Ms. Esin Mete stated that fertilizers would be a solution for the elimination of micronutrient deficiency in the 5th Annual Gulf Petrochemical and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Convention

9/23/2014

Ms. Esin Mete, Chairwoman of Executive Board of Toros Agri and the President of IFA, participated in the 5th Fertilizer Convention held by Gulf Petrochemical and Chemicals Association (GPCA). The schedule of convention held in Dubai, this year, was specially developed to help to solve the difficulties faced in the global fertilizer industry and to assess the rapidly changing growth opportunities under the global and regional market. During the 2-day convention, Ms. Esin Mete made a speech on eliminating the micronutrient deficiencies for contributing the global food and nutrient safety.

Ms. Esin Mete underlined the importance she gives to the perfect working relation between IFA and GPCA and added, “The Gulf region is one of the most important players in fertilizer production today, supplying the world with many crop, nutrient and raw material products, including over 11 million tons of ammonia and around 16 million tons of urea last year alone. As world class leaders in our industry, I have immediately accepted GPCA’s kind invitation to speak to you today because you all are game changers and I am here to share a very important message to the leaders of the industry. I would like to tell you what I have learned about the tremendous potential fertilizers have in providing solutions to malnutrition and stunting and to encourage Gulf producers to consider micronutrient supplementation of the fertilizers you all produce as a long-term business opportunity.”

Ms. Mete also emphasized that nutrient security means access by all people at all times to the adequate utilization and absorption of nutrients in food, in order to be able to live a healthy and active life and food security is a global challenge that can only be met through the contributions of all actors in the agriculture and food sectors. Stating that feeding the world’s growing population will require more efficient and innovative use of all agricultural inputs, including fertilizers, Ms. Mete said, “It has been well documented that growth in the agricultural sector can have dramatic impacts on reducing poverty – in fact, at least twice the potential of growth from any other sector on average, according to the World Bank. Moreover, improved nutrition not only extends and improves the quality of people’s lives but also plays a significant role in boosting their productivity and sustaining a healthy economy. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that malnutrition alone costs the global economy around 3.5 trillion dollars each year (around 5% of global GDP) due to lost productivity and healthcare costs.”

In the conference where  the world population is anticipated to reach at least 9 billion by 2050, it is expressed that feeding that many people would require raising overall food production by some 60% between now and 2050 Ms. Esin Mete stressed the importance of  having enough calories and sufficient intake of all essential nutrients, including micronutrients. She said more than one-tenth of the total disease burden from which the global population suffers can be traced back to micronutrient deficiencies. Saying that supplementing fertilizers with micronutrients addresses the deficiencies in the soils, in plants and in humans, they contribute to increasing the quantity of food by raising yields but also the nutritional quality of the food. Ms. Mete said that among all micronutrient deficiencies, zinc was one of the most common, 2 billion people worldwide are zinc deficient. She also reminded that 1.5 million children die each year from zinc deficiency induced diarrhea and 50% of the world’s agricultural soils are also zinc deficient.

Apart from Ms. Mete, main speaker of the convention were Dr. Terry Roberts, President, IPNI (International Plant Nutrition Institute) and senior administrators from the leading corporates from all over the world. Ms. Esin Mete was awarded with a plaque for her participation.