Future
Food
Security:
Who
Will
be
Farming
and
How?
Laurette Dubé, Valerie Orsat, and Collaborators
McGill Institute for Global Food Security: Conference on Global Food Security
MCCHE
and
Convergent
Innovation
Coalition
Transforming
Traditional
and
Modern
World
Through
Food
S.T.I.P.T.Pipelines In Digital Technologies, Media, and Advanced Analytics S.T.I.P.T. in Animal and Plant Breeding S.T.I.P.T. in Farm and Food Processing S.T.I.P.T. in Packaging, Transportation, Retail, Service, and Consumption S.T.I.P.T. in Ingredients, Taste, and Sensory Technology S.T.I.P.T. in Nutrition, Health, and Disease Food CI Sweet Spot
Food people are
willing and able
to pay for
Food people
want
Food the farmer
and value chain
are able and
willing to
produce Food the planet
can sustain Food people
need Consumer
Patient Citizen
One‐World Convergence of Agriculture, Health, and Wealth
S.T.I.P.T. ‐
Science, Technology, Innovation, Practice
and Tradition S.T.I.P.T. ‐
Science, Technology, Innovation, Practice
Agenda
•
Who
are
farmers
and
how
do
they
farm
now?
(Global,
Can,
USA,
India,
Ethiopia)
•
4
Drivers
of
How
They
Will
be
Farming
to
Target
CI
sweet
spot
–
ICT
‐
enabled
ecosystem
development
that
remain
anchored
in
farm
–
Redefining
points
of
value
creation
and
capture
between
farmers
and
eaters:
farmer
as
entrepreneur
and
food
innovator
–
Smoother
Urban/Peri
‐
Urban/Rural
farming
continuum
–
Deeper
and
broader
women
‐
friendliness
in
farm,
food,
health
and
society
Who
are
the
Farmers
and
How
Global
(off
the
FAO
press)
•
80%
of
the
world
food
is
produced
by
family
farmers
•
72%
of
farms
worldwide
are
less
than
1
hectar
•
6%
of
farms
worldwide
are
larger
than
5
Canada’s
Changing
Farming
Demographic
between
1991
and
2011
•
Decrease
in
the
number
of
farms
to
205,730
from
280,043.
•
Decrease
in
the
number
of
farm
operators
by
24.8%.
•
Increase
in
the
size
of
the
farms
to
778
acres
from
598.
•
Increase
in
the
average
age
of
the
farmer
to
54.0
y/o
from
47.5
y/o.
•
Increase
in
the
number
of
women
operators,
now
at
Type
of
Farming
and
Median
Income
for
Canadian
Farming
Families
Type of Farming Percent Median Income
($CA)
Poultry and Egg Production 2.1 $90,250 Greenhouse, Nursery and Floriculture Production 3.9 $82,473
Oilseed and Grain Farming 29.7 $80,865
Fruit and Tree Nut Farming 4.1 $80,505
Other Animal Production 11.3 $77,587
Vegetable and Melon Farming 2.6 $76,608
Other Crop Farming 17.3 $71,544
Hog and Pig Farming 1.7 $68,594
Sheep and Goat Farming 1.9 $67,612
Beef Cattle Ranching & Farming Including Feedlots 17.6 $66,873
The
United
States’
Changing
Farming
Demographic,
2007
to
2012
• Increase in average age of farm
operators to 58.3 y/o, up from
57.1 y/o.
• Decrease in the number of new
farmers entering the profession,
down by 20%.
• Increase in farm operator
diversity with the number of
Hispanic operators increasing by
20%.
• Increase in the number of women
operated farms.
• Small commercial farms have
seen a steady, slow, long‐term
decline in sales as the U.S. farm
production continues to shift to
larger operations.
Characteristics
of
Ethiopian
Agriculture
• The Ethiopian economy is primarily based on
agriculture, which accounts for 41% of the GDP.
• It is characterized by small scale, rain fed farming
with limited use of modern inputs and low
productivity.
• 12 million smallholder farming households
account for an estimated 95% of agriculture
production and 85% of employment.
• 18% of farming households are operated by
women.
• There are 74.5 million hectares suitable for
farming and only 13.6 million are currently in
use.
• 36% of farming households operate on less than
0.5 hectares and 60% on less than 1 hectare.
• Farmers produce cereal crops (wheat, barley,
corn, rice), oil seeds (sesame, Niger seeds,
canola, linseed, ground nuts, sunflower, lentils),
pulses (Soya beans, haricot beans, chickpeas,
beans and lentils), beverage crops (coffee and
India’s
Farming
Industry
• The agricultural industry accounts for 13% of the country’s
total exports and contributes to about 18.5% of India’s
GDP.
