THE world faces unprecedented challenges: A growing population, increasing climate extremes, and dwindling natural resources. Feeding the planet sustainably requires a shift, a move away from “business as usual” to embrace innovative solutions that can transform our agri-food systems.

This transformation demands not only technological breakthroughs, but also a renewed commitment to collaboration and a willingness to rethink how we produce, distribute, and consume food. At the heart of this effort lies the critical need for strengthened multilateralism, ensuring that the benefits of innovation are shared equitably across the globe.
But what does “innovation” truly mean in the context of agriculture and food security? How can emerging technologies like artificial intelligence be harnessed responsibly to address these global challenges? And what role can international

organizations, governments, and even individual citizens play in shaping a more sustainable and food-secure future?
To explore these crucial questions, FAO Newsroom spoke with Vincent Martin, Director of the FAO Office of Innovation. Martin outlines FAO’s vision for innovation, highlights projects underway, and emphasizes the urgent need for collective action to build resilient and equitable agri-food systems.

Let’s talk about innovation at FAO. What does that really mean, in practical terms?
Vincent Martin: Innovation, simply put, is about doing things differently—and doing different things. For me, it’s also about translating science into market opportunities and bringing it into the field. The goal is to harness the power of science and innovation to transform agrifood systems and deliver solutions directly to farmers and those who need them most—helping people build better lives and make a living from agriculture.
In short, it’s about scaling impact and ensuring innovation reaches the last mile.

It’s important to recognize that innovation is not a luxury—it must become the norm. Why? Because we are facing exponential, complex, and interconnected challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemics, economic and financial crises, and growing global demands. Yet, too often, we respond with linear solutions that fail to match the scale and complexity of these problems.
In other words, we are acting like firefighters—always reacting, rarely anticipating. We’re behind the curve when we need to be ahead of it.
To truly meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must move from linear thinking to holistic, forward-looking, and innovative approaches.
Innovation is essential. It’s also about staying relevant—closing the gap between what we are doing now and what we should be doing to keep pace with rapid change and transformation.
So, how does FAO apply this concept of innovation, specifically to agri-food systems?

In 2022, we launched our Science and Innovation Strategy and established the Office of Innovation. The goal was to define what innovation means for transforming agri-food systems—finding ways to feed a growing population without depleting natural resources. This requires a new vision: doing different things and doing things differently.
Applying innovation in agri-food systems means leveraging science, technology, and innovation to produce more with less—ensuring systems not only avoid contributing to climate change or resource depletion but also become part of the solution.

In the face of climate shocks, crises, and financial downturns, we explore a broad spectrum of solutions—not just technological innovation, but also social, institutional, financial, and policy innovations.
For example, in technology, biotechnology plays a key role. New genomic techniques can help develop crop varieties that are more resistant to climate change, drought, salinity, and pests. But technology alone isn’t enough. Social innovation is also critical. How do we empower women and youth to drive innovation? How do we enable them to develop solutions and bring scientific discoveries to the field? We support women and young entrepreneurs to do exactly that.
We also work directly with farmers through our flagship Farmer Field Schools (FFS) program. For decades, it has enabled peer-to-peer learning—farmers identifying problems and finding solutions together in the field. Now, we are developing

Farmer Field Schools 2.0, focused not just on scaling numbers but scaling impact. This next phase aims to mobilize entire rural communities for landscape regeneration, inclusive economies, and gender-transformative change.
By 2040, we aim to reach 50 million rural people by integrating digital tools, behavioral science, and innovative finance. To achieve this, we’re scaling out to new regions, including post-conflict areas; scaling deep to foster lasting social and cultural change; and scaling up by embedding FFS into national policies and private sector strategies.

Could you give us some concrete, country-specific examples of these innovation projects that have been successful?
In 2023, we launched FAO’s own incubator programme for field innovation, called Elevate. So far, we’ve supported two cohorts of projects and teams, ranging from high-tech to low-tech solutions.
One example is a drone-based air sampling project in Southeast Asia. Drones collect samples from bat caves to identify potential pandemic viruses—allowing researchers to screen environments safely and accurately, without health risks. This method can be replicated across different agricultural settings for rapid, high-precision results.

Another project, based in Africa, focuses on bio-economy by using black soldier flies to reduce food waste. The flies consume waste, lay millions of eggs, and the larvae are then dried to produce animal feed—a circular, sustainable solution. This initiative was selected for the UN Global Pulse Accelerator Programme due to its success.

In Cabo Verde, a project supports women in fish-producing communities by training them to turn fish skins into leather for fashion items—creating new livelihoods and adding value to local resources.
The diversity of innovations is impressive. Many teams are also exploring artificial intelligence—from boosting production to detecting diseases. We’re seeing creative, impactful solutions emerge from across FAO.
And this is just the beginning. We’re continuously working to accelerate these innovations, scale them effectively, and ensure they reach the communities who need them most. (FAO)