India needs to lead agritech innovation in the Global South

Mitigating the climate crisis and feeding a rapidly growing population requires transforming the world's food system. Food insecurity is already a major challenge, with the number of people facing severe hunger in 2023 increasing for the fifth consecutive year. By 2050, we need to feed more than 10 billion people while significantly reducing emissions and minimizing land and water use. The challenge is acute across Africa and Asia, which will face increasing population growth and more severe impacts of the climate crisis, such as drought and declining crop yields.

PREMIUM India has a unique opportunity to strengthen its position as a leader in the Global South by helping countries take more proactive action to transform food systems.

In this scenario, India could play a pivotal role in leading the transformation. One of the major obstacles facing these countries is gaining access to advanced technologies that have the potential to revolutionize their food systems. Over the past two decades, innovative technologies such as gene-edited seeds, soil microbiome enrichment, and fermented proteins have emerged. These technologies have the potential to improve yields, strengthen resilience to climate change, and enhance food security on a large scale.

However, these innovations are primarily developed within Western ecosystems, reflecting persistent innovation disparities. Private investment in agricultural technology (agritech) is flowing primarily to North America and Europe. As a result, there are many innovations in climate-resilient corn and soybeans, for example, but far fewer in crops such as millet and rice, which are important to many Global South countries.

Innovation ecosystems in the Global South are generally less developed, with limited access to the capital and industry connections needed to bring new technologies to market. They also face a fragmented market that is unfamiliar to start-ups and lacks support mechanisms to attract these companies.

Although the international community recognizes these challenges, national efforts and global financing mechanisms to transform food systems and promote technology transfer remain limited. This situation likely means that countries remain in catch-up mode. It may take decades for unique emerging ecosystems to develop comparable deep scientific capabilities.

Nevertheless, there are proactive approaches that the Global South can adopt, with India at the forefront. This includes pooling capital to create a multi-tiered fund aimed at leading innovation that addresses issues specific to the Global South. For example, university-level grants for cutting-edge research (similar to Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grants in the US) can guide leading laboratories to develop biotech solutions suitable for these countries. You can do it. Additional grants could help refine these solutions as these innovations progress from labs to startups. Drawing on models like the Gates Foundation's Global Access, intellectual property (IP) provisions in these grants can be leveraged to ensure that the IP developed is accessible to the Global South. As companies mature, targeted early and mid-stage equity investments, similar to those made by Singapore's EDBI and Abu Dhabis Mubadala, could attract companies to these regions.

Furthermore, it is essential to increase the attractiveness of the Global South for innovative companies. One effective strategy is to aggregate demand, especially for seeds, fertilizers, and other inputs. This could strengthen the bargaining power of these countries and reduce overhead costs for companies seeking market entry. Here, India could leverage its size and infrastructure to develop a market in which other countries can participate.

As breakthrough innovations reshape or create new industries, regulatory frameworks often struggle to adapt. Countries like Singapore have created new regulatory frameworks to support emerging industries. However, for companies operating internationally, navigating multiple regulatory regimes can be costly and time-consuming. India has the potential to leverage its regulatory expertise and deep understanding of developing country conditions to enhance regulatory coordination and advocate for common standards. This could mean that regulatory approval in India could open the door to multiple countries at the same time.

These approaches require collaboration and, for some, longer schedules. However, in the context of global climate change negotiations, restructuring of multilateral financial institutions, and global climate finance dynamics, supporting India to take more proactive action will strengthen its position as a leader in the Global South. There is a valuable opportunity to solidify your position. We work towards food system transformation by fostering dialogue through diplomatic channels and through the business and investment community.

Kabir Nanda has held multiple roles deploying innovative climate-friendly technologies globally and currently works at the intersection of food and biotechnology.The views expressed are personal

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