Emerging Technologies For Promoting Food Security

Emerging Technologies for Promoting Food Security: Overcoming the World Food Crisis discusses rising energy prices, increased biofuel use, water scarcity, and the rising world population, all factors that directly affect worldwide food security. The book examines the range of approaches to promoting global food security, including novel and existing agricultural and husbandry techniques for safe and sustainable food production. It is divided into three parts beginning with an overview of food security, an analysis of key drivers of food insecurity, and nutrition and food security. Part Two examines emerging technologies for plant and animal food security, with subsequent chapters discussing topics from genetic and aquaculture technologies, pest and disease control, environmental and policy issues affecting food security, and an in-depth analysis of water management and methods to reduce post-harvest losses. Provides a comprehensive overview of food security Thoroughly discusses rising energy prices, increased biofuel use, water scarcity, and the rising world population, all factors that directly affect worldwide food security Covers the emerging technologies for plant and animal food security Analyzes the policy issues affecting food security

A new perspective on the global food security situation and highlights the need for seeking a common vision and implementing global planning to define the manner in which the human species will manage its food security. The basic question of ‘is there enough food’ is examined in general and then in some detail. The history of food production is reviewed in the hope that lessons can be learned from the past. But even after ten thousand years of experience we are not able to feed adequately about a third of our total population, despite what statistics can be made to tell us. Intensive agriculture has stripped out the nutrients that support plant growth and marginalised extensive tracts of land. The global solution to feed the growing population has been and continues to be – produce more food. Even during the last 30 years, about 95 percent of global research investments have focused mainly on increasing productivity. However about a third of the food produced, sufficient to feed over two billion hungry people, is lost or wasted in the food value chain. Climate change is another confounding factor that impinges on our discussions. Pests of all kinds continue to destroy food before and after it is harvested, even though the technology to protect it is available. A huge amount of food is wasted in value chains, particularly at the domestic level. Global food production systems are exposed to unprecedented biosecurity risks posed by invasive harmful organisms and this trend is likely to further exacerbate as current approach to biosecurity is based on the notional premise that lines on maps and the legislation that goes with them is sufficient to halt epidemics. Solutions include extending the number of cultivated plant and animal species to include those that can prosper in what are currently considered to be extreme environments.

The International Development Committee calls for concerted action to curb food wastage in the UK and for expansion of DFID's bilateral nutrition programmes with a particular focus on pregnancy and early years, as part of wider efforts to improve global food security. There is scope for the Government to launch a national consumer campaign to reduce domestic food waste, also setting national targets to curb food waste within the UK food production and retail sectors. Agriculturally-produced biofuels are having a major detrimental impact on global food security by driving higher and more volatile food prices. EU targets requiring 10 per cent of transport energy to be drawn from renewable sources by 2020 are likely to cause dramatic food price increases, and the Government should revise its domestic Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to specifically exclude agriculturally-produced biofuels. Looking at the impact of rising world population, the Committee praises DFID's significant efforts to meet the considerable unmet need for contraception in many developing nations and urges the UK government to maintain a keen focus on women's reproductive rights within its development assistance programmes. MPs also flag the longer term barriers to development posed by systematic undernutrition. The Committee expresses concern that large corporations are buying up large areas of land in many developing countries previously farmed by smallholders. UK-domiciled corporations should be required to be transparent about land deals. Lastly, MPs focus on the key role that smallholder farmers will play in feeding a growing global population and in reducing rural poverty.

This book provides a comprehensive review of recent innovations in food science that are being used to tackle the challenges of food safety, nutritional security and sustainability. With a major focus on developing nations, like India, the book is divided into four main sections. The first section provides an overview of the food industry, while the second explores food safety in various segments, with an interesting account of street food safety – an important, yet often neglected aspect for safety parameters. The third section, on nutritional security and sustainability, explores various ways of maximizing nutrition and optimizing waste management in the food industry. The book closes with a section on emerging technologies and innovations, which introduces readers to some of the latest technologies in the food industry, including advances in food processing, packaging, nanotechnology, etc. The topics have been divided into 25 different chapters, which offer a diverse blend of perspectives on innovations in the developing world. Ideally suited for students and researchers in the food sciences, the book is also an interesting read for industry experts in Food Science and Technology.

Around the world, food has probably never been as safe as it is today. However, periodic crises have aroused consumer anxiety and contributed to a general lack of confidence in the agro-industrial system. The diverse nature of these crises increases governments’ and industry difficulties in predicting and tackling them. This book addresses the relations between risk and food theoretically and empirically through case studies from Japan and China. Part I of the book examines the interaction between theoretical aspects and decision-making. The book theorizes the links between food and risk and analyses the decision-making process in light of risks and governance. The relationship between food risks, governance systems and economic decisions is assessed to explore ideas such as the "pact of nutrition" and the theory of weak signals. Part II examines case studies from China and Japan in the aftermaths of recent crises such as the milk powder scandal in China and food safety following the Fukushima nuclear accident and tsunami in Japan. This book will be an important resource for scholars, academics and policy-makers in the fields of sociology, economics, food studies, Chinese studies and Japanese studies and theories of risks and safety.

This book introduces readers to advanced data science techniques for signal mining in connection with agriculture. It shows how to apply heuristic modeling to improve farm-level efficiency, and how to use sensors and data intelligence to provide closed-loop feedback, while also providing recommendation techniques that yield actionable insights. The book also proposes certain macroeconomic pricing models, which data-mine macroeconomic signals and the influence of global economic trends on small-farm sustainability to provide actionable insights to farmers, helping them avoid financial disasters due to recurrent economic crises. The book is intended to equip current and future software engineering teams and operations research experts with the skills and tools they need in order to fully utilize advanced data science, artificial intelligence, heuristics, and economic models to develop software capabilities that help to achieve sustained food security for future generations.

Ensuring a stable and healthful food supply for the world’s growing population has become increasingly urgent, particularly in the face of climate change. In spite of expected increases in food production in developing countries, the number of people at risk of hunger is predicted to grow, especially in the world’s poorest regions. While technology is not a panacea, it is critical to addressing the food production side of the food security equation. The social, economic, and other factors that affect technology adoption are complex and varied, requiring research that combines natural and social sciences to understand how best to influence the uptake and sustained use of effective technologies. Research should focus on four areas where complex combinations of challenges inhibit adoption. Understanding (1) farm-level, (2) economic, and (3) policy barriers would illuminate where promising innovations may be viable. Further, researchers should explore which approaches most effectively drive adoption of (4) combinations of agricultural practices and technologies.