Today, with a population of ~7.5 billion there remains over 820 million people who are chronically hungry.
Population growth, increasing frequencies of conflicts and natural disasters, as well as persistent poverty and inequality threaten to drive up the number of people going hungry, above its already high rate. A combination of policy changes, economic programmes and private sector innovation are needed, with investment in new technologies lying at the core of addressing hunger globally – providing the potential to transform the agriculture landscape and food supply chain of today to reduce inequality and to do so sustainably.
Challenges
With over 800 million people around the world going hungry every day (and this figure is growing!) there are an abundance of challenges to overcome in order to get this figure to 0. However, there are three challenges that look to sit at the core of addressing the problem of hunger globally:
- The population is growing
Whilst enough food is produced today to feed the world’s population, the global population is expected to rise to 10 billion in 2050 and food production will need to grow in line with increased demand. This is particularly true in poorer countries where populations are expected to grow at higher rates and hunger is already prevalent, with insufficient food produced in the countries where three-quarters of the world’s poor live.
Just expanding production in the way we have done to date is not the answer. Agricultural productivity is plateauing, 1.6 billion tonnes of food is wasted across the supply chain and resource intensive farming systems have caused massive deforestation, water scarcities, soil depletion and high levels of greenhouse gas emissions – agriculture contributes 13.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and deforestation and forest degradation account for 17 percent more.
How can we not only grow food production in line with population growth but how can we do this sustainably?
- The occurrence of conflicts, crises and natural disasters are increasing
The occurrence and impacts of conflicts and natural disasters are increasing and are closely linked to hunger with 60% of undernourished individuals and 79% of the 155 million stunted children living in countries affected by violent conflict.
Climate change is a major factor in the rise in crises and natural disasters, for example contributing significantly to the occurrence of drought, impairing the functioning of food systems. Whilst wars and other conflicts both deprive many of access to food (all too often an intentional strategy in conflict) as well as destroying infrastructure and the capability to handle food shortages, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable who can not afford to migrate to safer areas.
How do we both address the underlying causes of conflicts, crises and natural disasters as well as increase resilience to them?
- Persistent poverty, inequality and food insecurity still permeate our society and are closely linked to hunger
In a recent report the World Bank outlined that to permanently end poverty and hunger by 2030, the world needs a food system that can raise real incomes of the poorest people; that can provide safe food and adequate nutrition; and that can better steward the world’s natural resources.
Over 700 million people live in extreme poverty, of these about 80% live in rural areas and 60% work in agriculture. Ending poverty will require substantial income increases for poor people in rural areas, requiring average income gains of at least 60 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and at least 30 percent in Asia (particularly in China and India).
How can we improve income earning opportunities and food security in rural areas?
Innovating to a solution
With 46 conflicts globally linked to food insecurity, 80% and 60% of the world’s poor living in rural areas and working in agriculture respectively, the key to addressing the above questions will be to look at how we can improve food security, improve efficiency and reduce emissions in the agricultural supply chain and raise rural agricultural incomes.
There are an array of modern technologies that are both enabling sustainable growth in food production as well as starting to transform the traditional agricultural landscape. From leveraging an ever increasing amount of data, advancements in genetics and the increasing efficiency of renewable energy sources these innovations are reducing waste and emissions as well as improving resilience.
On the data side companies like Farmers Edge and Verigo are increasing productivity on farms and minimising food waste between farm and retail. Farmers edge offer real time precision agriculture tools using weather stations, satellite imaging and tractor GPS whilst Verigo track temperature, humidity and product life through sensors on a cloud based app as food makes it way through the supply chain to ensure conditions are optimal to minimise waste and maximise product quality.
In the genetics space, crops are being made increasingly resilient and less resource intensive; Caribou Biosciences for example develop crops that are resistant to drought and disease and food that is healthier and more nutritious. Meanwhile, Protix have started producing insect based proteins on an industrial scale which have a much lower carbon footprint than the production from the traditional meat based sources.
These technologies however are typically adopted in richer developed countries and whilst they are positively impacting the drive towards more sustainable food production they do little for food security and rural smallholder farms in developing countries who have limited to no access to these technologies. This is where more targeted innovation comes in, utilising technology that is becoming increasingly affordable and accessible in the poorer parts of the world, with the aims of increasing incomes and food security as well as increasing food production sustainably.
To improve output and incomes on smallholder farms Reuters Market Light’s (RML) provides farmers with personalised agricultural data analytics for the entire growing cycle via an app / SMS. Whilst Mobbisurance gives security against adverse conditions by giving smallholder farmers access to affordable crop insurance via a mobile app. Another great example in India is Ecozen who have developed solar powered micro cold storage systems that increase access to cold storage to tackle the 30% of perishable produce that goes to waste each year due to lack of access by smallholder farms.
With the right investment and adoption in these areas meaningful change can be brought about. A joint paper by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey predicts that:
- If 30-50% of the consumers in developed countries used food scanning to determine expiration dates food waste could be reduced by 5-7%
- If consumers replaced 10-15% of meat proteins with alternative proteins the total agricultural greenhouse emissions could fall 5-8%
- If 70-90% of farms in developing countries used mobile application then yields and income could increase 3-6% whilst food loss, greenhouse emissions and water use would all fall
- If 50-75% of farm holdings without insurance opted in to insurance incomes could increase 2%
- If 15-25% of farms adopt precision agriculture then costs could reduce 1-4% whilst water use could drop up to 5%
- If 20% of farms utilised gene-edited & increased resilience crops incomes and yields could grow 3-5%
Beyond the tech
Whilst new technologies provide a new avenue to try and tackle these problems they are ultimately just a part of the puzzle of addressing these issues, needing the right environment at a more macro level to ensure success. This means governments must work to ensure that access to modern inputs by smallholder farmers and access to food by the needy and vulnerable are significantly improved. International coordination is needed to ensure investment in required infrastructure and technology.
Food security for example requires more than just strengthening local food systems, it requires infrastructure programs to strengthen communities, focusing on both agricultural and other essential infrastructure from irrigation systems to roads and electricity. Whilst both food security and reducing poverty require economic planning to create diversified employment opportunities that can generate increased incomes over the long term – with growth origination from agriculture being a good place to start with this being two to four more times effective at reducing poverty than growth originating from other sectors.
Tackling all these issues is an extremely complex problem with significant political influences – that I have not even attempted to cover here. Whilst a combination of policy changes, economic programmes and private sector innovation are needed it is clear that investment in new technologies lies at the core of addressing hunger globally, with the potential to transform the agriculture landscape and food supply chain of today to reduce inequality and to do so sustainably.
Sources:
https://interestingengineering.com/the-explosion-of-insect-protein
https://www.globalinnovationexchange.org/innovation/mobbisurance
www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/challenge
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