It is more than fifty years since a landmark report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
In 1970, when celebrating its 25th anniversary, FAO published its annual report on the state of Food and Agriculture. Among many interesting observations, the report highlighted that food production was barely keeping pace with population growth and that developing countries only saw limited improvements in nutrition. There were serious concerns about the ability of the sector to meet the demand for food and to make sure international trade could efficiently balance the regions of surplus and deficit.
Despite the Malthusian concerns, over the past half century the world population has more than doubled, from 3.7 billion in 1970 to the current 7.8 billion, and the Food and Agriculture industry has been able to deliver amazing results, reducing the protein deficit, generating yield improvements and broadening the global trade for the sector.
However, other issues mentioned in the report, such as undernourishment, war on waste and degradation of the environment, still exist today. Yet, there are added pressures from new critical drivers such as the urgency in reversing climate change, the imperative to create sustainable supply chains that feed the growing world population and the need to address customers’ demands for healthier diets.
There is a long way ahead.
As we look forward, we must find a way to feed another 2 billion people together with a growing middle class and we must achieve this by producing better food while limiting the impact of the industry, the increase in production needing to focus on improved productivity and innovation rather than an expansion in land under cultivation.
The role of the Food and Agriculture industry is more relevant than ever and will continue to be so. It also has a responsibility in developing production and supply chains that meet the new requirements, collaborating with diverse stakeholders to increase efficiencies, not only from an economic point of view but also from an environmental and social perspective.
Profitability alone will not be sufficient anymore – embedding sustainability in the business strategy will be critical for success. Therefore, the sector has the responsibility to focus on the “how” and not only in the “what”, to create value over volumes and to shift from producing more food to providing better food.
This is a crucial moment for the Food and Agriculture industry.
The challenges in front of us are humbling, but this major shift represents a unique opportunity to develop innovative solutions at the intersection of sustainability, technology adoption and customer awareness while, at the same time, delivering superior returns for all stakeholders.
The years ahead will be extremely dynamic – there are evident threats to the status quo but also fascinating opportunities for the companies that are able to adapt swiftly.