Can Technology bring the zero hunger goal to life?
The population on the planet is growing at an exponential rate and food production is not increasing at the same rate. If nothing changes, we will all go hungry and we need to be prepared for that reality.
Year in and out, the numbers compound. In 2018, all over the world, close to 900million people didn’t have enough to eat and these numbers were less than 800million the previous year. The question is, how can technology help boost food production to drive those numbers down?
The role technology has played so far in the Agriculture sector.
Technology has always enhanced agriculture right from the innovation of harrows and ploughs drawn by cattle to the use of satellite technology to map the size of farmlands.
Over the years, technology has helped in promoting global food security in different stages of the Agriculture value chain. This ranges from boosting production to lowering production/operating costs to making access to markets easier for smallholder farmers to providing easy access to credit and information.
The social-economic advantages of technology are also quite evident. Farmers who are mostly located in rural areas and have to rely on middlemen for information don’t have to do that anymore. Thanks to mobile technology, they can easily and cheaply access information from their devices. But with all the increase in technological developments, the huge problem still remains. A large percentage of people in the world are still hungry.
Technology Alone can’t drive zero hunger.
One underlying problem that the idea of zero hunger faces is Food/crop wastage. We understand that food production has to increase but more importantly, the problem of food wastage has to be resolved quickly.
Globally, about 1.3 billion tonnes of food is lost. So, while innovating along the lines to increase food production, consideration has to be given to the ways of reducing food losses.
Food wastage starts right from the soil on the fields to the leftovers from restaurants and homes all across the world. In some high food-producing and importing countries, wastage could be as high as 222 million tonnes yearly and that’s almost the net food production of the African continent.
Across the globe, Food wastage affects countries and continents differently. It all depends on the level of income and technological advancement in the country. In most countries with medium/high-income earners, food losses occur mainly at the tail end of the Agriculture supply/value chain. This is mainly at food stores and supermarkets.
The case is different in developing countries as food wastage and losses occur during the early and mid-stages of the supply value chain. In the early stages, crop wastage could be a result of early planting, late planting or improper storage. For example in Nigeria, if planting is not well-timed to the right season, it can result in the infestation of crops by pathogens. This is partly as a result of a lack of proper information as regards standard farm practices, inadequate processing facilities, and storage facilities.
How technology can Drive the Zero hunger goal across the world.
Technology can help drive the goal of zero hunger by reducing food wastage, providing more channels to share information, and create platforms where farmers can easily access finance to diversify production. I’d show you how.
Reduction in Food/Crop wastage
Some argue that Africa produces more than enough to feed its population and the main problem stems from food/crop wastage. It makes sense because post-harvest losses account for a major percentage of crop wastage.
Poor storage and poor transportation practices are the main problems at this level. In a lot of cases, after production, the journey between the farm and target markets usually result in spoilage and reduction in the quality of farm produce due to poor road networks which obviously implies a reduction in the price smallholder farmers get for their yield. The good news is that more people are starting to create solutions to the obvious problem.
In Nigeria, technology is already being used to alleviate food wastage. A storage company named Cold Hub makes use of Solar Technology to store and prolong the shelf life of perishable goods. Technologies like these should be adopted all across Africa to reduce the impact of food wastage in the continent.
Creation of more Channels to share information to farmers
This is one of the most important aspects where technology can really make a huge difference in continents where food losses occur at the early stages of the value chain.
For farmers to maximize their yield and reduce losses, data has to guide their agricultural operations. Not just data but access to timely information to make the right decisions is also equally important. This has always been at the center of our operations at Thrive Agric. We share information as regards the best planting dates for optimum yield, climatic updates, fertilizer application techniques with our farmers with the use of mobile technology. More of this needs to be replicated across Africa.
In recent years, data advisory service platforms have increased all over Africa. A great example is a digital platform called Wefarm. This platform provides farmers with relevant information to solve different problems they are facing on their farms. With the aid of technology, farmers can easily get crowdsourced information that will help them increase their yield, get insight on market prices, take adequate steps to prevent the effects of climatic action, and make better decisions when choosing inputs.
The accumulated effect of the results from information shared can help increase food production and therefore achieve the Zero hunger goal across the globe.
Development of more Digital Platforms to finance Agriculture.
Limited access to finance is the major problem farmers face all over the world. This limitation makes expansion and diversification of farming activities difficult and nearly impossible and this, in turn, leads to low yield and ultimately low food production.
And in recent years, loan platforms powered by technology have sprung up across different continents and countries. We recognize that the only way to ensure food security in Africa and the world is for food production to scale and this requires funds. So, how are we making that possible? By connecting our farmers with funds with our platform and in addition, we provide data advisory services and link them to premium markets.
About 800 million people are undernourished and Sub Saharan Africa has the largest percentage of that number. Although the use of technology cannot solely solve the hunger problem in the world, it can go along way in driving those numbers down. What is important to note is that the limitations to the zero hunger goal are different for each continent due to the disparity in the level of development. So, it is crucial for the key players in the different Agricultural sectors across the globe to devise plans specifically tailored to them.
For us, we recognize that the weight of food production in Africa chiefly lies on the backs of smallholder farmers and that’s why we are keen on innovating around ways we can make Agriculture profitable for them, increase food production, and ultimately create an Africa that can feed itself.
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