Emerging Technologies for Improving World Food Security

The challenges that face global food and agriculture are well known and often reviewed and include: feeding a growing and more demanding population with sufficient nutrient rich foods and clean water; increasing productivity while improving the carbon and environmental footprints of agriculture; achieving a renewable energy supply. While global natural resources if finite, there is a good opportunity for a sustainable agriculture and a positive agro-economy if land and water use are maximized and if policies are adapted to ensure growth. It is not assured, however, that the global challenges can be met in the face of climate variability, financial limitations, and political resolve. In recent years there has been a decline in public funding for food and agriculture in many countries, a troubling trend at a time when there is growing demand for the products that are produced by agriculture. 

The current scientific revolution in genetics and biotechnology have produced a second green revolution and lay the way for an evergreen revolution and food security predicted by MS Swaminathan, Norman Borlaug and others. Full realization of the predictions will require an environment that: (1) attracts future scientists, teachers, producers, private sector R&D etc. to ensure a strong economy of this sector; (2) supports fundamental and applied sciences that are relevant to a sustainable food and agriculture sector; (3) implements policies that encourage partnerships between private and public sectors to identify targets for research and provide sufficient funding to achieve the goals; (4) encourages innovation in the field, including in the bioeconomy and related fields; and (5) adapts regulatory processes for GE agriculture to be reflective of benefits and potential risks. Success will likely involve restructured universities that place greater emphasis on multidisciplinary training and teamship in research, and by new partnerships that result in shared funding of research by those that benefit from its outcomes, including with state and federal funding agencies. Furthermore, because many of the global challenges in biology engage agriculture, solutions to a secure food and agriculture will require commitment from both developed and developing economies.