The global food system has a large environmental footprint, agriculture occupies nearly 40% of the earth’s surface. In addition, irrigation of agricultural crops comprises 70% of global water use, and agriculture directly contributes to around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Expanding agricultural land can also lead to deforestation and a loss of biodiversity. In the same time agro-food sector also provides a livelihood for millions of people. There are an estimated 570 million farms worldwide today, and millions of people work in food-related jobs.
One of the most impacted fields by climate change is agriculture. Farmers need technological solutions to maintain the quality of their soil, watering systems need to be more effective and pest control should be less harmful for other species and for humans, but more effective against pests at the same time. Industrial farming processes need urgent solutions to create a more sustainable agriculture, otherwise in a few years we will realize that we just slowly destroyed our natural resources.
