Other global trends

Rising consumption

The rise in human consumption is a global trend greatly influencing the world at large, while food consumption has an impact on Yara, its industry and stakeholders. The consumption of food increases as a consequence of population growth and economic growth that create more purchasing power and boost demand for food products. Increased consumption of food coupled with changing dietary patterns represents a potential health hazard, with obesity spreading. The production and transportation of consumer goods also requires the consumption of natural resources, including non-renewable ones such as minerals, leaving a heavy environmental footprint.

For Yara, the consumption increase stimulates demand for food, not least grains, requiring improved agricultural productivity, which can depend on the use of mineral fertilizers.

Vital resources such as cropland and water are already scarce in parts of the world. The scarcity is exacerbated by climate change – impeding the productivity of agriculture and thereby threatening the production of food. There also is a growing scarcity of some minerals that have been heavily tapped to feed global growth, not least vital energy sources such as oil and natural gas. This calls for the development of renewable energy sources. The lack of fresh water calls for improved water management and utilization.

For Yara, the resource scarcity mostly affects it main market – global agriculture – and its ability to maintain production, contribute its agronomic knowledge and develop specialized products.

Developing technology

Technological development has been, and will remain, a prime mover in the development of societies. It has a major role to play in the face of global challenges such as rising temperatures and resource scarcity. This includes the development of other energy sources and efforts to improve ways of managing water and producing food, including development and application of biotechnology methods. New technologies also offer new opportunities for small-scale farmers in developing countries to join the market economy, transforming their subsistence farming into sustainable business.

For Yara, technological development lies at the heart of its business of sharing its vast knowledge with its customers, as well as developing new industrial technologies and environmental products.

Conscious consumerism

The growth of conscious consumerism is a trend that, particularly in the more affluent parts of society, can greatly influence Yara and the company’s main customers, farmers in large parts of the world. This aspect of consumerism is linked to ethics and ecology, embodied in a concern for the environmental impact attached to production and transportation of products including food. Conscious consumers look for a balance between personal satisfaction and global sustainability. Organized consumers ultimately possess huge potential to influence producers and retailers, and a growing demand for “organic” food products especially in Europe and North America has spurred such production. 

For Yara, the rise of conscious consumerism is a challenge since the application of mineral fertilizers is not considered compatible with “organic” food production, which attacks the acceptance of fertilizers.