OBSERVATION

OBSERVATION
According to the Global Report on Food Crises of 2021, a joint publication by a network of 15 partners
and facilitated by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), 155 million people in the 55
countries selected for the report experienced acute food insecurity in 2020.
While conflict is the main driver of food insecurity for 99

million people in 23 countries, other key drivers include
economic shocks, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-
19 global pandemic and climate change causing extreme
weather events which have affected 15.7 million people. As
regards chronic food insecurity, data from the 2020 State of
Food Security and Nutrition in the World showed that 2 billion
people in 2019 did not have access to safe, nutritious and
sufficient food, of which 750 million were exposed to severe
levels of food insecurity.
The need for sustainable agriculture is becoming ever more significant. The world's population is still
increasing, requiring more from our agricultural systems. Malnutrition and diet-related illnesses are
present in nearly all societies. At the same time, agriculture plays a significant role in some of the
biggest environmental challenges that humanity is facing, including the climate crisis, biodiversity loss,
deforestation, and the pollution of our soil, water, and air. The need to balance the growing demand for
nutritious food with these environmental threats is a complex issue, and ensuring sustainable food
systems will require a collaborative effort from many different communities.
5 key principles of sustainability for food and agriculture
1.
2. Protect and enhance natural resources
3. Improve livelihoods and foster inclusive economic growth
Shubh
Sethi
4. Enhance the resilience of people, communities and ecosystems
5. Adapt governance to new challenges
Ensuring that everyone has access to healthy and nutritious foods without further reducing biodiversity
and damaging the environment will require major changes in many aspects of food systems. Yields on
agricultural land will need to go up while the pollution from agricultural production declines.
Agriculture will need to become a net sink rather than a source of greenhouse gas emissions by
sequestering carbon in ecosystems and in the soil. The environmental effects of livestock production
will need to be reduced while the nutritional benefits of animal-source products are maximized. People
will need to eat more fruits and vegetables while reducing the large amounts of food that are wasted
today.
DATA-INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE
An approach known as precision agriculture offers great potential to improve
yields, reduce costs, and minimize environmental damage. Mapping farms for soil
moisture, temperature, nutrients, and other indicators using ground sensors,
drones, and instruments on farm equipment can provide actionable insights for
farmers, suppliers, and distributors. The measurement of ground conditions
combined with remote sensing and the observation of weather patterns can
optimize irrigation, fertilizing, weeding, and pesticide applications. Data gathered
from farms can inform the development of better livestock, advisories based on
artificial intelligence, and ways of monitoring technology usage. Simulation
technologies can model scenarios to inform planning and prepare for
contingencies.
Farmers will also need education and training to be able to use these technologies and the information
they provide, which implies, in part, working with young people to encourage them to get interested in
farming and in applying these technologies. Also, the data collected by precision agriculture and the
information generated from that data will be valuable and will need to be protected, with an equitable
allocation of the benefits derived from that information.
Beyond precision agriculture, a wide variety of other advanced technologies could be applied to
agriculture to enhance sustainability. Technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, process
engineering, and synthetic biology could come together to shift the paradigm from “food produced by
agriculture” to “food produced by manufacturing.” High-tech, three-dimensional vertical farms could
efficiently produce clean and organic food within urban centers. Foods requiring less energy to produce
could be grown near the point of consumption to reduce transportation costs, with energy-dense
commodities produced near energy sources such as hydroelectric and solar power. A new green
revolution could be based on science, ecological efficiency, and the careful management of food
production and distribution. Nutrition, yields, and environmental outcomes could all benefit by
maximizing the efficiency of the food system as a whole.
Shubh
Sethi
BIOTECHNOLOGIES
Genetic technologies and other advanced biotechnologies offer tremendous potential to improve
agriculture. Examples of possible advances include crops and livestock resistant to high temperatures
and drought, protection against new and emerging pests and disease, greater efficiency in water use,
increased nutritional value in foods, and reduced fertilizer use.
An example of these biotechnologies involves the protection of crops from pests. One way that grasses
such as maize, rice, and wheat protect themselves from herbivores is by taking up silicon from the soil
and depositing it within plant cells and in spines and hairs on the plant surface, so that herbivores are
less likely to consume the plant. Higher levels of silicon also protect against drought and salinity stress,
though the mechanisms behind these effects are not fully understood. Domestication has reduced
silicon levels in plants by a small amount, but these defenses largely remain in place. Genetically
modifying how plants use silicon could therefore provide possible mechanisms of pest resistance and
drought resistance.
Another potentially transformative step would be the development of crops with

much higher photosynthetic efficiency, which could enable large improvements in
yields. As a specific example, researchers are working on lowering the energetic cost
of photorespiration, with the installation of a synthetic photorespiratory pathway
improving yields by up to 25 percent.12 Tests of this concept have shown potential,
and many other opportunities exist to engineer more efficient photosynthesis.
Applying Biotechnology to Soil

An often overlooked example of the use of biotechnology involves soil. Agriculture has tended to
deplete the soil of organic matter and harm its health and fertility. Alongside its role in food
production, soil can sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, depending on the
management practices applied to agriculture and to soils.
One way to improve soil health and carbon sequestration would be to take advantage of the rapidly
growing understanding of the beneficial interactions between the soil microbiome and crop efficiency.
Fungi, for example, take up phosphorus and make it usable to plants, while nitrogen-fixing bacteria
process atmospheric nitrogen into forms of nitrogen that plants can use. If all crops could be provided
with microorganisms that perform these functions, the need for fertilizers could be substantially
reduced. Today, the use of agricultural fertilizers works against these associations because plants will
absorb what they need from applied fertilizers rather than from symbiotic relationships, which require
that plants support the microorganisms on which they rely. Genomic technologies applied to both
microorganisms and plants could modify this relationship so that plants make optimal use of nutrients
from both the soil and from applied fertilizers. Such approaches could also enhance the ability of plants
and microorganisms to sequester carbon in soils for long periods.
FIGURE Maintaining high soil biodiversity is part of

a system of integrated agricultural management that Shubh
can minimize the harmful effects on the Sethi
environment.
An important policy question that involves the social sciences is whether a keystone intervention could
drive a transformation to sustainable agriculture or whether many complementary interventions are
needed. For example, anti-smoking campaigns typically have involved many interventions, including
education, taxes, regulation, and alternative products. How many policies would be needed to
transform food systems from a business-as-usual model to an agrobiodiverse, regenerative, food-
secure, equitable, and just system? Could a keystone intervention take the form of governmental
initiatives, international coordination, or education and training to give people the skills they need to
adopt sustainable and healthy diets?
Shubh
Sethi

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OBSERVATION

While conflict is the main driver of food insecurity for 99

5 key principles of sustainability for food and agriculture

2. Protect and enhance natural resources

3. Improve livelihoods and foster inclusive economic growth

5. Adapt governance to new challenges

Another potentially transformative step would be the development of crops with

Applying Biotechnology to Soil

FIGURE Maintaining high soil biodiversity is part of

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