Impactful Narratives to Inform, Inspire, and Drive Change
Opinion pieces are a powerful tool for shaping public discourse and driving meaningful change. As a communications professional, I view these pieces as more than just articles—they are opportunities to inform, inspire, and challenge conventional thinking. Well-crafted opinion pieces can elevate important issues, provide clarity in complex discussions, and foster dialogue among diverse audiences. Through compelling storytelling and detailed, evidence-based arguments, they not only build awareness but also encourage action. Over the years, I have contributed to publications that highlight critical topics. Each piece reflects a commitment to making complex ideas accessible and persuasive, with the aim of leaving a lasting impact on readers and decision-makers alike. Here are some samples of my work.
Opinion
The invisible climate bomb: why we can’t ignore nitrous oxide
Opinion November 18, 2024
Though it is the third-largest contributor to global warming among greenhouse gases and has a warming potential 270 times greater than CO2, nitrous oxide receives little attention. With fertilizers and manure as the principle sources, Kaveh Zahedi at FAO writes that solutions for drastically reducing nitrous oxide emissions are readily available.
There are forces within our world that go unnoticed, quietly threading through the air and into the soil that sustains us. A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) highlights nitrous oxide as a significant but often overlooked environmental threat. This Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment doesn’t just sound the alarm; it offers concrete solutions. It shows us a way to tackle a greenhouse gas that’s been largely overlooked but is now on a fast track to disrupting the climate and public health on a global scale.
Nitrous oxide is the third-largest contributor to global warming among greenhouse gases, with a warming potential 270 times greater than carbon dioxide. It is also the leading ozone-depleting substance released by human activity. Yet, somehow, it’s rarely mentioned alongside more visible pollutants. As the planet strains under the impact of climate change, nitrous oxide could well be the tipping point that pushes us past the 1.5-degree threshold of warming we’re trying so hard to avoid.
The Quiet Menace
Nitrous oxide doesn’t make headlines. Unlike carbon dioxide, it’s not a household name. And unlike other ozone-depleting gases, it’s not even covered by the Montreal Protocol, the global agreement that has already helped phase out some of the world’s most harmful pollutants. Yet here we are, facing a crisis. Nitrous oxide is now the most destructive ozone-depleting substance in our atmosphere. Its reach affects everyone.
To put it simply, we’re already seeing the effects. Nitrous oxide has contributed about 10% of the planet’s warming since the start of the industrial era. And that’s not all—the Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment predicts that, without intervention, emissions will increase by another 30% by 2050. Left unchecked, nitrous oxide is set to become a silent but massive threat, putting countless lives and livelihoods at risk.
The Solutions We Already Have
The good news is that we’re not flying blind. We have solutions that are tested, practical, and ready to be put in place. The report lays out clear steps to reduce nitrous oxide emissions by 40%, a target we could hit with the right policies and practices. This isn’t solely a matter of technology; it requires the resolve to act broadly.
Agriculture is where much of this effort needs to happen. Roughly 75% of nitrous oxide emissions come from fertilizers and manure in our fields. The solution isn’t to cut back on nitrogen, which plants need to grow, but to use it smarter. For instance, using controlled-release fertilizers, testing the nitrogen in soils, and applying fertilizer in stages instead of all at once. These are all relatively simple fixes that can make a big difference. The FAO is already working with countries to make these practices standard, helping farmers produce more food with less environmental impact.
Then there’s crop management—simple changes like planting nitrogen-fixing crops, cover crops, and reducing tillage. These approaches improve soil health, cut emissions, and make farms more resilient to climate change. Manure management also plays a key role here. With methods like solid-slurry separation, dry storage, and anaerobic digestion, farms can reduce emissions from animal waste. Add in practices like rotational grazing and optimized livestock diets, and you’ve got a straightforward way to lower emissions and improve productivity on farms around the world.
But for these changes to take root, we need more than just innovation on the ground; we need a strong policy framework to back it up. FAO and CCAC are already working to help countries align sustainable nitrogen management with national climate and food security goals. This requires tackling regulatory, economic, and social barriers head-on. Farmers need financial incentives, supportive policies, and education if they’re going to make the leap to sustainable nitrogen use.
A Model of Global Cooperation
We’ve done this before. Decades ago, the world came together to protect the ozone layer under the Montreal Protocol. It was a remarkable example of international cooperation, and it worked. Today, we need that same level of commitment. Addressing nitrous oxide emissions isn’t just about reducing a single greenhouse gas; it’s about rethinking the systems we rely on and building resilience for the future. FAO and CCAC’s work is directly in line with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, and addressing nitrous oxide will strengthen our food security, health, and environmental resilience.
he choices we make now will define the world we pass on. Scientists have given us the data; policymakers have laid out a framework. What’s left is our resolve. Ignoring nitrous oxide emissions isn’t an option anymore. If we let this slide, the consequences will ripple out—in warmer temperatures, in lives cut short, in fragile food systems stretched beyond their limits.
We’re at a crossroads. The solutions are here, and the path is clear. With the will to act, cooperation on a global scale, and grounded agricultural practices, we can turn the nitrous oxide threat into an opportunity to build something better. Let’s take this path, not just because we have to, but because it’s the right choice for the future we want to create.
Opinion
Financial Times Sustainable Views
COP29: With the right support, farmers can become climate heroes
By Kaveh Zahedi and Nigar Arpadarai November 20, 2024
Kaveh Zahedi is director of the office of climate change, biodiversity and environment at the Food and Agriculture Organization, and Nigar Arpadarai is a UN Climate Change high-level champion
Farmers are uniquely positioned to lead efforts to reduce emissions; they need unified backing to adopt sustainable practices
World leaders gathering in Baku for COP29 have a rare chance to enlist one of our strongest allies in the fight against climate change: agriculture. Farmers are uniquely positioned to lead this effort, but to turn their potential into reality, they need unified backing to adopt sustainable practices that build resilience, capture carbon, and restore biodiversity.
The Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative, launched on Monday, is a key part of the COP29 presidency’s “action agenda”. It aims to simplify the landscape of agricultural support and offers a structured path forward to transform agriculture into a cornerstone of global climate action.
Transformation is essential, and every step in the right direction helps.
In the Churia region of Nepal, where deforestation and climate effects jeopardise rural livelihoods, Food and Agriculture Organization-led Farmer Field School, supported by the Green Climate Fund, is empowering farmers with eco-friendly techniques that double crop yields.
Meanwhile, in Ivory Coast, cocoa farmers are transitioning to agroforestry practices that protect forests and more than double yields per hectare, mitigating climate impacts while bolstering livelihoods.
But here is the challenge: farmers elsewhere, especially smallholders, often lack the steady support needed to adopt these methods — support that is tangled in layers of complexity, keeping real progress just out of reach.
Breaking down barriers to access
There is no shortage of good intent to support farmers build more sustainable and resilient livelihoods. But the network of agriculture-focused programmes is scattered, and near impossible for smallholder farmers to navigate. The need for a unified approach has never been greater. For meaningful progress, capacities must be strengthened, climate finance streamlined, and the tangled web of support available to farmers clarified.
Right now, more than 90 efforts associated with the UN climate convention process target agriculture’s role in climate action, with many launched only recently. Fragmented support hampers farmers’ capacity to innovate, drains resources, duplicates efforts, and delays essential impacts needed to meet global climate goals.
A key effort at COP29 is stepping up to tackle these bottlenecks, creating a direct, clear path for farmers to access critical support, whether it is funding for moving to crops and varieties better suited to their new climate reality, training on soil restoration, or tools for handling unpredictable weather.
The Harmoniya initiative is particularly dedicated to catalysing investment from the public and private sectors, drawing in the resources necessary to strengthen agrifood systems.
By connecting funders, non-governmental organisations, local governments and international organisations through one streamlined hub, this approach helps to get resources to where they are needed. It is a practical, farmer-centred initiative to ensure support reaches those who feed the world and build resilience against climate crises.
Farmers as leaders in climate solutions
At COP29, efforts such as the Harmoniya initiative aim to support farmers as vital contributors to climate adaptation and resilience within their communities.
By providing training in sustainable techniques, farmers are not just recipients, they are catalysts for change, creating ripple effects across regions.
The initiative also prioritises groups historically left out of climate solutions, such as women, young people and Indigenous farmers, who make up a significant share of the agricultural workforce and carry invaluable local knowledge. It will build on programmes like the Food and Agriculture Organization’s strengthening agricultural adaptation project and its Casa de Miel initiative that empowers women farmers with sustainable water-saving and beekeeping techniques in countries such as Senegal, helping communities build resilience against climate change.
These types of projects not only enhance food security but also promote gender equity by engaging men and women as equal partners in climate solutions.
By levelling the playing field and paving the way for a just transition, COP29 aims to make the expertise and innovation of local farmers central to global climate policy.
Turning promises into ground-level support
This year’s COP is a critical moment to turn climate rhetoric into real support that reaches farmers where they need it most. Policymakers should commit to finance that prioritises direct farmer engagement. Through a collaborative effort, governments, donors and organisations can set the foundation for a global network that accelerates agricultural climate solutions and builds resilience into food systems worldwide.
Supporting farmers is more than a rural investment — it is a direct investment in our planet’s future. Smallholders are the backbone of global food security, and by enabling them to adapt to climate challenges, we are building a more resilient food system.
COP29 has the chance to set a new standard for climate action, delivering solutions that transform high-level goals into real-world impacts.
Syrian refugees’ stories show traces of hope amid the trails of destruction
Gregory Beals’ years speaking to refugees around the world could not prepare him for the scale of Syria’s societal collapse
Gregory Beals
A Syrian teenager whose family died when their home was demolished by rocket fire; a Somali woman whose husband was killed because of her penchant for football; the Congolese village constantly in fear of the return of pillaging soldiers.
For the past several years now I’ve listened to the stories of refugees from Syria to Somalia, South Sudan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Their experiences overlap: they are individuals and families who are beset by the chaotic knots of dislocation, uncertainty and fear; they are people who have been waylaid by history but whose personal narratives are for the most part forgotten in the noise (or silence) of geopolitics.
There is 15-year-old Jamal, who cannot stop thinking about the rockets that rained on his house in Deraa, southern Syria. He closes his eyes and sees the roof buckle as the first projectile hits. The family runs from the house. A second rocket lands. The shrapnel burns through his mother’s torso. Jamal and his three-year-old brother lie on the ground wounded and bleeding. An ambulance takes them from Deraa across the border to Jordan and to safety.
There is 23-year-old Maymun, whose husband was killed in Mogadishu, Somalia, by the al-Shabaab Islamist group because he allowed her to play football. There is 20-year-old Gisman Usman, who still struggles with the trauma of losing her leg when a bomb landed on her home in Sudan’s Blue Nile state.
On a basic human level, it is impossible to see the experience of refugees in one crisis as somehow more profound (and therefore more deserving) than in another.
But what sets the Syria crisis apart is the sheer number (1.8 million people have already left the country) as well as the rapid and total breakdown of institutions. Unlike Congo or Somalia, where conflict has dismantled lives and societies for decades, the refugees from Syria had, until recently, enjoyed an untroubled, materially agreeable existence. In a matter of two years, the taxi driver, the farmer, the shop owner, the lawyer and the teacher have been reduced to living in tents or caravans in barren landscapes.
