Today, Cargill is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is involved in marketing, processing and distributing commodities, with some 79,000 employees in 72 countries. Cargill is no stranger to the developing world, nor to Africa. We believe the legislative initiative you are considering today is needed to accelerate economic and political development in sub-Saharan Africa. In these eight countries, Cargill has a full-time workforce of about 1000, and we employ another 1300 seasonal workers. Our experience in Africa convinces us that sustainable development must begin with agriculture.
Agriculture is the foundation stone for every African economy.
Let me illustrate how that happens by describing how we have invested in Africa. Through the use of expertise already existing within the company, as well as through seed testing and research conducted in Africa to meet local conditions, we help the farmer learn how to use these products to improve yields and to plant and harvest more efficiently. These are fundamental building blocks needed to begin the creation of an economy. At the next level, we provide the farmer with a way to market those products. In some cases, such as coffee, cocoa or cotton, where Africa has a comparative advantage to other parts of the world, that market may be the export market.