (TSP) and canned vegetable oil. These soy products have served as staples for emergency response in at least 88 countries throughout the world.
As Congress continues to draft the farm bill, ASA will be there to ensure soybeans, through reauthorization of the bill’s international food assistance programs, continue to play their vital role in combating global food insecurity.
