Food security is critical to creating an inclusive and peaceful world. Accelerating the pace of innovation in agriculture will be key to addressing the many challenges facing our planet. ACS Agricultural Science & Technology (AAST) supports the building of inclusive science communities to speed progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
AgriFoodTech start-ups are coming to be seen as relevant players in the debate around and reality of the transformation of food systems, especially in view of emerging or already-established novel technologies (such as Artificial Intelligence, Sensors, Precision Fermentation, Robotics, Nanotechnologies, Genomics) that constitute Agriculture 4.0 and Food 4.0. However, so far, there have only been limited studies of this phenomena, which are scattered across disciplines, with no comprehensive overview of the state of the art and outlook for future research.
Food security is a critical challenge – the World Bank includes it among the eight global challenges to be addressed at scale in 2024. Climate shocks, economic instability and geopolitics have significantly impacted crop yields and food supply chains.
Food and Nutritional Security (FNS), understood as the availability and access to quality food, is fundamental for human development. The sustainability and progress of the agricultural sector are essential to maintain a food supply in quantity and quality. In the department of Córdoba, multidimensional poverty is twice as high for rural areas (51.9 percent) as compared to urban areas (23.3 percent). Thus, rural producers' role in boosting the local economy, contributing to generating jobs and FNS is essential.
La Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional (SAN) entendida como la disponibilidad y el acceso a los alimentos de calidad, es fundamental para el desarrollo humano; la sostenibilidad y el progreso del sector agropecuario son primordiales para mantener una oferta de alimentos en cantidad y calidad. En el departamento de Córdoba, la pobreza multidimensional es el doble para la zona rural (51.9 por ciento) con respecto a la urbana (23.3 por ciento). En ese sentido, los productores rurales dinamizan la economía local, contribuyen a generar empleos y con la SAN.
The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032 provides a consensus assessment of the ten-year prospects for agricultural commodity and fish markets at national, regional, and global levels, and serves as a reference for forward-looking policy analysis and planning. Recent surges in agricultural input prices experienced over the last two years have raised concerns about global food security. This year’s Outlook demonstrates that rising fertiliser costs can lead to higher food prices.
This collection of posters from the TAP-AIS project illustrates key achievements of the project towards strengthening national agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in Africa (Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal), Latin America (Colombia), Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan). For each of these nine countries, and for their respective regions, the posters provide: i) thematic focus and context; ii) constraints in the AIS; iii) capacity development interventions; iv) outcomes; v) the way forward.
Meeting rising global demand for food and responding to changes such as climate change, globalization, and urbanization will thus require good policy, sustained investments, and innovation – not business as usual. Agricultural innovation enables the agriculture sector, farmers and rural entrepreneurs to adapt rapidly when challenges occur and to respond readily when new opportunities arise – for example in the fields of technology and markets.
The OECD InDeF team developed a portfolio approach to innovation. A portfolio approach takes a balcony view on innovation which helps organizations align innovation processes, resources and performance with organizational objectives and enables them to track innovation with a view to scaling. Coached by the OECD team, Enabel colleagues in Benin, Morocco and Palestine piloted this portfolio approach by reviewing their current innovation supporting activities and investments against a set of key criteria.
The global impacts of the climate crisis are becoming ever clearer, and natural resources and ecosystems are being depleted. Despite some progress, hunger and poverty persist, and inequalities are deepening. The world is realizing that unsustainable high external inputs and resource-intensive industrialized systems pose a real danger of biodiversity loss, increased greenhouse gas emissions, shortages of healthy food, and the impoverishment of dispossessed peasants around the world.