The Future of Canadian Agriculture with Lentil King Murad Al-Katib

Despite the on-going tariff and trade battles, for many Canadians, affordability remains their biggest concern. There are countless families who struggle to put food on the table. So food and the future is on the menu today. The founder of the global company AGT Foods and Ingredients – is Murad Al-Katib (a.k.a. The Lentil King) and his mission is combatting food insecurity and making a sustainable future for agriculture possible… and he does it all from Regina, Saskatchewan!

Canada is in fact the world’s leading producer and exporter of lentils, 95% coming from Saskatchewan where there are over 5000 active lentil farmers. In 2023, Canada produced nearly 1.7 million tons of lentils (it was 2.3 million in 2022) and we exported nearly 2.0 million tons of lentils in 2023!

But Murad and AGT don’t have an easy road ahead with geopolitical and trade tensions on the rise. Even the PM is now downplaying the prospects for the trade negotiations! But Murad says this uncertainty may be a blessing in disguise… we need the incentive to reduce our dependence on the US while growing and building new markets. And get our own house in order, reduce regulations and put incentives in the right places… more carrots, fewer sticks.

The tariff wars have hit agriculture hard and one of AGT’s biggest customers, India, imposed huge tariffs on Canadian pulses in 2019 and so Murad had to move quickly to find and secure new markets… much as Canada must do today as we try to navigate Trump’s turbulent waters. He’s got some great insights into what Ottawa needs to do! Remember, as well as U.S. tariffs, China too, has imposed powerfully punitive 100% retaliatory tariffs on Canadian canola as well as peas and lobster. This has caused farmers to move to other non-tariffed pulses to survive as well as to ensure that soil rotation can be maintained so that crops can be grown, harvested and sold!

For example, India consumes 40 pounds of pulses per person, so they buy a huge amount of lentils from Saskatchewan and  plant protein like pulses have enormous benefits that can help battle food insecurity. They have excellent shelf life, they are much more efficient to produce than livestock – and more environmentally friendly. And they have tremendous health benefits such as decreased cholesterol and reduced cardiovascular risk. 

Key to Murad’s vision is to use 100% of a plant with zero waste. Pulses already have extended shelf stability, a low food wastage footprint and require low-water input- and AGT has some innovative work going on to use biodegradable materials like starches and fibres to make fossil fuel alternatives!

So this is not just some trendy product for vegetarians and health food enthusiasts. AGT Foods is a massive international company with more than 45 global facilities serving more than 120 customer countries… and more than 1400 food products! They are one of the biggest pulse processors in the world… and thereby they help feed the world! 

A stunning statistic Murad cites: the world will need to produce the same amount of food in the next 40 years as we have produced in the last 10,000 years! He thinks we can do it!

Murad is a true leader in the ag sector… and the trade sector... and he advises governments everywhere and has received numerous awards and much deserved recognition for his work, including the King Charles III Coronation Medal which I had the pleasure of presenting to him (via his kids) this year! You will see why when you hear our conversation as Murad is our guest on this episode of No Nonsense.

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