From farm to table. How technology works to feed the world and end food waste

Maria Ortynska

founder of IPSTYLE patent law company

Food loss and food waste are two global problems. According to the UN, every year, a third of entire food, half of fruits and vegetables, and a quarter of meat products, totaling $1 trillion, end up in the trash heap. Meanwhile, over 3 billion people are malnourished or cannot afford healthy food. Actually, innovation can help solve these problems along the entire chain, from growing in the garden and harvesting to retail and disposal.

Fight for harvest

For instance, for repelling a locust irruption and saving crops in East African countries. Since the beginning of the year, there's been the worst outbreak of irruptions in a few decades because of climate change, posing a huge food threat to the local population. The quarantine also complicated the fight. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) promptly invited all countries in the region and farmers to use the eLocust3 application, which records and transmits real-time data on precipitation, soil moisture since humid weather leads to locust multiplication and insect accumulations to the national locust control centers via satellite. Drones are used to monitor crops and cultivate fields.