Page 51 - Bulletin, Vol.83 No.1, April 2024

THE SEAWEED REVOLUTION

Interview with Vincent Doumeizel

By Christian DAVID

I could have heard him playing music with his rock band, but it was on the radio
that his infectious passion for the oceans made me want to talk to him. Vincent
Doumeizel is Ocean Advisor to the United Nations Global Compact.

I asked him what his career path was.

I have twenty years' experience in the agri-food sector, particularly in Africa. I have also
worked in the field of inspection and verification for Bureau Veritas and its British
equivalent Lloyd's Register. These two companies audit the food chain in terms of
safety and social and environmental compliance. They are commissioned by food
companies to verify that their value chain is compliant at every stage of their supply
chain. This made me realize of the challenge we face in feeding the world of tomorrow:
a daily increase of 250,000 more mouths to feed, almost a billion people dying of
hunger, and a growing proportion of cereal production used for purposes other than
feeding people (biofuels and animal feed). At the same time, countries with fast-growing
populations are increasingly hungry for calorie-demanding meat products. According to
studies, to feed the world in the next fifty years, we will need to produce as much food
as we already produced in the last 10,000 years. We are experiencing problems with
crops, soil depletion and access to water. Our food system is increasing greenhouse
gases and diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.

AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 83 No.1, 2024-04 50

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