Technological innovation will help to feed our planet in future
But technology alone will not solve yield gaps, wastage or post-harvest losses
IN 2018 OUR television screens were filled with thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in dangerous and unseaworthy boats.
More recently, we saw a caravan of 7 000 migrants from Central America arriving at the US border near Tijuana.
There are many reasons for the migration of people, such as severe insecurity, runaway corruption and a lack of economic opportunity.
However, droughts, floods and other phenomena linked to climate change are increasingly devastating agricultural economies and exacerbating hunger among rural communities in some of the world’s most unequal societies.
Despite a remarkable increase in food production over the past 50 years, hunger still affects about 815 million people globally.
One of the most challenging problems is how to feed an expected world population of about 9 billion by 2050.
Certainly not a silver bullet, but technology could contribute to improving agricultural sustainability and food security.
Over the past weeks, I have indicated that the interconnected technologies of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) have transformed virtually every sector of the global economy. Agriculture is no exception.
In agriculture, information and communication technologies have grown considerably in recent years in both scale and scope.
The Internet of Things (IoT) and technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) farm management systems, big data analysis and robotics have revolutionised agriculture. This has resulted in efficient and sustainable ways of farming, higher yields, superior quality products, cost reductions and even the enhancement of food’s nutritional value.
Several disruptive technologies in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology, genetics and autonomous vehicles play a significant role in the digital transformation of agriculture.
Smart farming (including precision farming) often incorporates technologies such as geographic information systems, GPS, remote sensing technologies, AI, robotics, the IoT and big data.
Based on an analysis of the soil, animals and the weather, smart farming contemplates the individual needs of a plant or animal to optimise yield.
Real-time data input from sensors are increasingly allowing AI systems (with machine-learning capabilities) to process big data, evaluate situations and make autonomous decisions to