Additionally, the Syrian tragedy has played out so widely on social media that refugees are keenly aware of the dangers of being visible. Family after family fear that their identities may be revealed after I speak to them. Adults rarely consent to be photographed. This sense of rage lives in stories and slogans of violence that are repeated by even the youngest of refugees. I wonder what future Syria will have when I speak to children who proclaim their desire to become fighters instead of doctors, martyrs instead of teachers.
At the same time I see counter-narratives that give me a great sense of hope. In these, the struggle to survive the Syria conflict requires something that I have witnessed time and again. It involves the love that attends human recognition. It involves the desire for home and a will for normality. It involves a refusal to relinquish humanity and retain the memory required to construct a future.
I meet people in the Zataari refugee camp who have created fountains which recall the places where they once lived. I meet teachers who gather children to create art or to learn a new language because to do so inspires hope. Perhaps one day, Syria’s refugees may have their hopes rewarded with an end to this horrible war and a safe passage home.
Gregory Beals is a regional writer for the UNHCR
Foresight for a Resilient Future: How Emerging Technologies Can Transform Agrifood Systems to Combat Climate Change
Vincent Martin
Director, Office of Innovation @UNFAO
November 15, 2024
In the escalating battle against climate change, we need big-picture thinking that goes beyond quick fixes. This is where foresight—a strategic approach to anticipating and managing future trends—comes in. Before traveling to Baku for COP29, where I’ll be a panelist in various events including at the “Harnessing Youth Innovation for a Thriving Green Economy” session, I was in Harare, meeting young agrifood innovators who are already driving change in the field, leading from the emerging future.
Foresight isn’t about prediction; it’s about exploring future possibilities, particularly for agrifood systems that must adapt to rising temperatures, water scarcity, and more extreme weather events. By embracing a range of emerging technologies, from nature-based solutions to digital tools, foresight can help build resilient, adaptive agrifood systems that offer long-term sustainability. However, with each innovation come trade-offs that must be managed effectively, balancing environmental impact, resource demands, and potential unintended consequences. Only with careful, foresight-driven management can these technologies truly serve as tools for resilience rather than new sources of environmental strain.
Here are some of the solutions that stand out as the most promising in our recently launched Foresight report “Shaping sustainable agrifood futures: pre-emerging and emerging technologies and innovations for impact“.
Nature-Based and Ecosystem Innovations: Harnessing Natural Resilience
Nature-based and ecosystem innovations offer one of the most effective and sustainable responses to climate change’s growing impact on food security. These solutions work with natural systems rather than against them, aiming to promote sustainable land and water management. By leveraging the inherent resilience of ecosystems, these innovations offer low-cost and long-term strategies for environmental protection. Healthy ecosystems regulate water flow, prevent soil erosion, and capture carbon, creating natural defenses that benefit both food production and climate stability.
Agroecology, a practice rooted in these principles, offers an approach that harmonizes agricultural practices with ecological systems. Unlike traditional, input-intensive methods, agroecology promotes biodiversity, strengthens soil health, and reduces dependence on chemical inputs, all while supporting local communities. Just recently in Harare, I met young agrifood innovators using agroecological practices to improve resilience and create green jobs. For example, local farmer cooperatives are restoring degraded land and producing sustainable, drought-resistant crops that reduce environmental impact and offer new sources of income. Initiatives like FAO’s Integrated Country Approach (ICA) also empower young people to participate in green economy innovation, as highlighted in the upcoming COP29 session on youth empowerment.
Scaling agroecology involves challenges that require careful management. To expand these practices, countries need investments in knowledge-sharing and supportive policies that help farmers transition away from conventional methods. Agroecology’s reliance on regional adaptation and local knowledge also poses challenges for large-scale, standardized implementation. For foresight practitioners, agroecology represents a vital tool, offering both environmental and social benefits, yet requiring strategic support and adaptation to realize its full potential in the face of climate change.
Energy Storage: The Buffer for Renewable Power
Energy storage technologies are another vital piece of the climate resilience puzzle. By acting as buffers, these systems enable the efficient use of renewable energy from sources like solar and wind. Such technologies hold particular promise for remote or marginalized communities, where stable energy access can transform economies and improve living standards. Energy storage can help reduce reliance on fossil fuels, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.
Yet, as promising as energy storage is, it’s not without environmental challenges. Extracting the materials used in batteries, such as lithium and cobalt, often results in habitat destruction, pollution, and resource depletion. In remote areas of Ethiopia, for instance, solar power combined with energy storage is enabling local communities to power agricultural machinery, boosting productivity and creating new job opportunities in farming and solar maintenance. However, these efforts also require efforts in managing resource extraction and battery recycling to ensure that renewable energy is truly sustainable.
Real-Time Data and Quantum Computing: Precision Agriculture on the Horizon
Agriculture is rapidly transforming through digital technologies like satellite imagery, autonomous Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and precision positioning. These tools provide high-resolution, real-time data on crop health, soil quality, and weather conditions, allowing farmers to make data-driven decisions that optimize resources and reduce environmental impacts. Quantum computing could take this further by processing complex datasets faster than ever before, enabling real-time monitoring, predictive analysis, and even breakthroughs in crop science.
However, the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure—from energy-hungry data centers to the satellites enabling these services—must be carefully considered. As we move toward more data-intensive farming, foresight will be essential to address the trade-offs, ensuring that these tools deliver net benefits to both agriculture and the environment.