• Common Indian crops include: paddy, wheat, bajra, maize,
gram, sugarcane, soyabeen and cotton.
• Small farmers represent 60% of the farming families,
whereas larger farmers represent only 7%, landless
farmers represent 14% and medium farmers represent
19%.
• Among large farmer families, 73% have women in the
household participate in farming activities, whereas only
42% of landless farmer families have women engage in
these activities.
• According to a survey by Lokniti, 46% of farmers grow up
to two crops annually, 26% are able to grow only one crop
annually, and 28% were able to grow more than two crops.
• India will soon experience a demographic shift as farmers
continue to encourage their children to leave the industry
and find other jobs.
ICT
‐
Enabled
Ecosystem
Development
That
Remain
Anchored
in
the
Farm
Throughout
Digital
Green
Low
‐
Cost
Human
‐
Mediated
Digital
Technology
for
Agriculture
Extension
with
Farmers
• Digital Green uses an innovative digital platform for
community engagement to improve the lives of rural
communities across South Asia and Sub‐Saharan Africa.
• The model combines technology and social organization to
maximize the potential of building the capacity of
community members on improved, sustainable agriculture,
livelihood, and health interventions.
• Maintain a human centered and contextual design
approach at the core of their work, to successfully
customize approach to suit diverse contexts and
stakeholders.
• Trained village‐level mediators produce and share videos
on locally relevant agronomic, health, and livelihood
practices to motivate and educate community members.
• A facilitator from the community mediates a discussion and
regular adoption verification visits are scheduled to gauge
the impact of the dissemination on actual practices.
• Since 2008, they have reached 7,448 villages across India,
Ethiopia and Ghana and have improved the lives of more
than 640,000 community members (70% of them women)
(Digital Green).
eKutir ICT
Platform
• eKutir’s mission is to address poverty of
smallholder farmers through an ICT enabled
Social Business Model that introduces new
technologies to monitor, track, and transact
with the communities.
• It is changing rural poverty through
– Economic Opportunity: SMEs started or
made viable, growing and capturing value,
jobs
– Improved Health: access and affordability
to diverse nutritious vegetables
– Environmental Efforts: less chemicals,
efficient distribution
– Equity: addressing most vulnerable, who
captures value, who makes decisions
– Sustainable, not one‐off charity: social
capital, partnerships, long‐term revenue
streams
What is Our Approach
Human Resource Physical Resource
Farmer Centric
Farmer Household Approach
eKutir IT
Platform
• Centered around the farmer and its ecosystem
the platform:
– Empowers the rural communities through
well connected, systematic, and efficient
ecosystem for value and impact to ensure
a sustainable subsistence;
– Drives an inclusive impact through
increase in income, productivity, and
better livelihoods and providing avenues
for growth and development;
– Reaches the next billion by developing
micro‐entrepreneurs, who generate
income streams, link markets and create
opportunities.
•
The
current
service
model
identifies,
selects,
and
trains
micro
‐
entrepreneurs
to
VeggieKart,
a
Network
of
Entrepreneurs
Around
Fruits
and
Vegetables
• VeggieKart is a consumer and farmer beneficial retail
initiative that uses an online eCommerce platform to allow
consumers to meet farmers and understand their
nutritional intake.
• Through this network of fresh fruit and vegetable
entrepreneurs, farmers and customers can match each
other’s requirement on quality, price, and quantity.
• Set quality standards ensure the provision of good quality
produce to the customers through proper value chain
mechanisms while giving a good return to the producers:
– Only Superior Quality Fruits and Vegetables
– Nothing for Tomorrow, the produces are fresh and are
procured on an every day basis
– Suitable Care in Storage
– Top Quality Vendors
– Intensive Stock Checks
• Through a transparent connection between farmer and
consumer, this network pushes the value to small holder
farmers, increasing the efficiency throughout the value
Farmer Farmer • 45% of end value Village Middleman Village Middleman • 8% of value • Payment to farmer delayed, farmers forced to take credit Mandi Market Mandi Market • 15% of value Urban Aggregator Urban Aggregator • 8% of value Distributor Distributor • 8% of value Retailer Retailer • 16% of end value
VeggieKart Value
Chain
Comparison
Spoilage Taxes 3% Spoilage x% Taxes 3% Farmer Farmer • 65% of end value • 250+ (2000 by end of 2015) smallholder producers capturing
stronger value, receiving
further services Ag Entrepreneur Ag Entrepreneur • 5% of end value • New economic opportunities (61) • Providing better information to smallholder
farmers about market
demand, immediate
VeggieKart Distribution VeggieKart Distribution
• 25% of end value • Creating jobs (40),
reducing wastage (from
30% down to 5%)
Micro‐Entrepreneur Retailers Micro‐Entrepreneur
Retailers
• 5% of end value (but 0
capital, 0 risk) • New economic
opportunities (24)
Traditional Vegetable Supply Chain, Orissa
VeggieKart Value Chain, Orissa –pushing value to small holder farmer, increasing
efficiency throughout value chain
1‐3 days/hrs from producer to market? 1‐3 days/hrs from producer to market?
