Data as a new fertilizer

Now that more than half of the people on our planet live in cities, we are increasingly depending on that place where the rest of us live: the country side. Here we produce the food we eat and trade, and although growing food may seem old-fashioned and straightforward, we will show that there’s more to it than meets the eye. We will also show that this sector is technologically more advanced than one might think.

While agricultural yields have tripled between 1960 and 2015 thanks to Green Revolution technologies, we still live in a world where nearly 800 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Figures from the FAO show that there is plenty of food available, but there are still big gains to win in the efficiency of logistics. Through this blog series, we will take you on a journey from the mountainous fields of Kenya all the way to your kitchen. In using the metaphor of a widely consumed perishable fruit, we will closely follow the journey of an avocado from farm to fork.

Very few avocados come from The Netherlands. Why? Simply because of our weather: it is just not suitable. Handling, heating greenhouses, and mirror climate are expensive; therefore, we choose to import them. One of the countries avocados do come from is Kenya, with a 2017 record-volume of 51,507 tons, making it Africa’s largest exporter of the urban fashionista’s favorite “green gold.” This hasn’t always been the case. In 2010, the EU discontinued the avocado import from Kenya due to poor quality. Since then, small-scale farmers (who make up 70% of the avocado yields in Kenya) have worked hard to improve their output quality. South Africa has taken its spot next to the world- dominating avocado export giants Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.

Still yet, Kenyan avocados do not reach the European continent due to quality restrictions. The big questions for Kenyan farmers now should be how they can increase their output quality.

Avocados are perishable, meaning they have a very short shelf life. In general, fruits decrease in quality on two occasions: on the farm and during transport. What technologies can combat the perishing of the yields?

Agriculture 4.0 technologies can improve the quality of Kenyan avocados on the farm with precision farming, meaning that cameras (possibly mounted on drones) recognize dry spots and diseases on trees and leaves, and mark them so that farmers or machines can resolve the problem. Furthermore, aerial vegetation indexes from satellites show the best time to pick. Once picked, the avocados need to be cooled and stay cold during transport – more on this in our next blog.agtech, agriculture technologies, avocados, kenyan avocados, precision farmingagtech, agriculture technologies, avocados, kenyan avocados, precision farming

To conclude, agriculture 4.0 will have a major impact on attention-heavy crops such as avocados by minimizing human effort in scanning for dry spots and diseases. Technological advances will also give farmers the best advice on when to pick and how to store on premises. However, the avocado journey doesn’t stop at the farm, as the next step in the value chain is transport.

The time is ripe for organizations to accelerate their fight against food waste. Based on the insights we have gleaned from our research, we suggest a three-pronged approach to fighting food waste, underpinned by technology.

Our research indicates that 64% of consumers believe growing more food is necessary to end world hunger, while a whopping 79% of consumers believe that the aviation industry has a higher carbon footprint than food waste. Bolstering consumer awareness is a much-needed first step in tackling this issue. Technology can be a force multiplier in both building awareness and encouraging waste-avoiding behaviour. Brands have the power to influence this shift and we are seeing some industry players lead the way to real change. For example, Kroger Chefbot is a smart recipe bot that uses visual AI and machine intelligence to recognize nearly 2000 ingredients and unlock thousands of recipes, helping families make the most out of the ingredients they have in their pantries before it goes to waste

A significant portion of food – more than 1.5 billion tons to be exact – is lost in farms post-harvest, during processing, storage and distribution. More than 900 million tons are further wasted at retail and consumption stages. As such, the scale of this problem requires an ecosystem powerplay.

It’s time to look beyond short-term tactics and explore long-term strategies. Technology solutions like data driven demand forecasting, cold chain monitoring, early spoilage detection, dynamic pricing, automated order fulfilment, and others will drive widespread impact across the value chain. Establishing trust and transparency within the partner ecosystem, both upstream and downstream, through collaborative data exchange platforms will go a long way in stamping out food loss and food waste.

As the old adage goes, what you measure is what you get. A systems-based approach and tools to measure and monitor every step in the value chain will help in building awareness and inform our future strategies for food waste reduction. Leading organizations have leveraged the power of technology to manage food waste through measures that drive performance. When targets for food waste are defined, it’s imperative to also establish processes and governance for monitoring the progress, reasons for deviations, and course correction mechanisms.

While everyone has a role to play in minimizing food waste, organizations within the food ecosystem must lead the way for individual and collaborative action and provide the framework for a sustainable future. The question is: What role will your organization play in solving this critical issue and helping the world achieve ”zero hunger.”