Environmental Biotechnologies: Cleaner Crops and Greener Landscapes
Environmental biotechnologies offer a spectrum of innovations for sustainable agriculture. By enhancing soil health, reducing dependence on chemical inputs, and boosting crop yields, biotechnology could fundamentally change how food is grown. This field also extends into pollution remediation, with engineered microorganisms that can clean up contaminated sites, offering solutions to some of today’s pressing environmental challenges. In waste management, environmental biotechnology can make recycling processes more efficient, creating closed-loop systems that contribute to a circular economy.
But biotechnology has its environmental trade-offs, particularly in the extraction and disposal of materials. Without rigorous planning, these innovations could unintentionally lead to environmental risks, underscoring the need for FAO and other organizations to guide these tools into climate-resilient agrifood systems responsibly.
Synthetic Biology: Crafting Resilient Crops and Circular Economies
Synthetic biology, including the engineering of new organisms and modification of existing ones, offers transformative potential for agrifood systems. This field enables the development of crops with higher nutritional value, enhanced disease resistance, and increased tolerance to environmental stressors. Synthetic biology could also contribute to sustainable biofuel production and the creation of bio-based materials, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and fostering a circular economy. Engineered microorganisms capable of degrading pollutants offer further potential in environmental remediation and waste management.
However, the power of synthetic biology must be approached cautiously. Engineering living organisms carries ethical and ecological risks, from unintended genetic spread to potential impacts on biodiversity. Ensuring these innovations are safe and sustainable requires a foresight-driven approach, balancing their transformative potential with a commitment to environmental stewardship.
Digital Twins and the Internet of Food: Mapping and Modeling for Greater Efficiency
The concept of digital twins—virtual models of physical systems—can enhance agricultural planning and decision-making, allowing farmers to test different scenarios and optimize production. Similarly, the Internet of Food aims to connect and monitor various aspects of the food supply chain, creating a network that enhances food safety, transparency, and efficiency. Digital twins and the Internet of Food could offer environmental benefits by reducing waste and optimizing resource use.
Yet, the energy needed to power and maintain extensive digital networks can be substantial, potentially offsetting some of the sustainability gains. Foresight here means considering the lifecycle of digital infrastructure, from energy consumption to electronic waste, to ensure these tools contribute to climate solutions without creating new environmental burdens.
Biomass Energy: Fueling a Circular Economy
Biomass energy technologies harness renewable organic materials, such as algae and agricultural waste, to produce fuel. Biomass can be an especially valuable energy source for remote communities that lack access to conventional power grids, contributing to local economic resilience. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting resource efficiency, biomass energy supports a circular economy where waste becomes a valuable resource.
The production of biomass fuels, however, requires a balance between cultivation and conservation. Growing biomass feedstocks, like algae, must not come at the cost of biodiversity or land needed for food production. As these technologies develop, foresight will be essential to align biomass production with sustainable land use and environmental preservation
The Role of Foresight in a Climate-Resilient Future
The role of foresight in agrifood systems is about more than predicting technological trends. It’s about creating a framework that allows emerging technologies to integrate into the food system sustainably. This requires a thorough examination of environmental trade-offs, from energy usage to resource depletion, and careful planning to ensure that today’s solutions don’t create tomorrow’s crises.
For organizations like the FAO, which sit at the nexus of food, agriculture, and climate policy, foresight can guide the responsible adoption of these innovations, focusing on resilience and sustainability. As climate change continues to reshape the global landscape, the strategic integration of nature-based solutions, biotechnology, agroecology, digital tools, and sustainable energy sources will be critical. For a deeper dive into these topics, the FAO’s recent report, Shaping Sustainable Agrifood Futures: Pre-emerging and Emerging Technologies and Innovations for Impact, provides valuable insights and data on the trends and solutions discussed here. The full report can be accessed here.
Only by seeing the big picture can we ensure that agrifood systems support not only the needs of today but also the demands of tomorrow. Foresight is more than a method—it’s a moral imperative. By leveraging strategic insight, we can navigate the complexities of climate change with a balanced approach that prioritizes both innovation and environmental integrity. In the fight against climate change, foresight may be our greatest resource.
Decoding Transformation (2): Empowering Farmers with Open-Source solutions
Vincent Martin
Director, Office of Innovation @UNFAO
September 19, 2024
In a remote village in East Africa, an agronomist anxiously monitors his tablet, tracking a locust swarm threatening to devastate local crops. A locust swarm is on the move, threatening to devastate crops and jeopardize the livelihoods of thousands. This is no ordinary threat—the Desert Locust, one of the most dangerous migratory pests on the planet, can utterly destabilize food security, and plunge millions into economic despair. With just one outbreak capable of impacting 65 of the world’s poorest nations and up to 20% of the earth’s land mass, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
But today, something is different. The agronomist is not helpless; he is armed with eLocust3, a cutting-edge, open-source platform that provides real-time data and satellite imagery. This powerful tool empowers governments and communities to act swiftly, turning the tide before the swarm descends.
Open-source technological solutions have the potential to be a powerful driver of agrifood systems transformation, offering farmers and communities accessible, customizable tools to address pressing challenges like climate change, economic pressures, and food insecurity.
In the framework of the Global Digital Compact and the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, the UN Secretary-General has identified open-source solutions as pivotal in the context of UN 2.0 and the quintet of change, essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These technologies extend beyond software to include openly licensed content, data, standards, and AI models, all of which are crucial in creating systems that can be adopted, adapted, and scaled globally.
FAO is at the forefront of this transformation, championing these tools as essential for building more efficient, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems. This is the message I delivered a few months ago at the “OSPO (Open-Source Programme Offices) for good” conference in New York, an inspiring forum of experts and leaders from all over the world to discuss and exchange on their experiences to scale-up open-source solutions for the greater good.
