Food security
Agriculture innovations and rules-based trade to help solve global food security challenges
The world’s population is expected to top 9 billion by 2050, doubling the demand for food. At the same time, rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and changing precipitation patterns threaten crop yields and food production. The solution to future food security lies in climate-smart farming innovations coupled with international trade.
Smart agriculture for food security
Implementing climate-smart and precision farming practices will significantly increase the amount of food production around the world while safeguarding the planet’s environment.
Cutting-edge digital technologies like satellite-enabled sensors, precision spraying and AI-driven analysis will enable farmers to optimize their use of pesticides, fertilizers, and water.
Moreover, new plant breeding techniques such as genome editing can enhance crop resistance to pests, diseases, and climate stressors.
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More than 2.3 billion people – 30% of the world’s population – currently face food insecurity. Source: World Health Organisation
Source: World Health Organisation
Innovating for food security
New genomic techniques can breed crop strains that are more resistant to pests, diseases, and environmental conditions. They complement traditional plant breeding methods by speeding up the development of resilient plant varieties, so making agriculture more sustainable in an era of climate change. NGTs can also be used to enhance the nutritional profiles of important crops.
GPS technology, digital sensors, precision sprayers and data analytics optimize field management in crop farming, so ensuring efficient use of resources like water, pesticides and fertilizers, reducing waste and increasing yields.
Agricultural practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage and crop rotation restore and maintain soil health, so improving crop yields.
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In the past 60 years, world agricultural output has quadrupled, with most of the increase in the Global South. Food supply per person has increased by more than 30%. Meanwhile, global agricultural land area only increased by less than 8%. Source: USDA
Source: USDA
“In Kenya, a new cassava crop strain has been developed to resist cassava brown streak disease. Previously, farmers were struggling even to produce enough food for their families and communities. But this new cassava, which is Kenya’s staple food crop, promises to be a complete game-changer for the country.”
Emily Rees, President & CEO, CropLife International
Moving food around the globe
Free trade plays a crucial role in ensuring future food security. When countries import and export food, they are less dependent on any single region, mitigating the risks associated with local crop failures.
Trade also gives countries access to farming inputs like seeds, fertilizers, crop protection and machinery that may not be available domestically.
Importantly, new farming innovations to tackle the challenges of climate change can only spread globally if international trade stays open and fair, and countries all follow agreed rules.
And as the world’s climate changes, trade can act as a buffer against sudden shocks. In the event of a natural disaster, trade allows quick redistribution of food supplies to the areas in need, preventing shortages and price spikes.
Globally, there is enough food to feed the world. The average person needs about 1,800 kcal/day to avoid undernourishment and 2,360 kcal/day for optimal health. In 2021, the food available per person was 2,978 kcal/day
Source: FAO