Industry Government Collaboration on Agritech can Empower Global Agriculture

Agriculture is a vital sector that will feed a projected global population of 9.5 billion by 2050. Smallholder farmers produce more than 70 percent of the world's food. Globally, there are approximately 570 million smallholder farmers, who own less than two hectares of land. However, smallholders in most developing countries face challenges such as access to finance and insurance, unfair wages, access to agricultural resources and lack of market access.

In this context, improving the productivity, yield and nutritional content of food produced by smallholder farmers is critical. Agritech, empowered by artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things and drones has the potential to deliver a significant impact across the agriculture sector.

Empowering technologies can make agriculture more agile, data-driven, efficient and focus on farmers' well-being and income. While acknowledging the potential agritech holds, there is a need for a systematic and collaborative approach.