Ben Fargher
Environmental Markets Lead, Cargill Asia Pacific
Ben Fargher is the Lead, Cargill Environmental Markets, in the APAC region. In this role he is responsible for a customer focused Sustainability portfolio, including carbon and water projects, in this part of Cargill’s business. Ben is also the Country Representative for Cargill in Australia.
Ben recently (Feb 2022) returned from living in the United States, where he held various Managing Director roles in Cargill’s North American grain and oilseed supply chain business over several years.
Prior to that Ben was the General Manager for customers and grain origination in the Cargill Australia grain and oilseed business.
Before working at Cargill, Ben worked as the General Manager of Operations for a publicly listed cotton and grain agribusiness. He was also previously the Chief Executive Officer of the national farm lobby group in Australia, the National Farmers’ Federation.
Ben, who grew up on a farm in Australia, has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Adelaide and a Masters degree in Economics from the University of New England.
ABSTRACT
Global food security in a riskier world is a vitally important topic. Nearly 830 million people are food insecure – there are real and urgent challenges facing the global food system. Topics such as market access and the empowerment of people, especially as it relates to small holder agriculture in the Asia Pacific region, are critical.
As Cargill sits at the center of the global agricultural supply chain, working alongside farmers, producers, manufacturers, retailers, governments, and other organizations, the presentation will raise solutions for resilient food and nutrition systems, with particular emphasis on the supply chain. It will explain the Cargill experience of the implications for farmers of disruptions to global supply chains in a modern geopolitical environment including from rising demand, climate and geopolitical conflict.
Experiences from COVID-19 lockdowns and the more recent disruptions due to the war in Ukraine, have had significant implications for farmers and agribusiness and strategies for diversification of markets, more flexible and resilient supply chains, and planning for resilience to reduce future vulnerability for the benefit of consumers and growers will be considered.
One if not the most urgent challenge is the climate crisis. Cargill is committed to reducing the climate impact of agriculture and agriculture is part of the solution to this challenge. Working with suppliers, customers, and partners, action-oriented, lasting solutions and several practical examples will be outlined.