Transformative technology applications to
deliver significant impacts to food systems by
2030
World Economic Forum ®
o
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In 2018, the World Economic Forum delivered an insights report on the role of
technology in accelerating food systems transformation
Innovation in food and agriculture technology is imperative
to support positive food systems transformation; the 2018
report:
 Articulated the role of technology innovation in
accelerating food systems transformation
 Identified the “transformative twelve”, a set of
agricultural technologies with the potential to drive
significant food systems impact
 Estimated the potential future impact of the
“transformative twelve” on food systems
 Identified the role of ecosystem players in scaling
transformative technologies

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Stakeholders will need to collaborate and engage in a dialogue on how to best
accelerate the technology agenda in food systems around the world
Technological innovation presents promising
potential to improve food value chains
Food systems are decades behind many
other sectors in adopting technology
innovation
The recent advancements in Fourth
Industrial Revolution technologies present a
major opportunity to accelerate food
systems transformation
Current trends in global investments do not
yet reflect the potential for disruption in
demand-side innovations and in
developing countries
And effective collaboration across the food
systems ecosystem is key to productive scaling
Emerging technologies can have
unintended consequences that must be
mitigated
Technological interventions introduced in
isolation run many risks and will not
generate maximum impact
Scaling emerging technologies could have
a major impact on food systems and
requires a vibrant innovation ecosystem
The role of systems leaders in enabling an
innovation ecosystem cannot be
overstated
Transforming food systems requires
interventions beyond the disruptive
technological innovations such as
continued investments in low-tech
interventions, creating new and bold
policies, and influencing consumer
behaviors
2018 insights report key takeaways

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In particular, the “Transformative Twelve” offer positive impact
potential for food systems
Changing the shape of demand
Mobile service delivery
Increase farmer income
by 3-6% and reduce food
loss
by 2-5%
Farmer income could
increase by up to 2%
Big data and advanced
analytics for insurance
IOT for real-time
supply chain
transparency
and traceability
Reduce food loss
by 1-4%
Blockchain-enabled
traceability
Reduce food loss
by 1-2%
Off-grid renewable energy generation and
storage for access to electricity
Precision agriculture for
input and water use
optimization
Micro biome technologies
to enhance crop resilience
Increase farmer yields by 4-7% and reduce
agriculture’s impact on fresh water
withdrawal by 4-8%
Reduce agriculture’s impact on
water use by 2-5%
Increase farmer income by 2-3%
and reduce food loss by 1-2%
Biological-based crop protection and
micronutrients for soil management
Increase yields by up to 1% and reduce
agriculture GhG emissions by up to 1%
Gene-editing for multi-trait seed
improvements
Increase farmer income by 1-2%
Alternative proteins
Agriculture’s impact on fresh water
withdrawal could reduce by 7-12%
Food sensing technologies for food
safety, quality, and traceability
Reduce food waste by 5-7%
Nutrigenetics for personalized
nutrition
Reduce total global overweight
population by 1-2%
Promoting value-chain linkages
Creating effective production systems
“Transformative Twelve” technologies impacting food systems, estimated impact by 2030
INNOVATION WITH A PURPOSE OVERVIEW

The “Transformative Twelve” could deliver significant positive
impacts to food systems – on climate, water, nutrition, farmer income
and others
– estimated impacts by 2030
1. Alternative Proteins
•Reduced emissions: 550-950 Mt
•Reduced water use: 225-400 m3
•Reduced land use: 250-400m ha
8. Precision Agriculture for optimal input and
water use
•Reduced costs: USD 40-100 billion
•Increased yields: 100-300m tons
•Reduced emissions: 5-20 Mt
•Reduced water use: 50-180b m3
12. Off-grid renewable energy generation
and storage for access
to electricity
•Reduced income: USD 20-100 billion
•Increased yields: 300-530m tons
•Reduced food loss: 10-15m tons
•Reduced water use: 150-250b m3
10. Microbiome Technologies to enhance
crop resilience
•Increased farmer income: USD 60-100
billion
•Increased yields: 130-250m tons
•Reduced food loss: 5-20m tons
•Reduced emissions: 15-30 Mt

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“Innovation ecosystems” can provide the enabling environment to
develop and scale new technologies – through policy, investment,
capacity building and partnership
Solutions
Policy
Legislation
Incentives
Pricing
Trust
Nutrition and health content
Farmers
Price of solution
Consumers
Positive ROI (short-term)
Education
Fundamental research
Physical infrastructure (e.g. broadband)
Translating research into products
Financing
Business models
Skills
Support services

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Regional programs
Regional programs
Support technology
entrepreneurs, private
sector, government
and civil society in
scaling technology
driven solutions for
food system
transformation
Additional details on subsequent pages
Data Solutions Platform
in Kenya (in collaboration
with AGRA)
Agricultural drones and
data utility in
Maharashtra, India (led
by WEF C4IR Mumbai)
Grow Asia digital
programme (led by Grow
Asia partnership)
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2018 WORKSTREAMS: REGIONAL PROGRAMS