24hrs from producer to market 24hrs from producer to market
Wastage Wastage Taxes Credit
fees
Supply Chain Efficiency
= 60% (40% losses due to wastage, taxes)
Farm
anchored
ecosystem
TATA
Consultancy
Services
(TCS)
Digital
Farming
Initiative
• mKRISHI – a Mobile Based, Complete Business
Solution encompassing Technology and Agri‐
Enterprise Management that:
– Enables two‐way data exchange – Personalized Agri‐Advisory
– Repositions of knowledge such as virtual
knowledge, agriculture experts,
procurement offices and other stake‐
holders in the agri eco‐system
– CROPS (Crop Rotation, Optimization and
Planning System)
– Personalized and Localized Weather
Forecast
– AgriKnob (Agriculture Knowledge Base) – AgriCommS (Agri Commerce System)
enabling forward and backward linkages
• A 4 phase system: Crop Planning, Aggregation &
Ordering, Crop Cycle Management, Harvest
Planning Source: TCS
TCS
Digital
Farming
Initiative
‐
Objectives
Redefining
Points
of
Value
Creation
and
Convergent
Innovation
in
Traditional
and
Modern
World
S.T.I.P.T.Pipelines In Digital Technologies, Media, and Advanced Analytics S.T.I.P.T. in Animal and Plant Breeding S.T.I.P.T. in Farm and Food Processing S.T.I.P.T. in Packaging, Transportation, Retail, Service, and Consumption S.T.I.P.T. in Ingredients, Taste, and Sensory Technology S.T.I.P.T. in Nutrition, Health, and Disease Food CI Sweet Spot
Food people are
willing and able
to pay for
Food people
want
Food the farmer
and value chain
are able and
willing to
produce Food the planet
can sustain Food people
need Consumer
Patient Citizen
One‐World Convergence of Agriculture, Health, and Wealth
S.T.I.P.T. ‐
Science, Technology, Innovation,Practice, and Tradition S.T.I.P.T. ‐
Promotion of finger millet as intercrop
with tapioca (for diversity and yield)
Traditional
World
Food
Innovation
• Vermi compost pits have been constructed
among all adopted villages followed by the
training of farmers on compost technology.
The major improvement is seen in the
increased productivity of all the millet crops
following use of the compost in the field.
• Locally suitable tools for row planting
of millets result in easier weeding and
Modernizing
traditional
food
in
Alternative
farm
‐
anchored
course
to
nutritious
food
innovation
•
In
the
past
30
years,
prices
of
fruits
and
vegetables
have
increased
120%
with
prices
of
soft
drinks
and
other
junk
foods
increasing
only
20
‐
40%
in
the
same
time
period.
•
With
food
at
the
nexus
of
agriculture,
industry,
nutrition/health/healthcare,
there
is
a
need
for
joint
efforts
to
create
awareness,
to
focus
on
health,
nutrition
&
food
innovation,
to
ensure
market
access
&
stability,
productivity
&
environmental
sustainability
and
food
security.
•
Modern
food
innovations
should
take
on
a
new
approach
to
bridge
tradition
and
modernity
while
also
delivering
better
targeted
nutrition
that
addresses
health,
Translating
Nutrition
Innovation
into
Practice
• Translational nutrition is a means of shortening the
path between discoveries in nutrition and their
application to benefit both society and the food
industry.
• Institution Food Service is an area to focus on and
modernize to create relevant foods for kids/active
youth; to target specific nutritional requirements; to
collaborate with other post secondary programs; to
market and expose products via online video
promotions; and to develop a delicious product and
promo that kids will actually love.
• New opportunities for innovation exist with growth in
the U.S. of organic sales up by 20% annually since
1990 and the Global Organic Food Market saw about
an 11% increase in 2006‐2007.
