Jornal de Genética e Melhoramento Vegetal

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Editorial on Recent Innovation in Sustainable Agriculture

Anna Mazurkiewicz

In 2050 the world will need to sustain some nine billion people, requiring an increase in food production by about 70%. At the same time, climate change further strains our ever-depleting natural resources, increasing the vulnerability of the highly resource-dependent agricultural sector. The sustainability of global food production will depend on our ability to innovate and become much more climate-resilient. Much of the global production of food relies on smallholder farmers who often lack access to adequate and affordable production technology, timely and accurate information that helps them manage their farm, insurance products that mitigate risk as well as sources of finance to invest in their business. These are some of many tech and innovation entry points which in 2018 alone attracted venture capital investments to the tune of USD 16.9 billion globally to AgriFood Tech startups, a 43% year-over-year increase. Getting innovators, investors and corporates focused on the most pressing challenges in agriculture, generating inclusive livelihoods across the agri-food value-chain and adopting sustainable practices present a tremendous opportunity that you should not miss out on.