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The Forum is collaborating with the Government of Maharashtra
to develop an Agricultural Drones and Data Utility Platform
AGRICULTURAL DATA UTILITY PLATFORM Potential
Use Cases
to Develop
Farmers & farmer
groups
Satellite
data
Govt.
agencies
Drones
Data
Private
Sector
Mobile
Phone Data
Civil Society
Organizations
IOT Sensor
Data

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The data solutions platform workstream aims to support the
development of a digital and analytics ecosystem in Kenya
▪ Cross-cutting working group to
progress the “questions for
alignment”
▪ Government to share e-
registration questionnaire to
inform use cases
▪ Minimum viable product for
rapid testing and launch in the
next 6 months
Next steps
How do we build a digital and
analytics ecosystem impacting the
livelihoods of at least 80% of
smallholder farmers in Kenya over the
next 5 years?
Framing question
Create a shared / interoperable data
solutions platform to enable more
targeted investments for both private
and public sector that build pathways
to sustainable food systems
Prioritized area of
alignment
Framing
Data
sources
Use
Cases
Data
sources
Data
sources
Data
sources
Data
sources
Use
Cases
Use
Cases
Use
Cases
Use
Cases
DATA
SOLUTIONS
PLATFORM

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Thematic priorities
Thematic priorities
Address key food
system pain points
using technology
solutions
Additional details on subsequent pages
Improving traceability in
food value chains
through technology
innovations
Sustainable animal
protein production
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2018 WORKSTREAMS: THEMATIC PRIORITIES

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Meat: the Future
The provision of nutritious, affordable, sustainable protein to a population of 10
billion (“21st century protein”) will require disruption to business as usual
Meat: the Future
Food System Health
System
Environment
System
Protein
• Meat replacements (e.g. plant
burger)
• Cultured/Lab-grown
• Fish oil and Omega-3 alternatives
• Insects; Single-cell sources
• Traditional plant-based
alternatives (black bean,
chickpea, etc.)
Alternatives
Advances in current
production systems
Consumer behaviour
change
• Sustainable and new
feedstocks
• Sustainable intensification
• Utilization of food and
industry waste streams
• New breeds of cattle
• Diversification within per
capita diet
• Right-sizing of diet (shift
towards protein equity
per capita)
• Reduction of food waste
Illustrative:
PATHWAYS TO 21st CENTURY PROTEIN DELIVERY (Meat: the Future report):
New research and insights, launched prior to Davos 2019, will help shape the agenda:
Alternatives + Consumer Behavior Change: Landscape Assessment
• Quantitative impact: economic, environment, health and nutrition
• Social science: public perception and the case for change
• Scenarios for the future: including sectorial implications, intervention
points
Advances in current production systems: Livestock Sector in 2030
• From the emerging and developing economy perspective, what will
world of livestock look like in 2030?

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In 2019, the Innovation with a Purpose initiative will launch a
report on traceability; emphasizing the role of multi-stakeholder
collaborations to effectively scale emerging technologies
In 2018, the Innovation with a Purpose initiative launched a report on the role of technology innovations in accelerating food systems
transformation, introducing the “Transformative Twelve”
Three technologies from last year’s report have applications for
traceability in food value chains
 IOT for supply chain transparency and traceability
 Blockchain enabled traceability
 Food sensing technologies for food safety, quality, and
traceability
Coupled with effective multi-stakeholder collaboration, improving end to end technology enabled traceability has the potential to be
fundamental to several food system improvements
A multi-pronged approach, leveraging
emerging technologies to address food
system pain points, is needed for food
system transformation
4IR technologies have powerful
food system transformation
potential
Traceable food systems could:
better meet consumer demand for
transparency, address current food
safety challenges, support supply
chain optimization, and support
sustainability goals
Scaling traceability could disadvantage
small-scale producers; however, with
effective development pathways, they
could be empowered with improved
market visibility
Small-scale producers face
important barriers to adopting
traceability, such as upfront costs
and operational requirements
Traceability could also provide
benefit for small-scale producers,
such as: improved bargaining
power, market access, advisory
services, financing options,
productivity, etc.)
Multi-stakeholder collaboration is key to the
effective and inclusive scaling of traceability;
This collective action should be built on a
shared view of the potential and executed
with a recognition of the benefits of broad
collaboration and focus on the following:
Clear, consistent and globally harmonized
standards paired with effective training
2018 WORKSTREAMS:: IMPROVING TRACEABILITY IN FOOD VALUE CHAINS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS
Investment to overcome infrastructure
gaps and develop more robust technology
and lower cost solutions
Economic model to support financing of
capital expenditures and ongoing
operational costs
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