Agribusiness loses business due to lack of communication clarity

For an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is necessary to combat misleading information to improve the image of the sector

Government and agribusiness entrepreneurs must work together to improve communication in the sector, which risks losing competitiveness abroad because of misleading news. This warning was made by the director of the Agribusiness Promotion Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty), Alexandre Peña Ghisleni, at the 2nd Agribusiness Communication Lab held on November 4, in São Paulo. The event was promoted by Aberje in partnership with the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag), sponsored by Bayer.

According to Ghisleni, there is great concern about articles published in scientific journals, because they are immediately taken as reference and come to be seen as truth, although they may be questioned later. “We have a responsibility to be together to restore the facts so that the Brazilian producer is not harmed in the international market. We need to show the world that trade with Brazil does not harm nature and human rights,” he said.

Cases and debates

The Agribusiness Communication Lab also presented four cases of good communication in the agro sector. The first of these was the Brazil Climate, Forests, and Agriculture Coalition, which deals with the debate on increasing production and reducing deforestation. The project’s creator, Alexandre Mansur, and the Coalition’s content coordinator, Fernanda Macedo, were responsible for the presentation.

Ibiapaba Netto, CEO of CitrusBR spoke about communication as a tool for government relations. Syngenta’s head of external communication, Nêmora Reche, addressed the use of social networks to bring agribusiness closer to urban groups. The latest example of efficient communication in the agro sector was presented by Guilherme Sierra, corporate communications manager of John Deer in Latin America. With the theme “Human to Human”, he highlighted the importance of the humanization of content in agribusiness.

The debate between journalists was mediated by Nicholas Vital, head of content at Aberje, and was attended by Alessandra Mello (director of journalism for Canal Rural), Vera Ondei (Coordinator of Digital Communication at DBO), and Mariana Maciel (leader Bayer Digital Communication). 

Background

The Agribusiness Communication Lab was launched in São Paulo in September. At the occasion, Aberje presented the research “The Communication of Agribusiness in Brazil”, which mapped the communication structure of the main companies in the sector in the country. The event was attended by Deputy Alceu Moreira (President of the Parliamentary Front of Agriculture) and Deputy Zé Silva (President of the Parliamentary Front of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension).