Food systems are increasingly disrupted by climate disasters, while also being a major contributor to climate change. World leaders at COP28 are vowing to do something about it.

Innovations summarized:

  • Accurate, accessible weather forecasts to help optimize planting and harvesting in mid/low-income regions
  • Microbial fertilizers to reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizers
  • Reducing or eliminating methane from livestock, which accounts for about 20% of human greenhouse gas emissions
  • Helping farmers and communities implement better rainwater harvesting
  • Lowering the cost of digital agriculture that can help farmers use irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides most efficiently
  • Encouraging production of alternative proteins to reduce demand for livestock
  • Providing insurance and other social protections to help farmers recover from extreme weather events

I would have liked to see more focus on finding ways to avoid monocropping, and a callout to the heavy risks of the steady corporate consolidation of the agriculture industry, but breaking up corporations isn’t exactly an innovation so I can see why it wouldn’t get a mention. Some of these seem fairly weak as innovations go, and some sound so inexpensive that it’s a wonder they aren’t already done, but all of them sound like decent steps to take.

Which among this list do you think governments should focus on the most?