1 Introduction

The transformation of food systems (FS) can produce huge benefits for health, food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture and nature. Central to this discussion is the understanding that FS are demand-led (IFPRI 2020) and represent the full agri-value chain, which includes growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, marketing, distributing, consuming and disposing of food and food-related items, plus the inputs needed and outputs produced at each of these steps. They integrate nutrition, health, resource use, biodiversity, transformation, jobs and livelihoods, all of which ideally should be covered under the concept of the SDGs. As an economic complex, they provide close to 1.3 billion jobs and account for the livelihoods of over 3.2 billion people around the world. In this sense, transforming FS becomes key, if not the main issue, for making real progress towards all 17 SDGs by 2030 (UN 2020). Science, technology and innovation (STI) offer a wide and expanding range of opportunities for making real progress towards these objectives. This paper looks at the issues involved, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

2 IAP and IANAS Reports “Opportunities for Future Research and Innovation on Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture”

The IAP report (2018) emphasizes the urgent need to mobilize financial and human resources to promote the shift towards more efficient and sustainable FS, an effort that demands profound changes in the way that food is produced and consumed, and the resulting waste disposed of. Collaboration between the natural and social sciences is required to find sustainable solutions to FS, as well as an efficient international science advisory mechanism. There is a wide range of scientific opportunities, and making the most of them is a wise public policy decision. Furthermore. all stakeholders must be included along the value chain in an integrated way.

The reports highlight that the transformation of FS requires a coordinated global approach to promoting the application of research to innovation, connections among disciplines and sectors, including cooperation with policies, and enhancement of scientific infrastructure with collaboration among countries, and recognizing the circular economy and the bioeconomy as two strategic areas for FS transformation (Lachman et al. 2020; IANAS 2018). Their main recommendations include: (a) promoting substantive changes towards climate-smart FS, (b) developing incentives for consumers to modify and improve their diets, (c) reducing food waste, (d) developing innovative foods, (e) increasing cooperation between the life sciences and the social sciences, as well as policy research on food, nutrition and agriculture, to translate advances into applied innovation, and (f) fostering international cooperation through advisory mechanisms (IANAS 2018; IAP 2018).

3 Food and Nutrition Aspects, Healthy Diets

In relation to nutritional aspects, the Americas present a picture of sharp contrast. The region has an exceptional abundance of natural resources, displaying considerable wealth in agrobiodiversity, arable land and the availability of water. These constitute major advantages for the future, and make the Americas the largest net food exporter in the world, as well as the largest producer of ecosystem services. The region makes vital contributions to several development objectives, including growth and trade promotion, poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, ecosystem services and climate resilience. Moreover, aquaculture is emerging as a major industry in a number of countries, such as Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador (Morris et al. 2020; IANAS 2018). However, malnutrition, food insecurity, obesity and other related diseases coexist to a greater or lesser degree throughout the region. There has been a rise in hunger, with the number of undernourished people increasing by nine million between 2015 and 2019. Food insecurity in LAC went from 22.9% in 2014 to 31.7% in 2019, due to a sharp increase in South America, and over 100 million people currently cannot afford a healthy diet (FAO 2020a).

For the transformation to sustainable and healthy diets, the research agenda related to food choices must explore alternative ways of influencing consumer behaviour (IAP 2018). Among the factors that define healthy diets are availability, affordability, and social and cultural issues. LAC’s great agrobiodiversity and the potential of nutritious, but underutilized or neglected, indigenous crops represent a great opportunity for transformation towards sustainable systems, more balanced diets, and increased resource efficiency and resilience. High diversity in aquaculture in LAC provides wider opportunities for balanced diets (Hodson de Jaramillo et al. 2019).

4 Science and Technology and Food System Transformation

STI is essential for addressing the multidimensional nature of food security and FS. New and emerging technologies in the field of the biological sciences, information and communication, data sciences, artificial intelligence, and associated digital applications are significantly improving the production and productivity of crops and livestock and the quality of food and biomass. Advances in breeding provide means of developing disease-tolerant and environmentally friendly varieties of plants and animals. STI also contributes to improved resource use and waste reduction, as well as increasing the overall economic organization and competitiveness of FS (Basso and Antle 2020; Saiz-Rubio and Rovira-Más 2020; ECLAC et al. 2019; HLPE 2019; Trigo and Elverdin 2019; Rose and Chilvers 2018). In turn, the emerging concept of the circular bioeconomy – keeping renewable components and materials in the system during successive processes while protecting ecosystems using STI – makes it possible to improve productivity and the sustainable use of biological resources and to reduce waste. This approach allows for the development of new, high value-added bioproducts, such as nutraceuticals, biofortified foods, bio-inputs for agriculture, bioenergy and biomaterials for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, chemical and other industries (Brandao et al. 2021). It generates a range of new services and attaches greater value to biodiversity, for example, through integrated pest management based on biological pesticides and fertilizers. It contributes to an increase in the efficiency of converting biological resources for food, feed, soil health, and other uses by improving biorefinery processes (Trigo et al. 2021; Lachman et al. 2020; ECLAC et al. 2019).

The current STI scenarios for FS transformation offer very concrete opportunities to contribute to the SDGs, particularly to: SDG 1 (Reduce poverty), SDG 2 (Reduce hunger), 3 (Good health and well-being), 6 (Clean water and sanitation), 7 (Affordable and clean energy), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), 12, (Responsible production and consumption), 13 (Climate action), and 15 (Life on land).

These STI scenarios play a key role in the provision of sustainable agricultural development, climate resilience, the production of healthy nutritious foods, and a guarantee of global food security. New developments in agricultural technology will play a leading role in moving our FS towards more sustainable schemes (Trigo and Elverdin 2019). Biotechnology has evolved more efficient and faster ways of doing research in breeding programs in agriculture that, combined with digital technologies, potentiate agricultural advances to produce more with less, innovations that are, in turn, being proactively reflected throughout the FS (Virginia Tech 2020).

Global agriculture is undergoing major transformations through the convergence of digital, biological and engineering technologies (ECLAC 2021; Basso and Antle 2020; Santos Valle and Kienzle 2020; Rose and Chilvers 2018), to optimize agricultural production processes and input utilization in the so-called Agriculture 4.0. The adoption of the new technological strategies must be prudent and based on transparent, inclusive and participatory social processes, adapted to local conditions, capacities and cultures (ECLAC et al. 2019). To define priorities, the participation of local communities is essential, and should promote a convergence of scientific and traditional knowledge (Herrero et al. 2020). The pace of the innovations can be increased, with the appropriate policies, incentives, regulations and social acceptance (Fanzo et al. 2020).

At the level of specific technologies, the range of possibilities is extremely wide, although two essential concepts stand out: greater precision and efficiency for the purpose of producing more with less in a sustainable context (ECLAC et al. 2019; Trigo and Elverdin 2019):

  • Rapid and efficient improvement systems, based on the use of genomic information, generational acceleration, and molecular techniques like gene editing.

  • Crop sensors connected to mobile devices that allow for evaluating input (fertilization, water needs) at precise times and scales.

  • Crop health monitoring systems and biological and artificial intelligence mechanisms, which will allow for a reduction of chemicals in the control of pests and diseases.

  • Virtual strategies for the dissemination of management techniques adjusted by locality/region, to significantly increase the integrated management of crops.

  • Livestock biometrics; use of collars and other devices to collect real-time information about the behavior, feeding habits, and general condition of the animals.

  • Precision agriculture, which integrates agroecological and productive information with information and communication technologies (ICT), proposing management strategies for optimizing the use of inputs, including improvements in the efficient use of water and the use of sensors for the micro-administration of irrigation.

In addition, there are significant advances in the use of beneficial soil microorganisms in agriculture, and an application of the microbiome that can provide higher and more sustainable levels of productivity improvements, food quality and profitability (Singh et al. 2020; FAO 2019). Strong international cooperation in microbiome science is essential for achieving efficient microbiome-based innovations (D’hondt et al. 2021).

