Letter on the Way to the Desert Via Measa

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When it comes to food security, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (aka MEASA) are "lynchpins," writes Nikhil Swaminathan at Forbes.

But when it comes to agricultural technology, " grouping the regions together makes a lot of sense."

The MEASA region represents 53% of the world's population, with a median age below 24; it will represent 70% of the global population by 2100 as population growth slows in other parts of the world.

It's also home to 88 countries, 4.1 billion people, 5.4 million km2 of arable land, around 1 trillion barrels of oil reserves, and more than $4 trillion of sovereign and pension assets, according to an investment firm focused on the region.

What's more, it's home to nine out of the 10 fastest-growing economies, and it's home to just 15% of the world's GDP.

But it's also "hotbed for agricultural technology," with a lack of training centers for talent, a mismatch between energy costs and consumer locations, a skilled labor shortage, poor market data complicating farm planning, and a misconception that "'local' automatically equates to 'better,'" Swaminathan writes.

Click for his full post.

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