The “OSPOs for Good” conference, co-organized by the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, showcased how these open-source approaches enable broader access and adaptability, creating systems that significantly advance the SDGs and ensure equitable benefits from increased internet connectivity, leaving no one behind.
FAO’s active promotion of open-source approaches and commitment to this vision is evident in its efforts to certify a variety of tools as digital public goods [1], ensuring that they remain accessible, safe, and equitable. Partnering with the Digital Public Goods Alliance, FAO is driving transparency and inclusivity in agrifood systems. The Digital Public Goods-First Framework, introduced in 2023, identifies critical areas where these tools can have the greatest impact: governance, capacity building, infrastructure, partnerships, and evaluation. A prime example of this potential is Reboot the Earth, a collaborative initiative involving Salesforce, FAO, the UN Youth Envoy, UN OICT, and the Digital Public Goods Alliance. This initiative brings together young innovators from New York, Hyderabad, Addis Ababa, and Rabat—engaging them in coding events designed to create digital public goods. These youth-led innovations leverage open data, AI, and cutting-edge tools to tackle localized climate challenges, proving that the future of sustainable farming is both collaborative and inclusive.
It is important, however, to touch upon the notion of open source as a fundamental ethos behind innovation itself. Open-source technological solutions are revolutionizing agrifood systems not simply as a technological phenomenon. It democratizes access to innovative tools and fosters collaborative approaches to address global challenges. It is an excellent example of Open innovation, a collaborative approach that brings together external ideas, technologies, and resources to solve problems more effectively. It is a way of working to create better solutions that enable farmers, researchers, and policymakers to freely adapt through a more inclusive and equitable approach to agricultural innovation.
A Collaborative Approach to Fostering Open Innovation
Fundamentally, such innovation involves collaborative platforms that create vibrant ecosystems where knowledge is shared, refined, and amplified. Through them, innovation becomes a collective act, carried out in the spirit of mutual benefit and global cooperation.
Consider FarmStack, led by Digital Green, which facilitates secure data sharing among farmers, researchers, and agribusinesses, enabling better decision-making and promoting best practices. FAO together with Digital Green successfully deployed the FarmStack network and its integration with the Telegram chatbot to offer a scalable approach to delivering digital public goods (DPGs) through collaborative partnerships. This initiative exemplifies the transformative power of digital innovation in improving small-scale farming practices and fostering sustainable agricultural development through easy access to agricultural advisory services and strategic use of digital infrastructure. Similarly, FAO’s OpenForis platform supports sustainable forest management by providing cost-effective tools for forest resource monitoring, data collection, and analysis.
Open-Source for Science-Based Decision Making
And yes, data is important. Open-source innovation requires that we promote science-based decision-making through real-time data sharing, analysis, and collaboration. This capability is critical for addressing complex agricultural and environmental issues.
A prime example is OpenFMD, an open-source platform developed by FAO’s World Reference Laboratory for Foot and Mouth Disease (WRLFMD). This tool enhances pathogen surveillance by enabling the global sharing of genomic data to track and control disease outbreaks. OpenFMD allows laboratories worldwide to retrieve, analyze, and share critical genomic and epidemiological data, supporting more effective disease control initiatives.
There are many examples of the power of open-source technologies as critical instruments of change in agrifood systems. FAO’s eLocust3 platform, which provides critical real-time data for tracking and managing locust swarms that threaten food security in regions like East Africa, immediately comes to mind. This system allows governments and farmers to take swift action to prevent devastating crop losses, demonstrating how open-source solutions can empower communities to respond effectively to urgent threats.
This ability to share scientific data openly and collaborate across borders is fundamental to addressing challenges like food security and environmental sustainability. All stakeholders can contribute to and benefit from scientific advancements.
Scaling Open-Source solutions for Global Impact
The potential of open-source solutions extends far beyond localized projects—they can be scaled globally to achieve significant impact. FAO, in partnership with global initiatives such as the Digital Public Goods Alliance, is working to promote open-source solutions as digital public goods.
These solutions are not only crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but are also designed to be scalable, adaptable, and accessible worldwide. FAO’s active promotion of open-source technologies is evident in initiatives like Reboot the Earth, which engages young innovators in creating digital public goods to tackle localized climate challenges.
Open source for bridging the Digital Divide
Open-source innovation comes with requirements meant to bridge the digital divide, particularly in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). By lowering barriers to access, these platforms foster digital inclusion, reaching marginalized communities where innovation often struggles to take root.
This democratization of technology brings equity, ensuring that progress is not limited by geography or circumstance. It aligns with the broader mission of the Global Digital Compact, which seeks to weave connectivity into every layer of development, ensuring no one is left behind.
Enhancing Transparency and Ethical AI Governance
We live in a historical moment in which transparency is critical. This is especially true when it comes to such issues as AI governance. Our future rests on our ability to ensure that the algorithms shaping our future remain accountable and ethical. Open-source frameworks offer visibility into the otherwise opaque world of artificial intelligence, where decisions need scrutiny, and development must align with principles of fairness.
Open-source technologies help build precious public trust and ensure technologies contribute positively to sustainable development and inclusive growth.
A Path Forward for Inclusive Agrifood Systems Transformation
To transform agrifood systems and ensure sustainable development, it is essential to promote and scale open-source solutions that democratize access to technology and foster collaboration. FAO’s commitment to open-source innovation, through various initiatives, is driving the global shift toward a more inclusive, transparent, and sustainable agrifood systems.
The way forward requires strengthening global partnerships, promoting ethical AI governance, expanding the certification of digital public goods, engaging youth and innovators, and enhancing digital literacy in rural communities. These steps are crucial for cultivating a culture of innovation and ensuring a steady flow of fresh ideas and solutions to global agricultural challenges.