• Starting at the table, we can create a better food
system for our health, the health of our families, the
health of our communities, and the health of the
Organizations
Engaged
in
Early
PIP
Development
CI
Test
Bed:
Pulse
Innovation
Platform
Pulses:
Food
of
the
Future
Food people are willing and able to pay for Food people want Food the farmer and value chain
are able and
willing to produce Food the planet can sustain Food people
need “One‐World”
Convergence of
Agriculture, Health
Smoother
Urban/Peri
‐
Urban/Rural
Urban
and
Peri
‐
Urban
Agriculture
(UPA)
• Urban and Peri‐Urban Agriculture are
increasingly promoted as a multifocal
approach that enhances urban food security
and advances climate change adaptation and
mitigation efforts in cities.
• The extent to which UPA can enhance urban
food security is limited by access to land,
water, and the ability of farmers to efficiently
navigate the multitude of risks associated
with food production in urban and peri‐urban
environments.
• UPA’s effectiveness is challenged by the
marginalization of land and water resources,
increasing climate risks, ineffective policies
and poor governance that currently
undermine its long‐term potential to address
issues of urban food security and climate
change adaptation concerns.
Vertical
Farming:
a
Possible
Solution
to
Food
Insecurity
• Vertical farming has garnered the public’s attention
as concerns about the environment, sustainability
and food security remain unaddressed.
• Vertical farming shows promise as an effective
means to help increase food production, maintain
food security, foster sustainable urban agriculture,
and generate greater community involvement.
• A new take on vertical farming, designed by Dickson
Despommier for urban centers, which often lack
adequate access to nutritious foods, involves the
utilization of high‐rise, multistoried buildings,
coupled with advanced greenhouse and emerging
light‐emitting diode (LED) or organic light‐emitting
diode (OLED) technology to produce fruits and
vegetables as well as fish, poultry, and small
domesticated animals.
• Such an approach ensures year‐round productivity
and production would also be protected from
adverse climatic events that normally reduce yields
Deeper
and
Broader
Women
‐
Friendliness
in
Small
Scale
Women
Farmers
are
Essential
to
Agriculture
and
Food
Security
•
Small
‐
scale
farmers
produce
60%
to
80%
of
the
food
in
developing
countries
and
most
of
them
are
women.
Yet
women
account
for
over
60%
of
the
world’s
undernourished
population
(IFAD).
•
Despite
accounting
for
more
than
half
of
the
small
scale
farmers,
women
farmers
control
less
land
than
men,
and
have
access
to
fewer
inputs,
seeds,
credits
and
services
(FAO).
When women are empowered and can claim their rights and access to land, leadership, opportunities and choices, economies grow, food security is enhanced and prospects are improved
for current and future generations – Michelle
Bachelet, Under‐Secretrary‐General and
Facilitating
Health
and
Wealth
for
Women
Through
Food
Security
• Ways to address lack of food security for women in agriculture:
– Reduction to drudgery of women through the introduction of simple and affordable
crop management and post‐harvest operations and processing such as de‐hulling
and milling;
– Women‐centric farm‐to‐market value chain with value added product developed
from the local crops for enhancing household income women empowerment;
– Improving the nutritional status of the rural households through nutrition education
to women and children;
– Value‐addition training to women entrepreneurs in project villages to teach them
Seed
cum
fertilizer
drill
Cycle
weeder
Ragi malt preparation Little millet papad preparation
Preparation of millet products Packaging of products for marketing
Value-addition training to women
entrepreneurs in project villages
Women
and
Their
Current
Place
in
Society
• In the modern system, women continue to
take on larger roles in society, going into
professions they once were not a part of.
• Yet, despite these advancements women
are still not giving equal access to resources:
education, job opportunities, pay, etc.
• In 2013, the employment to population ratio
for women was 47.1% whereas it was 72.2%
for men (International Labour Organization).
• More women than men work in vulnerable,
low‐paid jobs, or undervalued jobs with
49.1% of women working such jobs
compared to 46.9% of men (ILO Global
Raising
the
Glass
Ceiling
Challenges
and
Possibilities
for
Laurette Dubé
Founding Chair and Scientific Director, MCCHE James McGill Professor of Consumer Psychology
Chris Lannon
Managing Director, MCCHE Tel.: +1-514-398-3326
The MCCHE stimulates new avenues of collaboration that bridge the many divides in market, economy, and society at the root of some of our most pressing modern health and economic problems
