Agrifood systems comprise a series of activities ranging from the primary production of food to the final consumer, including non-food agricultural products, such as food storage, aggregation, post-harvest handling, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, disposal, and consumption. With these interconnected activities in place, the world’s food problems and challenges, such as climate change, conversion of new agricultural land, limited farmer knowledge of pesticide use and good farming practices, and weak institutional support for sustainability standards usually hinder the smooth running of the agrifood systems, particularly in producing and distributing enough food to meet the global population’s needs, can be quickly dealt with.
Exploring and embracing regional and multistakeholder perspectives to bolster a resilient and sustainable agrifood system, as mentioned above, is quite a challenge given the complex multisectoral problems, such as climate change, pests and diseases, and the ever-exploding population, in the contemporary world. But what are the regional perspectives when it comes to agrifood systems? Well, depending on the region, but I believe these may differ considerably; for example, the regional perspectives regarding the agrifood system in Europe or North America, where food shortage is not as dire as it is in Africa, where reports of hunger, starvation, and food insecurity are high. Talking from an African perspective, as described above, and from the current problems facing food systems in this region, the regional perspectives when it comes to the agrifood system should range from food (in)security, AI, food diplomacy, regional food distribution systems, and climate change, which all but hinder building agrifood resilience and sustainability.
With the above in mind, the primary concern should be to address the involvement of different stakeholders at a regional level, including but not limited to the state and non-state actors, NGOs, corporate companies, philanthropists, and subnational leaders to share ideas, knowledge, skills, experiences, values, innovations to bolster and promote regional agrifood systems that are equitable, inclusive, community-centered. The arrangement should embrace international partnerships and collaboration with global players such as FAO, WFP, World Bank, and others, as these come with knowledge, skills, and the financial muscle that enhances building sustainable and resilient Systems.
Once a network of stakeholders is in place, the second aspect is embracing the emerging technologies and AI in agrifood systems at a national, regional, and international level to inform short-term and long-term food policy-making and investment. While building multistakeholder consensus to accelerate agrifood systems to foster investment priorities should be at the fore, embracing big data through data analytics, as different agrifood stakeholders can gather accurate and detailed information on various aspects of their activity, such as weather conditions, soil quality, water, and fertilizer use, crop yields and market information. In the context of developing countries such as Africa, this area needs more research, innovation, investment, and skills, mainly if increased efficiency and sustainability are to be enhanced by systematically using AI from drones and satellites, integrated field mapping, and field quality monitoring, and GPS-driven equipment with precision data delivery.
All said, the use of AI in agrifood systems should transform the agrifood systems with new forms of data, analysis, and decision-making, particularly by integrating diverse data types ranging from food production, distribution, markets, weather forecasts, and other data that can monitor every aspect of the agrifood processes in real-time, thereby optimizing resources allocation priorities thus allowing agrifood systems to break free from the shackles of low productivity and usher in an era of sustainable growth and development. Moreover, from a regional perspective, such initiatives will bolster regional food diplomacy and coordination in agrifood systems, given that food (in)security and other related problems transcend boundaries.
Д-р. James Mawanda