As the world confronts urgent agrifood systems challenges, open-source approaches present practical solutions that are already making a difference. The need for scalable, adaptable solutions in agriculture has never been more pressing, and the time to act is now. Governments, organizations, and innovators must work together to expand the adoption of these technologies, ensuring they reach the communities that need them most, by creating a strong enabling environment.
By harnessing the power of open-source innovation, we can shape a future where technology serves the many, not just the few—creating a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable world for all.
[1] By 2022, FAO had certified our first four digital public goods, and as of June 2024, we have 5 Digital Public Goods, with ten new certification requests received in 2024
Decoding transformation (1): a systems approach to sustainable agrifood systems
Vincent Martin
Director, Office of Innovation @UNFAO
July 26, 2024
For the past few weeks, I’ve been on a whirlwind journey across different continents; from the iconic halls of the European Commission in Brussels to the vibrant streets of Manhattan, San Francisco, Dubai and Seoul. In each city, I found myself immersed in a world pulsating with the energy of change. These places have long been drivers of profound changes in the way we live.
And yet, amidst all this change, I could not help but wonder why were we so far from ending hunger and poverty – a goal that was set some 79 years ago?
Engaging directly with agrifood pioneers, researchers and policy makers in Europe, Canada, the United States, the Republic of Korea, entrepreneurs from Africa, Asia and Latin America, I heard a resounding consensus: the need for a transformation in how we cultivate, distribute, and consume food has never been more urgent.
It is a call that has found resonance within the corridors of power and the fields alike, a testament to the collective recognition of our shared responsibility to lead towards sustainability in a new era of uncertainty.
The journey towards transforming our agrifood systems is not linear. It demands a radical departure from the existing status quo and a fundamental reimagining of the very essence of our agrifood systems. This journey also requires a profound understanding of the intricate web of interconnected challenges and opportunities that shape our agrifood system landscape, recognizing their diversity and the need for context-based solutions. While it is clear there is no one-size-fits-all solution, there is also no single organization capable of solving this complex problem of mammoth proportions. In other words, when embarking on such an ambitious journey, partnership, collaboration and multilateralism are key.
Reimagining the Future
Spearheading this global endeavor with its partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stands at the vanguard, leveraging science, innovation, and climate action as potent catalysts for change. From fostering stakeholder dialogues to orchestrating innovative financing solutions, FAO’s strategic deployment of key accelerators of transformation underscores its unwavering commitment to a future where hunger is but a relic of the past.
Imagine a world where nutritious food is produced sustainably, and is accessible for everyone. This is a new vision where the objective is not only about producing more with less for a growing population but it is also giving equitable access to healthy food, produced in a sustainable manner for everyone to live a healthy life (encapsulated as FAO’s Four Betters). This is FAO’s vision of a sustainable agrifood system, and it is within our reach.
But we need a fundamental reimagining of the way we produce, distribute, and consume food if we want to achieve it. We need a transformation that is intentional, holistic, and inclusive. And we need innovation as the catalyst for change.
This was the message I delivered in various fora, where I shared my insights and field experiences, while engaging with agrifood pioneers, researchers, policy makers, and farmers. I highlighted the urgency and the opportunity of transforming agrifood systems, the challenges and solutions, and the pathways and partnerships that can make it happen.
Desperate times call for urgent means
Today our global food systems are failing to provide food security and nutrition for all. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility and vulnerability of our agrifood systems, exacerbating the existing inequalities and injustices. The numbers are staggering: around 730 million people go to bed hungry every night, while almost 900 million people suffer from obesity. One third of the food we produce goes to waste, while millions of small-scale farmers struggle to make a living. The hidden costs of our agrifood systems to society and the planet are estimated at $12 trillion annually. These include social, economic, and environmental damages, such as health impacts, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil degradation.
The current trajectory of our agrifood systems is unsustainable. Existing within these changes and merely reacting, mitigating or adapting is not enough.
This is why we urgently need a transformation that is not just incremental, but systemic. We need to design our agrifood systems in such a way that better serves all of us and the planet.
A system transformation that addresses the root causes, not just the symptoms, of the problems that plague our agrifood system is the only option. This pathway to transformation must recognize the complexity of agrifood systems across contexts and cultures, without imposing a one-size-fits-all solution.
And for this transformation to happen, we need to act proactively and decisively, and make these conscious choices to drive lasting change. Transformation is the WHAT, Innovation is the HOW.
Innovation: the catalyst for transforming agrifood systems
A laser focused approach
A concept underpinning agrifood system transformation, that is closely linked to addressing the root causes, is the need to identify the leverage points, the places within a complex system where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything. Leverage points are like “acupuncture points — places where a finely tuned, strategic intervention is capable of creating lasting change, creating positive impact” (Donatella Meadows).
Let me illustrate this issue with an example borrowed from UNDP’s work in Mongolia: in Mongolia’s cashmere industry, falling prices led to increased herd sizes, causing overgrazing and environmental degradation. This cycle continued as the quality and price of cashmere fell. A significant price premium for sustainably produced cashmere was identified as a leverage point to encourage herders to adopt sustainable grazing practices. This economic incentive reduced herd sizes and alleviated pressure on grasslands. Additionally, by making premium buyers visible in the market, it motivated producers to adopt sustainable practices and attracted other buyers, signaling a profitable market for sustainable cashmere. Implementing these leverage points reorganized the value chain, with middlemen and processors developing separate channels for sustainable cashmere, which led to direct connections between sustainable producers and premium buyers. The economic incentives from price premiums resulted in lasting changes in herding practices, making sustainable methods more profitable.
In this example, the leverage points of price premiums and visibility of premium buyers’ work by creating economic incentives and market visibility drove a systemic change, leading to sustainable practices and a reorganized value chain in Mongolia’s cashmere industry.
