Throughout history, agriculture has been such a fundamental activity for human beings that its appearance constitutes one of the milestones that mark the beginning of the Neolithic. Today, more than a hundred centuries later, it continues to be an essential sector as a producer of food and natural resources, but it must face the three great challenges of our time: climate change, population growth and the technological revolution. Faced with this situation, it seems essential to provide it with financial and investment tools that allow it to cope with exponentially growing demand, as well as the need for adaptation so that crops are more efficient and sustainable.
Spain is the fourth member state in terms of agricultural production in the European Union. Indeed, our country has nearly a million agricultural farms, according to data managed by the National Institute of Statistics. Despite everything, this figure has decreased in recent decades, which reflects the difficulties it faces, linked to problems obtaining financing or rejuvenating its labor market. In this context, Atgro emerges, a platform which seeks to channel investments towards this industry to break this cycle. To achieve this, this project focused on initiatives in the agricultural sector that respect the environment and, at the same time, guarantee social equity.
Behind this objective are Banco Santander and the Atitlan group of companies, entities that have been involved in the agri-food sector for years. The proof is that the financial institution, during the first half of 2024, has already channeled 2,450 million euros in loans to the Spanish agricultural sector, an increase of 17% compared to the previous year.
Atgro will start with a contribution of 200 million euros from the bank and 50 million euros from the group of companies and will focus on strategic and diversified crops in Europe, America, Africa and Asia. Concretely, one of its first investments will be the expansion of pistachio plantations, a crop that Atitlan was already developing on 3,000 hectares and which will now be reinforced. At the same time, he will begin to work the grapes, after having carried out a first operation with which he became a majority partner of the Peruvian company Ecosac. This company is the second largest exporter of grapes in the Andean country, with a business volume close to 200 million dollars. With this transaction, Atgro is mapping out the growth areas that will develop around the development of new crops and the acquisition of assets already in production.
With this investment model, they aim to generate a long-term impact on the agro-industrial sector, not only through the injection of capital, but also through the modernization of agricultural infrastructure, access to advanced technologies and the job creation in the sector. rural areas.
To contextualize why Atgro focuses so much on sustainability, those responsible for the platform recall that currently agriculture continues to be one of the industries that have the greatest impact on the environment, since it contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and intensive water use. and the earth. For this and other reasons, Atgro is committed to promoting sustainable practices that reduce environmental impact and ensure long-term economic viability.
Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture
This alliance between Banco Santander and Atitlan reflects their bet long term for agri-food sectorin full transformation and where new challenges such as climate change, demographics or the evolution of consumption habits, are driving change towards a more scalable and sustainable production model.
Banco Santander has been supporting the agricultural sector for years, through its more than 1,000 specialized offices, and continues to work on solutions to support one of the industries that most economically influence Spain, helping it cope to the main challenges of the future such as supporting SMEs guarantee greater peace of mind for their entrepreneurs and promote sustainability and digitalization.
