Innovation to counter food supply-chain disruptions and spur recovery

Innovative solutions in agri-food systems helped households and countries contain disruptions in food supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more will be required to “build back better and build back greener”, FAO‘s Director-General QU Dongyu said.

Innovation occurs on the technology frontier but also in policymaking and business models, he emphasized while speaking at a virtual high-level panel on how to help strengthen the sustainability of food systems and prevent future pandemics.

The event was organized by FAO as part of the week-long Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin.

Examples of innovation supported agri-food systems include green channels connecting fresh food producers with urban centers, e-commerce solutions deployed across the spectrum of agri-food systems, and workarounds that have assured the functioning of food safety practices amid widespread restrictions on the movement of people triggered by the COVID-19 emergency.

Lockdowns made people more dependent on the digital business model, Qu said, noting applications along the chain from “the farmer’s field to the consumer’s plate”. The point is to encourage efficiency, effectiveness, and agility in actions and responses across the spectrum, he stressed.

In the wake of the pandemic and associated restrictions on the movement of people and goods, FAO led a worldwide effort to mitigate potential food price volatility and the risk of trade restrictions, organized and supported innovative institutional approaches – including an African Union Tripartite Ministerial Meeting spurring coherent integration of the agriculture, trade and finance policy portfolios of Members, and rolled out its Hand-in-Hand Initiative with the novel Geospatial Platform and Big Data lab.

“Innovation isn’t some theoretical idea – it’s a reality,” the Director-General said.

FAO is also improving real-time tools, using novel inputs such as satellite imagery to machine-learning, to calibrate and classify crop prospects and monitor disruption risks to food production and trade. That, and the International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture, welcomed in last year’s GFFA ministerial meeting and now being set up by FAO, can also help provide crucial support for Members implementing the One Health approach as well as boost productivity in general, the Director-General said.

Need for innovation in livestock systems

FAO’s livestock experts presented a new report on opportunities for innovation in livestock systems to tackle both pandemics and climate change.

The report notes that an encompassing priority is to make livestock systems – which are often associated with GHG emissions, zoonotic disease spillover risks, and burgeoning use of anti-microbial agents but are also critical suppliers of animal protein and support hundreds of millions of livelihoods – greener, safer and more equitable.

The detailed report emphasizes the need for a robust One Health approach that allows animal-health measure and surveillance schemes to contribute to early-warning systems for emerging pathogens, the bolstering of equity to assure market access for vulnerable smallholders, supply-chain diversification, and improved cold-chain infrastructure to optimize incomes and reduce food loss and waste, as well as land restoration, biodiversity protection, low-carbon techniques and innovations in livestock feed and productivity.