Innovation: the future of sustainability
Our global food value chain is responsible for approximately 25-30% of total greenhouse gas emissions. To combat this, we are seeing a push towards integrating sustainability into every step of the food production and consumption process. This includes enhancing the efficiency of production methods, improving transportation and processing to reduce energy use and waste, and shifting consumer behavior towards more sustainable food choices.
Efforts to localize food sources are reducing the carbon footprint associated with long-distance transport and are simultaneously strengthening local economies and food security. By supporting local farms and agricultural operations, we not only foster community resilience but also enhance the adaptability of our food systems to local conditions and needs.
Let us consider also the remarkable advancements in Vertical Farming and Controlled Environment Agriculture. These technologies allow us to cultivate crops in urban and harsh environments, utilizing minimal space and resources, and completely independent of weather conditions. By optimizing conditions such as lighting, nutrients, and water, we can significantly increase crop yields while reducing resource use and environmental impact. This method not only brings food production closer to consumers but also opens up new possibilities for agriculture in areas previously unsuitable for farming.
Digital and Technological Advances are making a profound impact on our global food systems. Consider the role of Satellite Remote Sensing in managing our food, land, and water systems. This technology has become indispensable for integrated and efficient system management, enabling us to monitor risks to crop yields, and respond to natural disasters like flash floods and locust infestations. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also revolutionizing our approach to agricultural productivity. AI is used to manage and analyze vast amounts of data collected under controlled conditions. I am thinking of the partnership between FAO and Digital Green—a grassroots approach to agricultural knowledge sharing. By harnessing the power of digital technology, artificial intelligence and local expertise, we empower rural communities with vital information on agriculture, health, and nutrition. Utilizing local social networks, Digital Green connects farmers with experts, enhancing learning through relatability. Since 2008, it has worked in India, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Ghana, Niger, and Tanzania. In these countries, Digital Green has reached over 1 million people in 13,000 villages with 4,000 videos, demonstrating significant impact. Nearly 600,000 viewers have adopted these agricultural best practices. This is innovation at its most human—community-driven solution that delivers tangible impact, bridging traditional knowledge with modern technologies, including AI in the most recent version of the application.
Last but not least, the adoption of circular economy principles within food systems is revolutionizing how we view and manage waste. By transforming organic waste into valuable resources like bioenergy and compost, we are closing the loop and reducing the overall environmental impact of our food systems.
As you can see, innovation is not just a new app, drone, or gadget. It is not just a technological fix. Often, it is a mix of innovations that can be technological, social, financial, policy, or institutional that create change if supported by a strong enabling environment, that provides the right policy, financial, and social incentives. Innovation is an outcome, a process and a mindset, a way of thinking and doing things differently, and a way of creating value and impact.
One key lesson from past initiatives is that a user-centric and participatory approach is key. It implies that solutions are co-designed and co-created with the people who are affected by the problems and who will benefit from the solutions.
It also implies a collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach, where diverse actors work together to foster synergies and amplify the impact of solutions, transcending geographical and sectoral boundaries.
Interventions also need to be future-focused and anticipatory, using foresight and horizon scanning to identify and leverage the trends and opportunities that will shape the food sector in the coming years and decades.
Across the continents, we can see the power of innovation at work, from sustainable practices to digital advancements, from grassroots initiatives to global partnerships. Examples of the potential of innovation that exist in agrifood systems are but a drop in an ocean of infinite possibilities. They show us that innovation is not only possible, but also necessary, to achieve the transformation that we need. They also show us that innovation is not only within the domain of experts, but also the result of the creativity and resilience of people everywhere; that it is not only a technical solution, but also a social process that involves collaboration, participation, and empowerment.
Removing barriers to innovation: the power of social sciences
But another reality is that many innovative solutions are not used or put into practice. In agriculture, many proven “good practices” are not adopted on the ground. People may have the best of intentions, but often, there is a gap between intention and action (and we all experience it in our own lives). In Ghana, FAO teams used behavioural science together with farming communities on farmer field schools. Farmers planned to disinfect their feet but often did not do so, creating a breach in biosecurity and potentially compromising the health status of their hers. Urgent daily needs overshadowed future benefits. To overcome this, farmers worked with FAO behavioural scientists to develop and test visual reminders and slogans, to solve challenges creatively and these significantly increased foot bath use.
And the potential of behavioural science is not limited to promoting good production practices. We can use this approach to help us follow through with health goals, strengthen human-centered policy design and reduce food loss and waste. Another critical opportunity is using social and behavioural sciences to redesign food environments, from in-person markets to online shops, incorporating labels like NutriScore and developing responsible discount structures. These behaviourally informed innovations can make the healthy and sustainable food choice the easier choice.
Aligning our ambitions and joining forces
But despite these advancements in innovation, significant gaps and challenges remain in our investment strategies within agrifood systems. The scarcity of specific quantitative data on investments in agrifood systems innovation hampers our ability to measure impact and allocate resources effectively. The global agrifood system, with an estimated asset value of $14 trillion—representing up to 20% of global GDP—presents not only a massive business opportunity but also a considerable responsibility.
Regrettably, much of the hundreds of billions of dollars invested annually in agrifood systems is misaligned, driving outcomes that incur hidden costs to society, which bears repeating, estimated at $12 trillion annually. These costs include social, economic, and environmental damage. Even more concerning is the staggering $1.8 trillion allocated to environmentally harmful subsidies.
When we consider that only 3% of total public climate finance is directed towards agrifood systems, the mismatch in funding allocation becomes starkly apparent.
What is the solution?
