Interview with Luis Miguel Etchevehere, head of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA)
PARIS - Attending the COP21 climate change summit on the outskirts of Paris, Argentine Rural Society (SRA) head Luis Miguel Etchevehere talked to the Herald about his expectations for the economy to “start working again.” Despite the rumours, he said he wasn’t offered the Agriculture portfolio in Mauricio Macri’s administration, which he strongly supports (not without some cautionary remarks). Just after this interview, Etchevehere addressed the summit’s plenary, calling for less protectionism.
President-elect Mauricio Macri, who is set to take office on Thursday, had a good relationship with the agricultural sector during the campaign. Why did you choose to back him the way you did?
We have worked with all parties throughout the last two years with new proposals for the agricultural sector, with the exception of the Victory Front (FpV), which didn’t get in touch with us. The FpV should actually have doubled the other parties’ proposals. The sector is already showing positive signs, even before Macri takes office.
You were rumoured to become the next Agriculture Minister, a position finally given to Ricardo Buryaile. Were you actually offered the post?
It was a strong rumour and I am honoured that they thought of me for the position. But it was just a rumour, nothing was offered. I trust Buryaile, who has long experience with the agricultural sector.
How much grain hasn’t been sold by the sector yet? There was some disagreement on the figures between you and Buryaile.
We were both right as he was talking only about soy, while I was talking about all grain. There are about US$8 billion remaining to be sold, US$4.5 billion of it from soy. But there aren’t any official figures.
Will exporters start bringing in the dollars soon after Macri takes office?
Each producer will have to decide. But if the government keeps its campaign promises, producers will want to start investing more. Less grain was sold in the last few years because of rising inflation.
Macri and his economic team have already said the foreign currency restrictions won’t be lifted as quickly as they had first said. Will that have a negative influence on the amount of dollars brought in?
We’ll see what happens based on concrete measures. We have to be responsible not to speculate with a government that hasn’t taken office yet. When they implement a concrete policy, then we’ll make an opinion. But I have no reason to doubt that they will keep their promises to the sector.
Why did you choose to back Macri, considering Daniel Scioli’s proposals were very similar?
He wasn’t willing to meet with us for the last two years and changed his stance between the first and the second round only to gain more votes. But the sector evidently didn’t believe him. It was a last-minute move to gain support from the sector.
Are you expecting a drop in people’s purchasing-power with the economic measures set to be implemented by Macri?
Everything which happened in the last few years will have consequences until the economy starts working again. The Cristina Fernández de Kirchner administration spent ever larger sums of money which then led to falling Central Bank foreign-currency reserves. We gave them US$86 billion in export duties and I don’t know what they did with that money. It will take time to adapt.
From where will the upcoming government get enough funds to compensate the export duty cuts?
The whole soy complex only represents 12 days of the country’s annual tax collection. There were two million hectares which weren’t harvested last year so when we have a better scenario, farmers will start investing in more crops, from which the government will collect more funds from income and profit tax.
Agriculture is one of the sectors which most contributes to global warming due to the number of greenhouse gas emissions. How do you see the relationship between climate change and the sector you represent?
It’s a very sensitive sector to climate change. Any of the extreme weather events the planet is facing such as droughts or heavier rain affect the production. At the same time, we emit greenhouse gasses but we lower the figures through technology improvements such as direct seeding, which reduced the country’s emissions by half.
More than half of the country’s emissions come from the agricultural sector. Can such figures be lowered?
We need to keep doing what we do, techniques which are ground-breaking such as pasture management. Biofuels also fulfill an important role in climate change and Argentina has a great potential, the country could be the world’s largest grain exporter again. The agricultural sector has to play a key role in the climate change agreement.
What are you hoping will be included in the agreement?
Food security is an essential issue, the agreement can’t put at stake the food supply. We also hope that no green protectionism will be included and that the deal won’t lead to steeper agricultural subsidies, which affect food-producing countries like Argentina. We’ll keep a close eye on the negotiation.
You are speaking today at the summit, representing farmers from around the world. Will this be the main topics?
Yes, because population is set to double so we’ll have to double food production and for that to happen agriculture needs to be profitable.
Speaking at the summit, Vice-President Amado Boudou claimed Argentina shouldn’t be forced to cut its emissions from the agricultural sector. Do you agree?
No, Argentina is a leading country in reducing greenhouse gas emissions of the agricultural sector. We can contribute to the challenges of climate change but not forgetting our role to ensure food production.
What additional measures can be taken, considering the levels of emissions has remained flat over the last few years despite what has already been done?
We can work on the selection of animals through genetics and improve the actions in pasture management, improving also the degraded land. Farmers want to be more environmentally friendly and they are taking steps towards that. Grain production has doubled in Argentina over the last 10 years, always considering the environment.
At this summit, Argentina has pointed its finger at developed countries for their responsibility regarding climate change. Should they take the leading role or should every country commit itself?
The country’s stance is mistaken, claiming that everybody is responsible and we are the victims of climate change. Everybody has to play a part based on their capabilities. That also applies to us farmers, who will be working to lower our emissions.
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