World Agriculture Forum - Innovating for Sustainable Future

This apex body organizes World Agriculture Summit and related global events, where world leaders congregate and deliberate the pressing issues in agriculture and set the global agenda. The Summit also sets the stage for many public-private partnerships to materialize and showcase the recent developments and innovations. The Forum also presents World Agriculture Prize to recognize persons, who have served humanity through agriculture. WAF also proposes to organise World Agriculture Fair and a host of trade events and regional summits to promote investments, trade and technologies, sharing of global growth models and fostering partnerships.

Concurrent knowledge, technology and trade events, research reports and studies and consultation meetings on key issues and challenges is the other work focus of the Forum, aimed at catalyzing knowledge growth, initiating policy reforms and accelerating global business and cooperation. The WAF serves as convergence platform for regional and global bodies, trade and business chambers for knowledge sharing, boosting trade and cooperation and achieving working synergies through partnerships and collaborations.

The WAF also serves to set standards, ratings and recognitions, and share advisories and policy inputs towards directing the world agriculture for sustainable development in face of the weather risks, climate change and rapid technological innovations. The World Agricultural Forum aims to fill the long-standing void of an international organization that functions as a neutral global platform for policies, ideas, innovations and businesses to share, learn, collaborate and cooperate for greater synergy towards ensuring livelihood security of millions of farmers and making the planet food and nutrition secure sustainably.

The Evolution of Global Agriculture

Agriculture, the bedrock of human civilization, has undergone a profound metamorphosis from a subsistence-oriented activity to a vibrant economic force. Over the past decade, globalization and technological advancements have accelerated this evolution, propelling agriculture toward unprecedented innovation and precision. However, the escalating pressures of a burgeoning population, climate change, dwindling resources, and rising disposable incomes have placed the global agricultural sector under immense strain, necessitating a paradigm shift in its approach.

Global Food and Agriculture Scenario

Agriculture is the mainstay of economies of the two third of the world with majority of Asian and African countries still dependent on agri sector for supporting livelihood of a vast majority of population. The size of world agriculture is little over $5 trillion, and food is the 3rd largest traded item accounting for $ 1.80 trillion. Asia is recording highest growth @ 8.1% in trade. Africa will however power the future growth. While Europe is the largest importer of large number of agro items, it is also among the leading suppliers of dairy and horticulture products. Africa is the importer of almost everything today, but it has got potential to emerge as the leading exporter of farm produce in times to come. US, Brazil, Netherlands, China, India, Japan, Thailand as the leading producers of a large number of agro commodities, are also the top exporters. Collaboration among nations will greatly accelerate the agriculture growth and benefit the whole world.

The Imperative for Collective Action

The emergence of digital technologies and e-commerce have presented farmers and agribusinesses with an unparalleled opportunity to accelerate growth, expand their markets, and enhance their competitiveness. While developed nations have ascended the food, nutrition, and health value chain, the developing countries continue to grapple with formidable challenges in agricultural production, food security, and farmers issues, underscoring the need for cooperation and collective actions. The confluence of globalization, trade and agribusinesses growth, and digital innovation has significantly increased the opportunities as well as the challenges. This outlined the need for a vibrant platform that brings all key stakeholders on one platform to facilitates ideas and innovations and promotes cooperation and collaboration towards solving key challenges and maximising opportunities at global level.

The Genesis of the World Agriculture Forum

To address these pressing issues, the World Agriculture Forum (WAF) was conceived during the Global Agriculture Summit in 2017 in New Delhi and later discussed at the World Food Summit in Des Moines in 2019, as a neutral, global platform for nations, industries, experts, and institutions to converge, collaborate, and catalyze sustainable agricultural development, fostering a culture of innovation, inclusivity, and collective problem-solving. Following extensive and in-depth consultations with experts and global leaders, a consensus was reached to establish the World Agriculture Forum, modeled on the pattern of World Economic Forum, to address the pressing needs and opportunities in the agricultural sector.