Article

by Carey Gillam

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Despite an intense rivalry over U.S. farm fields, global seed makers Monsanto (MON.N) and DuPont (DD.N) are joining with beverage companies, retailers and others in collaborative projects to boost food production in some of the world's poorest areas.

The corporate consortium behind the "New Vision for Agriculture" project is starting its efforts in Tanzania and Vietnam and expects to begin a pilot in Indonesia later this year, according to Jerry Steiner, executive vice president of sustainability at Monsanto.

The initiative's partners would first work with local governments to formulate policy and address infrastructure shortcomings, then assess the seed -- both conventional and genetically modified -- and other inputs appropriate for any given region, Steiner said.

"Only when they all work together does the system really move forward," Steiner said at the Reuters Global Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago. "Commodity prices have lifted but many of these farmers don't actually get any benefit out of it because they have nothing to sell."

In addition to Monsanto and DuPont, which owns Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the consortium includes Archer Daniels Midland (ADM.N), BASF (BASFn.DE), Bunge Limited (BG.N), Cargill CARG.UL, The Coca-Cola Co. (KO.N), General Mills (GIS.N), Kraft Foods KFT.N, Metro AG MEOG.DE, Nestle, PepsiCo (PEP.N), SABMiller SAB.L, Syngenta SYNN.VX, Unilever (ULVR.L), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), and Yara International (YAR.OL).

The group, all members of the World Economic Forum, are orienting specific projects to the goals of local governments. The objective is to leverage public and private-sector investments, share strategies for best environmental practices and develop agricultural markets while improving access to affordable and nutritious foods.

"As a company we are positioned all the way along that supply chain for that integrated solution to get out there," said Craig Binetti, who oversees DuPont's nutrition & health business.

In Vietnam, a task force is focusing on coffee, tea, fish, fruits and vegetables and certain commodities which have been prioritized by the government for accelerated development.

Corporate teams are working with government counterparts to improve the production, quality, and competitiveness of key crops in a manner that benefits smallhold farmers.

In Tanzania, the companies are focused on a southern corridor region that the government has identified as a potentially profitable agricultural sector with good soil and water resources.

The aim is to establish a critical mass of profitable, modern commercial farm and agricultural businesses focusing on selected crops with high market potential.

The companies said they hope their collaboration boosts crop production by 20 percent, reduces greenhouse gas emissions

by 20 percent, and cuts rural poverty by 20 percent, all in 10 years.

The initiative comes amid projections that the global population will rise to 9 billion by 2050 from about 7 billion now.