Agriculture today is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by climate change, technological innovation and urbanization. This directly affects smallholder farmers, agribusinesses and consumers.
The 600-million small holder farmers around the world are under constant pressure to produce more food, all the while coping with resource constraints, increasing climate challenges and demands to reduce their carbon footprint. Food businesses also try to adopt sustainable and ethical practices, reduce their environmental impact and ensure transparency in their supply chains. Both farmers and food businesses are increasingly supported by new products and services of technology businesses who are responding to the challenges in the agrifood sector by deploying data analytics tools, cloud services, or artificial intelligence to provide farmers with real-time data to optimize their agricultural practices and to help firms increase efficiency and visibility in their supply chains.
The intersections between farming, agrifood businesses and technology firms are increasingly providing new entrepreneurial opportunities and the potential for new business activities that will shape the future of agrifood systems and that can have real impact on food security and rural development. This session will explore how multistakeholder partnerships can encourage and support entrepreneurship as a driver of sustainable and inclusive agricultural development.
Session themes:
- What are some of the most innovative practices in agriculture around the developing world and how have they come about?
- How can collaborative frameworks between farmers, agrifood businesses and technology firms be strengthened?
- What can governments do to empower smallholder farmers, stimulate business linkages and support technology adoption?
Speaker(s)
