Holistic approach needed to achieve global food security- by Murdoch University

At the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture in Abu Dhabi, Professor Shashi Sharma, who leads Murdoch University’s Centre for Biosecurity and Food Security,   said that simply producing more food isn’t enough to secure food for future generations.

“We need to promote innovation to protect the food value chain from loss and also protect what we grow and produce.” He said

“Already there are over a billion hectares of saline land, massive land degradation and pollution due to agriculture for food production”

While food insecurity is historically linked to poverty, Professor Sharma said developed nations, including Australia, bring challenges of their own.

“Consumers in these countries also tend to eat more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods which can lead to widespread health issues.”

Globalisation is also posing a threat, with Professor Sharma stressing the need for effective biosecurity systems in each country.

“There is unprecedented increase in the movement of people and goods all over the world, which has created pathways for dispersal of organisms that are harmful to agriculture and environment,” he said.

“These organisms have new opportunities to move to different geographical regions, find new vectors, new hosts and new environments, new opportunities for some to hybridise and form new species, strains and biotypes.”