Global Food Security and Combating Inequalities with Technology

The 2020 Global Food Security Index (GFSI) highlighted some persistent inequality issues in the areas of economics, gender and the environment.  The latest report by the Economist Intelligence Unit stated that for the first time in almost a decade, the global food environment has deteriorated for two consecutive years, reflecting a greater number of conflicts and climate-related threats to food security. The report also showed that access to technology can help to close inequality gaps.

Climate-smart agricultural pilot projects through organizations such as The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) demonstrate that climate risk mapping and tools may help to stabilize production in at-risk countries. This is good news considering this year’s GFSI revealed that agricultural production has become more volatile in 49 countries. Other improvement levers include balancing where food is grown and where it is needed, reducing waste at retail sites and at harvest, and strengthening the food supply chain infrastructure. These areas may each be improved with new innovations that help to measure, track, plan and provide transparency.

Corteva Agriscience has a role to play in bolstering food security as well, and that lies primarily in agriculture productivity. We believe part of the answer to feeding 9 billion people by 2030 is ensuring new innovations including improved seed and crop protection products, seed treatments and digital technology are reaching not just large farmers in mature markets, but also smallholder farmers in developing countries. 

Over the past 20 years, there has been a tremendous convergence of technology on the farm. Where farmers used to rely on walking their fields to spot pest or disease issues, they now have drones and satellite imagery to pinpoint issues. Grain elevator paper tickets that used to collect on truck dashboards are now captured through farm management software and shared electronically with grain buyers, bankers, and insurance agents.

These digital tools are largely deployed in the developed world, revealing dramatic inequalities in access to markets, financial support, and sustainable farming practices. We must make greater strides toward bringing technology to smallholder farmers in underdeveloped countries to favorably impact the world’s food security.

The 2020 GFSI showed some improved access to food market data and mobile banking, with Asia and sub-Saharan Africa showing the highest increases. Smallholder farmers – many of them women working one hectare of land or less-- provide 80 percent of the food supply in these areas. Corteva’s 2030 Sustainability Goals reflect our commitment to increasing the productivity and incomes of 500 million smallholder farmers through access to technology and training.

We recently reinforced our commitment to climate positive agriculture, leveraging technology and agronomic tools to enable farmers to meet the food supply demands of their communities. When we couple digital technology with climate positive farming practices, we not only reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions, but we help sequester valuable carbon that improves the soil and can provides new income streams for the grower.

The GFSI report recognized governments in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa who have deployed mobile technology, providing smallholder farmers with timely information, targeted agriculture advice and financial services. Corteva, our nonprofit partners, and food supply chain stakeholders welcome these advances and encourage digital-friendly approaches. In Tanzania, Corteva is collaborating with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and ACDI/VOCA to increase smallholder farmer access to high-quality inputs, promoting good agricultural practices, facilitating market linkages and increasing farmers’ access to credit.

Resilience means the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. No one demographic epitomizes resilience better than a farmer; however, we must do a better job of providing all farmers with the technology and digital resources needed to combat food insecurity in our changing climate. Our future depends upon it.