While the Netherlands has been a major food exporter for many years, its
production continues to rise — it increased 7 percent between 2016 and
2017, and 25 percent between 2010 and 2017, according to the Dutch
Ministry of Agriculture, though it rose just 0.2 percent between 2017
and 2018. The U.S., meanwhile, increased its agricultural exports 4
percent year on year in the first 10 months of 2018 … though its
agricultural exports in October 2018 alone were the lowest for any
October since 2011, according to USDA data. The Netherlands saw $104.6
billion in agricultural exports in 2017, compared to the U.S.’s $140.5
billion.
The Netherlands put an emphasis on agricultural production in the
post-World War II era, following the Hongerwinter of 1944, when famine
killed an estimated 22,000 people. Now the country comes first on
Oxfam’s Global Food Index, indicating that its citizens, who are now the
world’s tallest on average, get enough to eat and have access to
healthy food. But with an increased emphasis on sustainability — and
skepticism of efficiency above all else — Dutch farming has seen
major strides in problem areas like antibiotic use in livestock, which saw its use in veterinary medicine decrease by a third between 1999 and 2015.
More than that, the
Netherlands is making great strides
when it comes to the food of the future — technology that isn’t likely
to stay in the Netherlands but could instead help the world feed itself.
“The Dutch have the most productive, efficient and innovative food
production system in the world, forced by lack of space,” explains His
Royal Highness Constantijn Van Oranje, brother of Dutch King
Willem-Alexander and a special envoy for Dutch business accelerator
StartupDelta. “Our next challenge is to make this sector a global
agritech exporter and leader in building fully circular sustainable food
supply chains.”
And they’re doing just that. For example: Raising livestock takes an
enormous amount of arable land and clean water, but Dutch startup Mosa
Meat raised $8.5 million last year to develop a process that grows meat
in a lab using animal cells rather than butchering in a traditional way.
Five years ago, they created a hamburger — one that they estimate cost
$330,000 to produce. Now they say the individual patties, which are
expected to be on the market in 2021, should cost less than $10 each.
“The taste of in-vitro meat … ” explains founder Mark Post, a Professor
of Vascular Physiology at Maastricht University, “ … is exactly the same
as ordinary meat.” If it catches on, it could drastically reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, 15 percent of which are produced by animal
agriculture.
And from meat to potatoes: Last month, Dutch potato breeding company
Solynta announced that it has instituted a hybrid breeding program for
the crop that will allow it to swiftly select for favorable traits.
Solynta’s aim is to make potato growing seed-based — potatoes are
currently grown from seed tubers — which they say will allow a 25-gram
bag of seeds to do the work now being done by 2,500-kilo shipments of
tubers. The Netherlands is the world’s biggest exporter of potatoes, but
Solynta’s seeds, which they say are resistant to blight, could make
potato production scalable
in times of famine, as well as reducing the amount of time it takes to breed new varieties by 60 percent.
Read more: Where Is the World's Next Meal Coming From? The Netherlands | Acumen | OZY
