Focusing on solutions for reducing food loss and waste, Nairobi, the capital of Kenya is set to host the 2024 global biotechnology summit (GBS2024) this month.
If 25% of global food waste were recovered, it could feed approximately 1.26 billion people, making a significant impact on global food security, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The organizers of the Summit believe that converting food waste into value-added products such as bioenergy, bioplastics, and biofertilizers, can be one way of promoting circularity in the food system, ensuring that nothing goes to waste. Other ways include sustainable farming to increase food production and reduce post-harvest losses.
The Summit set to be held in African continent for the first time will bring together bioeconomy experts and high-ranking representatives from politics, science, civil society, and the business sector from all hemispheres.
Scheduled to take place from October 23-24, 2024, GBS2024 discussions will cover bio-based innovations for addressing food loss and waste, including biowaste conversion, post-harvest handling, food safety and food processing, and the financing of such bioeconomic activities in relation to the climate action agenda.
Among the topics to be covered during the summit are: financing bioeconomy; AI-powered solutions for pest and disease management in primary bioeconomy production; significance of water in bioeconomy strategies; sustainable bioenergy-biochar systems and circular bioeconomy; healthy soils: and private-public cooperation in bioeconomy as a driver for (re)-industrialization.