Innovation in agriculture is critical to sustainable food production, experts say | So Good News

According to experts from Kellogg Company and NewEdge, embracing the next agricultural revolution and finding new ways to transform the food system is critical to sustainably feeding the world.

Kellogg’s Vice President of Global Innovation and Research Dr. Nigel Hughes and NewEdge, Inc. CEO Dr. Pam Henderson shared strategies on how innovation and research and development can transform the global food system.

The experts noted that sustainable food is an opportunity for innovation and that for transformative innovation, solutions must be profound, considering climate change and water scarcity.

This comes on the back of data showing that the agri-food industry is responsible for around 25% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of freshwater consumption, and is heavily dependent on animal-based food.

Citing vertical farming in the UAE as an example, experts noted that making changes to large-scale food systems requires innovation teams to experiment with new approaches in closed systems that provide a controlled environment before scaling these solutions.

Collective action

The experts added that collective action is essential to develop sustainable food solutions, as partnerships are effective in finding innovative solutions.

A pilot of Kellogg’s Ingrained program, aimed at helping Lower Mississippi River Basin rice farmers reduce methane in the North American rice ingredient supply chain, has created a closed-system experiment.

The company offers training opportunities in irrigation management, nutrient management and soil health to support farmers’ transition to new practices.

It also rewards farmers based on the tonnage of greenhouse gas reductions achieved through the use of innovative methods.

Another insight shared by Hughes and Henderson highlighted the need for companies to come together “before the competition” to innovate on sustainability to unlock and expand their collective innovation capabilities to solve a common problem.

This is mainly due to the fact that large companies are able to create large-scale transformative innovations because they have the resources and expertise to adopt a hands-on approach in a sufficiently open/closed system.

© 2022 European Journal of Supermarkets – your source for the latest supply chain news. Article by Dayeta Das. Click on the subscription to subscribe ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.