5 A Perspective from Latin America and the Caribbean

The LAC region is not only a great producer of sustainable biomass; it has also become one of the main actors in international markets due to important developments in its scientific-technological capacities, industrial infrastructure and bioenergy generation. Several significant technology developments provide a platform of great importance for facing future challenges. These not only include traditional and export crops, but also agricultural biotechnology applications, conservation and regenerative agriculture and sustainable livestock production systems (ECLAC et al. 2019; Trigo and Elverdin 2019). In biotechnology applications, the region has been one of the early leaders in the adoption of agricultural biotechnology (GM crops) (www.isaaa.org). There are successful public-private initiatives resulting in close-to-market developments in strategic crops such as soybeans, common beans, potatoes and wheat, and, more recently, in rice, through the application of gene editing technologies (ECLAC et al. 2019; Oliva et al. 2019).

Another development worth mentioning is the emergence of a new generation of young entrepreneurs, developing technologies and start-ups in several countries (e.g., Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay). These are beginning to have an impact on the regional bioeconomy landscape, and are creating new pathways for scientific effort that benefits the region. A non-comprehensive list includes:

  • Protera. A Chilean biostartup developing safe, sustainable, and smart protein-based food ingredients with Artificial Intelligence applied to synthetic biology (https://www.proterabio.com/technology).

  • Hemoalgae. A Costa Rican biostartup developing high value-added chemical compounds using microalgae-based production platforms (http://hemoalgae.com/).

  • Nutriyé. A Mexican biostartup developing functional beverages using nutraceutics and natural biological compounds and exploring the potential of personalized nutrition (http://www.nutriye.com/).

  • Syocin Biotech. An Argentinian startup developing synthetic biology platforms to redesign and produce biomolecules that target plant bacterial pathogens (http://syocin.com/).

  • Sciphage. A Colombian startup developing bacteriophage-based solutions for treating bacterial infections in poultry and reducing the use of antibiotics. (https://sciphage.com/).

  • Eficagua. A Chilean biostartup developing solutions for optimizing the use of water in agriculture (https://eficagua.cl/).

  • Oxcem. A Peruvian biostartup creating microalge-based systems to address air pollution in big cities (https://oxcem.com).

  • Scintia. A Mexican biostartup developing innovative tools to make biotechnology and synthetic biology more accessible (https://www.scintia.com/).

In the case of conservationist and regenerative agriculture, reduced tillage practices have been adopted in a wide diversity of production systems (ECLAC et al. 2019). There are also important initiatives directed at highlighting the strategic character of soils, such as IICA’s “Living Soils of the Americas,” which seeks to connect public and private efforts in the fight against soil degradation and to maintain the health of cultivated land, as well as fostering efficient management and conservation of soils (https://iica.int/en/press/news/rattan-lal-and-iica-launch-living-soils-americas-initiative). As mentioned, crop diversification using local varieties is a strategy for facing climate change, improving nutrition and increasing resilience (ECLAC et al. 2019).

LAC countries are highly vulnerable to climate change because of their socioeconomic, geographic and institutional characteristics (ECLAC-UNDR 2021), a very important factor within the agricultural sector. Natural disasters such as flooding, storms and landslides are increasing, and several international agencies (UNEP, WFP, CGIAR) are working to promote climate resilience, reforestation and restoration. For instance, the mandate of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is to identify and address the most important interactions, synergies and trade-offs among climate change, agriculture and food security. Some results are presented in an Inventory of CSA practices in LAC climate-smart villages (Bonilla-Findji et al. 2020). Some studies show that, by implementing integrated soil and water management strategies, smallholder family farms can become resilient to climate change (Roop and St. Martin 2020).

The Caribbean region economies are dependent largely on tourism (ECLAC-UNDR 2021), and almost all of the Caribbean countries are net food importers, despite having arable lands, rich agrobiodiversity and favorable growing conditions. As agricultural production declined in 2018, the Caribbean Community formulated a strategic plan to promote sustainable food production and reduce import dependency through the innovation and modernization of agriculture (https://caricom.org/). The objectives are increased employment, poverty alleviation, reduction in the import bill, food and nutrition security and a reversal of the growing incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases. CARDI will promote the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices by pursuing effective partnerships, capacity-building opportunities and information generation and dissemination (CARDI 2018).

