Accelerating the transformation of global agrifood systems

Read the full story by Blaine Friedlander in the Cornell Chronicle.

In 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations introduced its Agrifood Systems Technologies and Innovations Outlook (ATIO) initiative. This project produces a new flagship publication, published biennially, for distribution around the world.

Christopher B. Barrett, the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor in Cornell’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, is leading the project.

“The world needs to accelerate the rate of transformation of agrifood systems,” said Barrett. “Science, technology, and innovation are absolutely central to that.”

The publication aims to meet looming global food needs in ways that are healthy, equitable, resilient, and sustainable.

“This project is very consistent with the long-standing vision of Cornell as the land-grant university to the world,” added Barret, who is also a faculty member in the Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy.

The ATIO initiative originates from a pre-pandemic panel discussion at Cornell, and it involves the Cornell University Library, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.