The West wastes; Africa grows. Can tech bridge the gap? How can we rethink farming with local precision and global collaboration? From reducing waste to rethinking crop locations, what are the practicalities of feeding the future without depleting the planet?

Food security, planetary care and the future of food production have never been more important subjects. I’ve talked about it frequently with growers, investors and seed producers for the past decade. It has not changed; only the pace has quickened with the global agricultural ecosystem recognizing that we have to move in a more collective and innovative way to make lasting, dare I say, systemic change. 

The Food Systems Initiative Countdown organization’s goal is “a future where all people have access to healthy diets, produced in sustainable, resilient ways that restore nature and deliver just and equitable livelihoods.” 

But if you look at the great food imbalance today – you’ll see the rise of Africa in both its need for a sustainable and a secure food future but also its youth in terms of developing the next generation of farmers and growers. In Africa, Europe, the UK and the US, the average age of the farmer comes in at around 60 years of age. I think the challenge is not the age of farmers and growers but the reality of what isn’t happening in the culture of growing food. 

Four years ago, in 2020, The Conversation published a story about the myth of ageing farmers in Africa. The article noted that in the past 20 years, sub-Saharan Africa registered the highest rate of agricultural production in the world based on data in 2016. 

The article also examined national government-administered data in six African countries, which showed that the average age of the agricultural workforce ranged from around 32 to 39. However, age still doesn’t matter much here because young workers are leaving for urban areas, leaving a gap in the agricultural workforce that will have to deal with the challenges of growing food to meet population demands. 

This doesn’t take into account something that sounds contradictory to the popular train of thought: it isn’t that we won’t have enough food to feed the world in 2050; it’s about a food imbalance in regions that need more food, technological innovation, and a strong farming workforce versus the other parts of the world that are consuming food or importing food from those areas that will need it more. 

It’s about imbalance.

Yes, the challenges we collectively face are vast; they feel insurmountable in a way. From climate change to water shortages, biodiversity loss, population growth, land use, and war, we live in a complex food system. And while our global current trajectory is untenable, I believe there is hope for a healthy, sustainable, equitable and resilient food future for everyone.

Innovation to the rescue

Innovation in agriculture, food, and biotechnology is fundamental. We have unimaginable resources at our fingertips to help us meet these critical challenges. Adoption needs to play catch up as start-ups move faster than their intended customer base. 

But the broader solution lies in a visionary shift among the world’s largest producers, growers, and policymakers—a vision that acts over decades and generations, not by financial quarters, annual budgets, or three- to five-year electoral terms. 

I attend a lot of industry events, and most of the time, the conversations are about where they need to be, but sometimes I look around and ask, where are all the tech companies? Where are the innovators? Suppose we had a room of innovators at an agricultural event leading the discussion instead of the players who have been in the game for decades. Would our collection actions be different? I think they would. 

We must also meet farmers and growers with the empathy and respect they deserve - empowering them, bringing them on the journey and learning from their vital, multi-generational knowledge to deliver actionable change.

So many growers that we work with, from Blueberry farms in Morocco and tomato growers like Agrícola Chaparral in Sinaloa, are already adapting through AI-driven irrigation, predictive climate tools, and efficient land use. 

But at the heart of it all, collaboration is king. The size of our challenges makes it a team sport, and with the stakes for humanity so high, there’s no other way. After all of this is said and done, I believe feeding the planet by 2050 isn’t about producing more food—it’s about producing food in smarter ways. So here are a few takeaways I believe will help us feed the future and create a more globally resilient food system for everyone, everywhere. 

• AI-driven agriculture: Using the latest technology solutions and data to optimize water use, reduce waste, and grow crops in extreme climates, as we do with FarmRoad, our smart irrigation solutions and the weather in your pocket tool, GrowPilot.

• Collaborative innovation: Bridging any gaps between growers, technologists and policymakers for systematic change. 

• Localised solutions, global impact: Producing food closer to the populations who need it most whilst preserving global trade connections. This is the next iteration of “glocal".
• Behavioral shifts: Reducing food growth waste in affluent countries and investing in population boom regions. 
• Empowering farmers: Supporting growers with technology tools and knowledge sharing for sustainable practices.