The expanding aquaculture industry (the farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants) can provide more sustainable animal source foods (Gephart et al. 2021) and is contributing to the regional economy through more than 200,000 direct employments and 500,000 indirect ones. In 2018, aquaculture in the Americas produced 3,799,191 tons of animal and 21,984 tons of plant material (FAO 2020b).

Despite these important developments, the overall picture in the region is one of concern, as a majority of the countries in LAC, particularly the smaller ones, are on the sidelines. They reflect a substantial diversity among national agricultural research systems, infrastructure, investments in human capital, financing capabilities and the roles of public and private sectors in S&T. In terms of investments, five countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico) account for more than 90% of the regional investment (Stads et al. 2016). The same trend is observed when investment is presented in terms of a percentage of the countries’ agricultural GDP. Only six countries and one region – Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Anglophone Caribbean – invest more than 1% (Stads et al. 2016). These figures are closely associated with the productivity gaps that are becoming increasingly evident between the region and the rest of the world, and between tropical and temperate areas (Nim-Pratt el al. 2015). They are also in marked contrast with other countries with relevant agricultural sectors, such as Canada, where investment in agricultural R&D as a percentage of agricultural GDP amounted to 11.3% (2009), or in Australia, where it exceeded 12.5% (2011) (OECD 2018).

A similar picture is seen with investments in and capacity for the biosciences. At best, most countries are in the early stages of effectively using new technologies, with significant investments concentrated in a small number of the larger countries, so that much of the region’s agriculture risks losing the benefits of the new technologies. Close to 90% of total investments and applications in biotechnology in LAC were in Brazil (>50%), Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile and Colombia (Trigo et al. 2010). These low and concentrated investment levels are also reflected in the availability of human resources, an issue that is perhaps more strategic due to the increasing complexity of the situations to be faced. (Stads et al. 2016).

6 Lessons from COVID-19

The confinements and disruptive effects caused globally by COVID-19 have demonstrated the enormous fragility of our agrifood systems, stressing the need for FS transformation (UN 2020). The pandemic caused disruptions to global food supply, stressing the crucial importance of LAC as a provider of food, and pointed to the need for promoting greater intra-regional economic cooperation, in terms of production, trade and technology (Morris et al. 2020). In this sense, the current crisis is a unique opportunity to change the false claims that economic growth is in conflict with environmental sustainability, and to apply the bioeconomy approach for territorial development with circular systems and greater resilience for the benefit of society and the planet (Trigo et al. 2021; Lachman et al. 2020). In most LAC countries, FS responded well and was able to continue providing food throughout the crisis, with a rapid emergence of alternative distribution and marketing systems, through partnerships and use of the internet (IICA 2021).

However, as in other parts of the world, the pandemic has triggered recession and declines in income, especially for poor people, and due to some disruptions in the food chain, vulnerable groups suffered with respect to food security and nutrition. For example, young people in LAC have had difficulty accessing healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, compounded by decreased physical activity and an increase in the consumption of sugary drinks, snacks and fast foods (León and Arguello 2021). The use of ICT and e-trade have grown rapidly. Overall, the insights and lessons from the pandemic should help in designing better policies and building more resilient and inclusive FS for the future. (Swinnen and Mcdermott 2020). Looking to the future, a key issue to be confronted will be the fiscal consequences of COVID-19, as many countries are already making significant cuts in their R&D investments, imposing new restrictions on already poorly-financed science and technology systems (IICA 2021).

7 Moving Forward: Strengthening Policy in LAC for Research and Its Uptake

Present STI scenarios offer an extensive and strategic set of opportunities and instruments for FS transformation. However, in most cases, existing institutions and orientations reflect past situations and priorities (Morris et al. 2020), and this is a negative factor for effectively mobilizing resources towards transformative Agenda 2030 objectives. Increasing investment levels is a common requirement for all countries, but beyond that, there is an urgent need for institutional structure and organizational approach that better reflects the new environment. The following paragraphs offer some reflections on specific topics and areas of work to consider for this purpose.

