World leaders must make massive investments in agriculture to avert an imminent food catastrophe by 2050. This is the urgent message of an unprecedented open letter* published on January 14 by 153 Nobel and World Food Prize laureates.

“All evidence points to a growing decline in food productivity if the world continues as it is today. With 700 million people already facing food insecurity and 1.5 billion more mouths to feed by 2050, we are heading toward a profoundly unequal and unstable world,” emphasized Cary Fowler, coordinator of this appeal and co-recipient of the 2024 World Food Prize.

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Other factors, including soil degradation, biodiversity loss, water shortages, and conflicts, further threaten food security.

The letter calls for bold technological efforts to revolutionise food production and tackle current and future challenges. These efforts include improving photosynthesis in staple crops like rice and wheat to optimise growth. Scientists could also develop cereals capable of fixing nitrogen without fertilisers, which would help preserve soil health. Nutrient-rich indigenous crops, often overlooked, could also be promoted.

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