The world as we know it is continually changing, and one of the fundamental drivers is digital transformation. Person by person, company by company, and industry by industry, a new reality is evolving.
The global economy is undergoing a digital transformation as well, and it’s happening at breakneck speed. Consequently, established business models no longer work, and previously successful business networks are rapidly disintegrating while industry boundaries evaporate. New, powerful players are emerging and shaking up the status quo as products get smart and consumers get even smarter.
What does that mean to the everyday person like you and me? It means imagining the world differently—because we must, and because we can.
Re-imagining industry
To see how the world can be imagined, let’s look at the agricultural industry—one that we can relate to because we all need food to survive.
One of the ambitious objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to eliminate hunger by 2030. However, with an estimated 9 billion people living on earth by 2050, this goal will not be possible unless we start re-imagining how food is produced today. In fact, a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says that to feed the entire world population in 2050, food production must increase by 70%.
That means that the soybean farmer in Iowa as well as the cashew farmer in Africa must do things differently. And they can, thanks to digital transformation and new business models, such as precision farming, which combines a variety of technologies to enable farmers to increase production, optimize investments, and maximize returns.
Feeding the world is an attainable reality
For the agricultural industry—which consists of more than one billion workers worldwide—precision farming is a bold step. But now, farmers in even the most remote parts of the world can maximize yields like never before. They can also minimize irrigation, labor, and energy usage while intelligently using fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides that may cause harm to the environment. They can produce better food, more economically and more efficiently.
It’s advancements like this that will end world hunger. In fact, the International Food and Policy Research Institute recently reported that agricultural technologies could increase global crop yields by as much as 67% percent while cutting food prices nearly in half by 2050.
Precision farming in action
Big Data, mobile, supply chain, and cloud technologies are key enablers for precision farming. Here are a few examples of how these tools are helping farmers around the globe.
Gaining new insights. Farmers are using Big Data from the Precision Agriculture Hub, which connects the world’s biggest agricultural businesses, farmers, and suppliers to farm smarter. Through technology solutions and the supply chain and network of F4FAgriculture, farmers can gain insights on which crops to plant where and when. They can also learn what pesticides and fertilizers to use; how upcoming weather patterns will affect their crops; and where the best market prices are. With this critical data, they can maximize their yields, optimize sales, and help feed more people.
Learning new ways to farm. The African Cashew Initiative works to help over 300,000 small-scale farmers increase cashew productivity and income in five African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Mozambique). By offering training programs, materials, and access to mobile business applications, these farmers are learning the best way to bring their product to market too. They can more efficiently forecast and plan, connect to the best buyers, and implement advanced marketing strategies.
Increasing sustainability. In northern Ghana, the StarShea Network is helping rural women learn more efficient ways to harvest and process shea nuts and butter. The network, with more than 15,000 members, provides information technology, education, and microfinancing to its members so they can conduct business independently and sustainably. For instance, through mobile technology, these women have access to the current market prices so they can sell their products competitively to global customers. They also have the technology to scan personalized barcode labels on each shea nut sack to track individual production and storage details.
SAP is helping the world re-imagine itself
The vision and purpose of SAP is to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. We are committed to accelerating our customers’ digital transformation and we challenge them to reimagine their operational processes, business models, and the way they interact with the world.
We are also committed to the United Nations SDGs, including improving the health of the world by ending hunger – because we must, and we can.
To learn more about precision farming initiatives from SAP, visit here.
This article originally appeared on Digitalist Magazine, in the Improving Lives section.
Pat Bakey is President of Industry Cloud at SAP
Follow Pat on Twitter: @Pbakey