7.1 The Institutional Framework for the Innovation and Transfer of Agricultural Technology

STI alone cannot achieve all of the advances in FNS required for the future. Developments, combined with evidence-based policy, must be implemented in the Americas. There is a need for better integration of STI progress and investment opportunities into national policymaking and communicating its potential to the public (IANAS 2018). R&D institutions should address sustainable whole FS in an integrated way and along interconnected value chains (HLPE 2019). Achieving sustainable FS will require the full support of diverse policies: agricultural, trade and exchange, related to resources such as land and water, education, labor, financing, and all aspects connected to human health and safety, as well as permanent incentives. The goal is to deliver sustainable growth, good jobs, food and nutrition security, and climate-resilient ecosystem services (Morris et al. 2020).

Conventional approaches have resulted in “silo institutional approaches” (Trigo and Elverdin 2019), which is not the most appropriate way to face the complex challenges posed by FS transformation. There is a need to incorporate new actors into the process and facilitate interaction between biological sciences and other areas of knowledge. There is little tradition of cooperation; therefore, advancing integration mechanisms around common objectives is a priority. Reconfiguring the relationship between scientific research and local knowledge systems is essential for creation of the necessary innovative transition pathways adapted to each type of agricultural and FS (HLPE 2019).

7.2 Work and Investment Priorities

In general, R&D priorities have been highly focused on solving production problems, improving resource management, and, above all, maintaining a “short vision” of the agricultural and livestock sector (Stads et al. 2016). The new scenarios demand a broader agenda, going beyond production to integrate issues related to sustainability, the entire supply chain value, quality, nutrition, energy production and industrial use of biomass (HLPE 2019). Agriculture and FS offer opportunities to generate significant numbers of high-quality jobs. It is imperative to direct investment toward sectors that are strategic for the big push, which also have a high potential for job creation (ECLAC 2021). When technology meets a recognized need and is cost-effective for the intended beneficiary, uptake can be rapid (Fanzo et al. 2020). At the same time, experiential learning and knowledge-sharing among practitioners, and the co-production of knowledge among multi-stakeholder networks, should be recognized as effective approaches for generating the type of innovations well adapted to the local context that are needed, and enhancing their rapid adoption (HLPE 2019).

7.3 Dealing with the Distributional Effects of the New Scenarios and Public Policies

Technological change has consequences and effects on the competitiveness of the sector. Innovation must be complemented by policies and actions specifically aimed at ensuring the equitable participation of all sectors involved, particularly those sectors of small-scale family agriculture with restrictions in terms of availability of resources and/or access to infrastructure or services. In this regard, agenda priorities should consider: (i) policies and actions aimed at promoting more equitable access to new technologies (credits, training, development of strategic infrastructures, subsidies to providers of certain technological services, etc.); (ii) the strengthening of national research and development institutions to increase their effectiveness in helping to correct existing market failures affecting equitable access to new technologies.

7.4 Improved International Cooperation Mechanism

The nature of FS calls for an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach that includes aspects related to the use of natural resources and the adoption of new technologies, as well as the issues related to food demand and human behavior. Policies must respond to local conditions, capacities and cultures and consider vulnerable groups, but they must also be coordinated with global trends (Fears et al. 2020). To take advantage of the transformative potential of technology, it is essential to develop national/regional innovation ecosystems, with the support mechanisms and necessary infrastructure to promote the high levels of agricultural innovation required for the future through the promotion of regional and international cooperation (HLPE 2019).

In many countries, there are several limitations to accessing the benefits of new technologies and calls for improved cooperation mechanisms aimed at pooling capacities and technology-sharing. This requires a more complex R&D agenda that gives greater importance to basic research in innovation processes, as well as the generalization (and internationalization) of protection frameworks for the intellectual property of the new technologies. This is particularly the case for smaller tropical countries, where scale is not only affected by the size of their economies, but also because they often have greater agroecological diversity. In this context, when thinking about future strategy, the question of the size of economies and how that is reflected in capabilities, investment and the scale of work of research institutions is an unavoidable issue. Related to this, the construction of solid linkage networks with regional public R&D systems and agricultural extension, and with the private sector, becomes fundamental when it comes to achieving greater efficiencies.