First and foremost, we need to align our ambitions, investments, and actions with the vision of a sustainable agrifood system. We must bridge the gaps between the availability and demand of capital, the supply and adoption of solutions, and the intention and action of stakeholders.
Additionally, we need to revamp our investment and financial models to ensure they align with the social and environmental goals of the transformation.
We need to enhance our policy and regulatory frameworks to ensure that they are anticipatory, evidence-based, and supportive of bottom-up innovations.
Building our human and institutional capacities is also instrumental in nurturing the skills and capabilities needed to manage and scale innovations. And we need to embrace collaborative multi-stakeholder approaches to foster synergy and amplify the impact of solutions.
We are at a critical juncture in history, where the choices we make today will shape our agrifood systems and our planet, tomorrow. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to make a difference, to be part of the transformation journey, and to be part of the solution.
Whether we are farmers, consumers, entrepreneurs, researchers, policy makers, or civil society, we all have a role to play. We all have a stake in the outcome and a voice in the process. Let us use our creativity, knowledge, resources, and networks to innovate and transform our agrifood systems for a better world for everyone.
Navigating the Labyrinth: Agrifood Systems in an Age of Polycrisis
Vincent Martin
Director, Office of Innovation @UNFAO
December 5, 2023
I am on a plane from Rome to Beijing. We are flying in the darkness. I look out the window and see the lights on the wingtips of our aircraft lighting a beacon in the night. Amid the drone of flying engines, challenges come to mind, but also solutions. We are, all of us, flying in the dark in a world marred by escalating challenges—climate change, food insecurity, and economic volatility to name a few. It’s an age of polycrisis, where the intricate lattice of problems affecting agrifood systems can appear as something obscure and without end.
But even in darkness we can find other ways of navigating.
This is as true for food systems transformation as it is as traversing continents. According to our most recent and first FAO Foresight Report on Emerging Technologies and innovations for Agrifood Systems Transformation, the route to a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive future lies in deftly navigating the confluence of technology, policy, social, institutional and financial innovations, combined in different ways to answer global challenges of our time.
The 21st-century quandary necessitates 21st-century solutions, particularly in leveraging emerging technologies and innovations. From Artificial General Intelligence to nature-based solutions, the report identifies 167 game-changing elements in the agrifood landscape. A deeper dive into 32 of these, through collective intelligence, suggests the possibility of transforming agrifood systems with substantial efficacy. While each technology offers a slice of the solution, the report astutely argues that no single innovation is a panacea. Diverse as the ingredients in a hotpot, they must come together to produce a resilient system, aptly harmonizing modern advancements with traditional knowledge.
One of the report’s strengths lies in the adoption of Horizon Scanning and foresight methodologies, which offer a methodological and science-based approach to building a vision of possible and alternative futures. It connects the dots, offering a map that helps stakeholders negotiate an environment marked by novelty and uncertainty. This is no crystal ball but a pragmatic approach that anticipates change, promotes agility, policy options, dialogue accross disciplines and offers a hedge against future shocks.
The report recognizes the tension between incremental and disruptive innovation. The agrifood sector, known for its caution, leans towards the former. However, disruptive technologies, while introducing a degree of uncertainty, have the potential to catalyze rapid transformation. The consensus seems to be that while teleportation in food supply chains might be more than a tad ambitious for the foreseeable future, Artificial Intelligence, synthetic biology, frugal innovation, Nature-based solutions and few other emerging technologies and innovations are knocking on the door, promising substantive changes.
When peeling back the layers of complexity, one cannot ignore the myriad of external and internal drivers propelling these shifts. The report identifies climate change as the primary global influence on the emergence of agrifood technologies and innovations. It’s the elephant in the room, impacting every facet of food production and distribution. Accompanying climate change, are other significant drivers like population dynamics, urbanization, and economic growth, the weight of which varies across regions. The report delves deeper into 8 of the challenges that have been formerly identified in a previous FAO foresight report and identifies, for example, the top five promising innovations to combat climate change, disasters and protracted crisis.
Innovations inspired by nature and ecosystems, real-time satellite imagery, energy storage technologies, artificial intelligence and quantum computing are recognized as some of the most impactful technologies for addressing climate change with different time horizons of emergence.
Concurrently, the report emphasizes internal trends within the agrifood systems which are becoming prominent, such as efficiency, democratization, and sustainability. They are perceived as the bedrock upon which future technologies and innovations will be built. It represents a significant shift from current technological trends related to personalization and minimization, exemplified by the most popular current innovation: the smart phone.
Five plausible scenarios for the future are sketched out, ranging from sustainable paradises to technological messes. These scenarios are not prophecies but serve as rough sketches of possible futures, some more desirable than others. These scenarios are contrasted, aiming at provoking reflections and helping stakeholders anticipate, prepare and plan today to achieve the most desirable future.
The final section offers a roadmap in the form of recommendations. These are not merely bullet points but integrated strategies. They range from aligning research agendas with societal challenges to developing capacities for innovation and democratizing access to scientific advancements. It suggests a departure from the traditional top-down technology transfer model, advocating for a more context-sensitive and co-creation approach that builds on collective intelligence to empower local actors.
In an era of polycrisis, single-lane solutions are unlikely to work. What’s required is a multi-lane highway of collaborative efforts, marrying technology with policy, and innovation with tradition. The FAO report is not just another document to be shelved but a timely guide for stakeholders to traverse the complicated terrain of modern agrifood systems. While the path ahead is neither straight nor devoid of obstacles, it is navigable. With a compass as robust as this report, there is a fighting chance to emerge from the darkness, not by feeling our way through the crisis but by learning to see the lights beyond the horizon.
Link to FAO and CIRAD’s report: Harvesting change: Harnessing emerging technologies and innovations for agrifood system transformation (fao.org)