Future Food Institute is joining efforts with EDGEof to host its Future Food for Climate Change Summer School – Smart Farms in Japan, starting from August 1st and ending on the 7th, 2019.
The principal aim of this new learning program will be researching and applying climate-smart agriculture (CSA) with the purpose of transforming and re-focusing agricultural systems.
WHAT IS CSA
CSA is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support the development and ensure food security in a changing climate. CSA aims to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; adapting and building resilience to climate change; and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible. CSA want to develop agricultural strategies to secure sustainable food security under climate change. CSA provides the means to help stakeholders from local to national and international levels identify agricultural strategies suitable to their local conditions.
CSA is one of the 11 Corporate Areas for Resource Mobilization under the FAO’s Strategic Objectives. It is in line with FAO’s vision for Sustainable Food and Agriculture and supports FAO’s goal to make agriculture, forestry, and fisheries more productive and more sustainable”.
The agricultural sector in Japan is facing acute labor shortages, which are anticipated to get worse in the coming years. Furthermore, the age group involved in farming is prevalently over 65 years old with 60% of farmers older than 65 and farmers are having troubles to find successors for their farms. In addition, the demand for Japanese agricultural products abroad is steadily rising, and Japan is starting to struggle to meet and supply its own domestic market.
The Japanese Central Government, academia and the private sector are facing these challenges head-on and have invested in technology to resolve these problems. In particular, the government has taken initiatives so-called Strategic Innovation Promotion Programs (SIP) to foster innovation with applied, cross-disciplinary funding policies. It has also invested in infrastructure that will enable new technologies.
Academia and the private industry have recognized that state-of-the-art technologies like AI, IoT, ICT and self-driving robots can be used to solve practical problems in agriculture and have invested in it. This has opened a new promising market that was predicted to grow rapidly in the next five to six years.
The Japanese Smart Agriculture market is expected to be valued at approximately ¥33 billion by 2023. Climate Smart Farms are those farms capable to apply technology and innovation in the ground, empowering farmers to provide healthy and sustainable food.
Future Food Institute and FAO are building a bridge between Japan and Developing Countries for the cross pollination of skills and competences in order to provide responsible business opportunities coming from technological and knowledge transfer.
In this framework the UNIDO ITPO Italy International Award, that Future Food Institute is partner for, represents a concrete bouquet of +1000 innovative ideas and technological projects to be applied at the agribusiness of Developing Countries. This is an essential ingredient in the support of both societal development and food security in a world actively fighting climate change.
CSA has three major objectives, firstly is to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes, secondly, to adapt and build resilience to climate change and lastly, to reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions where possible. Participants have the chance to explore rural-based smart and regenerative farms that are working to develop strategies to better connect rural and urban communities. This will allow for the blending of both innovative technologies and millenary traditions.
EDGEoF
EDGEof is a global hub of inspiring entrepreneurs, innovators and gamechangers. The mission of EDGEof is to support such individuals and projects by providing opportunities for networking and collaboration. On August 1st – 7th, our founder Sara Roversi and part of the team of the Future Food, will be visiting EDGEof.
During these dates, as Future Food, we will host “Future Food Climate Change Summer School” in Japan. In the frame of this brand new Summer School our Sara Roversi, will be hosting a networking opportunity with her and other local food enthusiasts on August 2nd at the EDGEof Clubhouse, having the chance to inspire participants, coming from the local food community, in leading the path of sustainable development.
On Friday, August 2nd, we invite you to join us on the 8th floor at EDGEof for a drink and to meet others involved in food and agriculture from the community!
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