Why food security and sustainable agriculture must go hand in hand

The greatest threat of all is climate change, says Giacomo Fanin, managing partner of Grey Silo Ventures, which invests in innovative foodtech startups. “The evolution of the climate day by day in every region is impacting the harvest, and the planting and growing seasons.” 

Conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere have exacerbated the problem. “There are wars in regions that are a huge producer of specific crops or products. Then there are logistical challenges, such as rockets being launched in the Red Sea, which force ships to reroute around Africa.”

This may impact our ability to meet our global food needs while we are still contributing to our greatest environmental disasters, says David Lee, founder of agritech firm Inevitable Tech, which uses technology to optimise plant growth. “The UN estimates that agriculture uses 70% of our planet’s potable water and 50% of our habitable land today , and with our population expected to grow 30% more in the coming years, we will need to make more food with less resources."

As David suggests, agriculture and wider food production have a major environmental impact (accounting for about a quarter of global emissions at current levels), and yet is one of the sectors most affected by climate change.

Improving food security and making farming more sustainable, then, go hand in hand – but the world will need some creative ideas to get us there. Precision agriculture technology (such as global positioning systems, sensors and drones) is already being used to optimise farming, while using adapted crops and varieties can prove more drought and pest resistant, making for better yields and reduced losses and waste.

Meanwhile, climate-smart technology and farming methods are helping to reduce energy and water consumption. Renewable energy can be used to power greenhouses, while hydroponics – growing plants in a nutrient-rich solution instead of soil – mean that agriculture doesn’t require as much land or contribute to soil degradation and pollution.

“By 2050, we will leverage controlled environmental production that can produce more at lower cost and lower resource consumption.  We will have food that tastes better than its original form, despite being produced from new technology,” David predicts.  

Foodtech will also play a vital role in finding alternatives to traditional protein sources such as meat that can feed a growing population while also reducing the environmental impact of farming. Roslin Technologies is a UK start-up that uses biotechnologies to develop superior cells for cultivated meat in a bid to address the growing protein gap. 

“Demand is increasing with population growth and increasing incomes,” explains CEO Ernst Van Orsouw. “But supply of high-quality proteins, especially animal proteins, is constrained and our natural environment is under pressure. To close the protein gap, it is imperative to find alternative ways to produce proteins that are more sustainable. Such proteins need to be safe, affordable and meet consumer expectations in terms of taste, nutrition and health.”