Since 2000, the United Nations have celebrated International Youth Day to highlight the achievements of young people as well as raise awareness of the issues faced by young people across the globe.
This year, the theme ‘Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health’ stresses the importance of youth involvement and engagement as we find solutions to achieve a sustainable food system.
Food is an essential requirement for human existence, thus, evolving a more sustainable food system is crucial to achieving the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs-17 goals -169 targets) by 2030. More specific SDGs relevant to the food system include – Zero Hunger, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water and Life on Land.
The recent IPCC report highlights the importance of reaching net zero as soon as possible to prevent further global warming through rapid reduction of emissions such as methane. Based on world data report, Agrifood production contribute to over 26% of global greenhouse (GHG) emission in the following ratio: livestock & fisheries (31%), crop production (27%), land Use (24%) and supply chain (18%).
The current trend in the food industry is a push for plant-based diet. This has introduced plant-based foods and substitutes to the market. Unfortunately, some micronutrients such as calcium is not produced by plants, thus, we need to identify the best approach to producing and consuming meat and fish as well as sustainable nutrient substitutes such as worms and insects. Regenerative agriculture will play a significant role in this transition.
Ultra-processing of plant-based product to serve as meat alternatives poses some concern on health and environment notwithstanding its ethical advantage over the current livestock practice.
In addition, growing crops introduces other challenges around intensive farming such as the use of high-yielding seed varieties, pesticides, irrigation, and synthetic fertilisers. This has significantly increased yields; however, these modern farming practices are unsustainable since continuous application of pesticides has dramatically reduced insects and pollinators, which are essential for food production.
Moreover, the production of synthetic fertilisers is an energy intensive process and the application releases large amounts of nitrous oxide, an extremely potent GHG. Furthermore, run-off into nearby water bodies causes eutrophication and pollution, which has caused serious harm to the aquatic ecosystem. It is essential that agriculture starts to protect water as a natural resource, as the sector is responsible for 70% of global water use. OECD predicts that Northeast China, Northwest India, and Southwest US will be the most at risk due to factors such as poor water quality and groundwater depletion.
Another concern is soil degradation. There are many types of soil degradation, one of which is soil erosion. It is estimated that nearly a third of arable land has already been lost to erosion over the last 40 years. Desertification is also a major challenge with 45% of Africa’s land area affected. More frequent droughts, as well as extreme weather conditions because of climate change, will only exacerbate these issues.
There is still huge potential to reduce food waste as a third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost while, over 800 million people are hungry. The UN has stated that unless bold actions are taken to address food security, malnutrition, and inequalities, then hunger will still be prevalent in 2030.
As well as the production and consumption of food, trade will also play an important role in improving our food system. Countries that are experiencing the highest population growth may not have the ability to increase agricultural output, due to the lack of natural resources and climate conditions. A review of international trade will be an important factor to enabling adequate resource allocation and agrifood produce redistribution in view of the urgency to meet the SDGs by 2030.
This is the most challenging time for agriculture yet very promising. The sector has a lot of potential for improvement as we move into the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ or Industry 4.0 using big data, IoT and precision agriculture. Even in the face of the ‘digital divide’, the introduction of 5G network and wider satellite launch will go a long way to mitigating these challenges.
The youth must be actively involved in developing a sustainable food system. It is in the interest of organisations and companies in the agri-food industry to engage with young people to increase awareness of the issues surrounding the industry. Whether it is through competitions, visiting schools or supporting start-ups, there are many ways to get younger people involved in the food system.
Agricultural Technology Hackathon 2021 run by the Agri-EPI Centre is a very good example. The hackathon asks teams to ‘hack a concept’ which addresses various safety concerns regarding autonomous vehicles or drones. Pinduoduo also has a Smart Agriculture Competition 2021, in which the teams must grow tomatoes in 6 months using technologies such as nutritional modelling, growing environment control and algorithmic control while also using sustainable practices.
IntelliDigest is passionate about helping young people develop their skills and gain insight into the food industry by offering internships throughout the year. Students with a keen interest in sustainability will be able to work on exciting new projects such as the recently launched Global Food Loss and Waste Tracker. The app helps the user to track their food waste and understand more about the impacts of the food they throw away. In addition, the app provides nutritional information on the food that the user consumes. The use of mobile technologies within the food system is increasing, with various app available to improve the efficiency of calculations, communication, and the availability of data.