EDITORIAL
FEED THE WORLD
Dear reader,
The world is nowhere near to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Mahmoud Mohieldin, the United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda, told the OPEC Fund Development Forum in June: “Less than 15 percent of the SDGs are being achieved, 50 percent are off track and the rest are suffering from regression or U-turns.” (Read more about the OPEC Fund event on page 50) The warning is particularly serious when it comes to existential questions such as SDG 2, also known under the banner “Zero Hunger”. As reported in the previous issue of our magazine, progress made in earlier decades has lately been reversed and the number of people who do not know where their next meal is coming from has increased sharply to almost 830 million today. This would make them the third largest nation in the world behind India (1,428 million) and China (1,425 million) and far ahead of the United States (339 million). After realizing how serious and multifaceted the challenge is we started looking into ways to feed a soaring global population under conditions where climate change takes its toll in front of our eyes: Rising temperatures, extreme weather events in rapidly increasing frequency and severity,
desertification, marine plastic pollution – the list is long and growing longer by the day. But there is hope, and it is coming from an unexpected place: 12,000 years ago agriculture stood at the cradle of civilization. Mastering the cultivation of soil and the husbandry of animals were the first steps towards today’s high-tech societies – and perhaps the first example of a “system innovation”. Nowadays, the very latest developments such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, synthetic biology, gene editing, blockchain, the Internet of Things, 3D printing and many more are revolutionizing agriculture in its entirety. There are still many hurdles, ranging from the giant investment needs to the social acceptance of technologies, which are often met with concern or suspicion as they are seen as manipulating the genetic makeup of “creation”. There is a huge – and necessary – ethical debate to be had. But what is beyond doubt is that the train has left the station. According to the US stock exchange Nasdaq, the global market for agriculture technology (AgTech) is forecast to grow by nearly 20 percent annually, rising to US$32.5 billion by 2027. While spending is falling on traditional forms of farming, start-ups are attracting billions in new funding.
New technology will be essential to feed a global population that is forecast to reach 10 billion by 2050. However, it will only succeed if it is embedded in and delivered through an integrated approach. “System innovation” is the key concept here and it is motivated by the realization that system-wide changes are necessary to make economies socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. See page 12 for how this approach can be applied to agriculture and truly feed the world. Innovation is not only the keyword for the sector, it is also its watchword. As we are finding out, agriculture is both one of the main causes and one of the main victims of climate change. About a third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from our food systems and agricultural products. Ireland’s recent announcement that it was considering culling 200,000 cows at the expense of US$640 million in order to cut emissions was a stark reminder of how serious the situation is. At the same time the World Bank warns of dramatic consequences of climate-induced crop failures (see page 16). Some are seeking solutions via alternative approaches. We portrait the Fukuoka Agriculture Method (see page 36) which combines simplicity,
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