A new report finds more than a quarter billion people face acute food insecurity—here’s how biotech can help.
By the numbers: Nearly 258 million people in 58 countries faced acute challenges with food insecurity in 2022, per the Global Report on Food Crises 2023, led by the U.N.
Why it matters: This is the greatest number of people facing acute food insecurity since the annual report was started seven years ago, explains Bio.News.
What’s happening: Extreme weather is the primary cause of food insecurity for 56.8 million people—more than double the number affected by climate change in 2021, says the report. Conflict plays a role, too—such as the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on fertilizer.
But there’s a solution: “We all know that technology, specifically biotechnology, has revolutionized agriculture and increased productivity, especially in the agricultural powerhouse that is the U.S.,” BIO’s Lynne Finnerty previously wrote.
Here’s how: “Biotech and other high-yielding crop varieties have supercharged our ability to feed ourselves while using less resources,” continues Finnerty. Advances include wheat and rice resistant to drought and heat, rice and soybeans that are more productive, and plants that fix more nitrogen and reduce the need for fertilizer.
The bottom line: “To prevent a global food crisis as the population grows and climate impacts intensify, we must continue to innovate, including extending the benefits of biotechnology to the barnyard with healthier animals,” says Finnerty. “With continued innovation and government policy that allows for further development and commercialization of new traits, we’ll never go hungry.”
