Land is not keeping pace with people. By 2020 it is estimated that the number of people fed per hectare of planted land will increase to 5.6 from 4.5 in 2000. In numbers this is 7.5 billion people
Intro
The Baring Global Agriculture is a specialist fund and may not appeal to all investors. Where it will appeal are for those investors who believe agriculture as a theme will be a significant driver in the coming years. Obviously this is not the not only fund in the sector and investors would need to compare against others before making a decision.
The arguments for why investing in agriculture are numerous but two are worth considering:
- In the next 50 years, agriculture will be called to produce more food than in the previous 10,000 years
- Land is not keeping pace with people. By 2020 it is estimated that the number pf people fed per hectare of planted land will increase to 5.6 from 4.5 in 2000. In numbers this is 7.5 billion people
It is worth adding that agriculture as an investment can fall out of favour, and is equity based. This means there can be great risk investing in this compared to a more globally diversified fund. However, this fund (set up in 2009) is one of the most respected funds and for those interested in this sector it is one to consider.
In this update we spoke to the manager, James Goven, to understand more about how he is positioning the fund…(read more)