Issued as an awareness exercise by the World Food Trust, 30.09.2021
We consider it normal and acceptable that more than one third of the food we produce is thrown away, rather than being consumed by the people who need it the most. The problem is so grievous that experts are of the view that if food waste had been a country, it would be the third highest producer of carbon and other green house gases, behind the US and China. Though we are well aware that net zero waste is a utopian-dream, we need to work together to stop our society from walking any further towards a dystopian nightmare. It is high time that we get our acts together and get serious regarding the problem of food wastage, if we are to meet our Total Food Security needs by 2030, a subject that is close to the heart of everyone at the World Food Trust.
Today, we are talking of replicating the Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions in agriculture but that would be no avail if we continue to waste over 30% of our total agri-produce. The first stage of optimizing our food systems would be to bring about improvements in agriculture by creating systems that bring our foodstuff – be it animal, mineral, or vegetable – from the farms to the people who consume them, in minimum time and with minimum wastage.
The indissoluble adaptation of AI and its other numerous benefits in our societies is not a matter of if but when. This revolutionary advancement has the ability to minimize food wastage issues in a significant manner as well as refashion the entirety of the Indian Agricultural landscape. Most of the researchers and data gatherers working in the field agree that a great percentage of data that is gathered is not authentic. After all, very few people would walk from field to field, in varying weather conditions to collect data from the vast and numerous farm lands present in our country. This is one reason why AI, alongside improvement in transportation, should become integral part of supply chain management. Our inventory control systems could make huge improvements if they were enhanced by data tools that were as wide as possible in scope, from demand forecasting to pricing. AI can also be utilized on the food processing side to develop products more targeted towards consumer demand and also focused on reducing food wastage.
Food waste is such a big problem today that it is considered normal, and acceptable. AI will not only help in developing climate-change solutions but also provide better monitoring and analysis of how food gets from farms to people, offering predictive metrics for retailers and money-saving incentives for consumers. Moreover, it will save billions in revenues and significantly lower a major contributor of greenhouse gases as the food production is a
costly enterprise, which contributes nearly one-third of all greenhouse gases while consuming almost two-thirds of all fresh water.
In the post-Covid scenario, we have seen rising awareness that food is about more than taste. Knowledge and attitudes around global food production too are undergoing a transformation. It is these changes which are pushing the conversation towards sustainability. Detailed solutions and technological innovations are required. Careful deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology has the potential to make a significant impact on the sustainability of global food production, transport and sale, and consumption.
AI’s role in collecting data that can be banked upon is very important. This has capacity to provide to the farmers predictive insights that could factor in years worth of weather patterns, news developments, glacial melt and flooding, world-wide atmospheric conditions, market demand, soil conditions over time, as well as real-time reporting about crop conditions. The day is not far when we will see data researchers alongside machine learning programmers working in the fields alongside the farmers.
Not just the fields and the farmers, in the post-Covid scenario, data has started to play an important role in personal health. AI is already playing a crucial role as people incorporate more of their personal health data into shopping lists that will factor their purchasing history. As the price of food is likely to rise, consumers will be under the same pressure as farmers when it comes to food, i.e. make more out of less.
Moreover, rising population and continuously degrading environment are going to put significant added pressure on the system that is already exploiting too many resources. After all, attaining total food security and feeding each and every inhabitant of the world is not an easy job. A political will, awareness at all levels of society and a global perspective to find solutions is required. The World Food Trust wants debate to commence in India and reach crescendo with global pace. To start with, a seminar Sustainable Agriculture and India towards Total Food Security is on the anvil where various stakeholders will share views, brainstorm and conclude on the way forward. Karnataka State Department of Agriculture (KSDA), Government of Karnataka; Department of Agriculture, Government of Andhra Pradesh; Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA); ARIAS Society (Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services Society); National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India; FSSAI; BIS; NIFTEM; NAFED; NABARD; IRCTC; National RainFed Area Authority; National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti; INDCOSERVE; IFFCO’ ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research and several other stakeholders, experts from government, public, academic and private sectors are likely to participate in the day-long seminar.
As George Carlin said, “The planet is going to be fine; it’s people who are going to have problems. After all feeding the world is no easy job and since everyone still needs to eat, what this means for agriculture is the necessity to do more with less. The collective voices of the experts and decision makers and the solutions they would converge upon during the day-long discussion in the Seminar will hopefully go a long way in reducing food wastage and ushering in an era of total food security for all.
The day-long seminar on ‘Sustainable Agriculture and India towards Total Food Security’ is tentatively scheduled for 28th October, 2021 at the India Habitat Centre.
Views of Aziz Haider, Head-Media Communications at World Food Trust, released as an awareness exercise on behalf of the World Food Trust.
Contact: 7999466000; worldfoodtrust@gmail.com
