Tradition-Innovation Blend Key to Food Security: Experts

Latin America's agri-food sector must adopt a new strategy that balances innovation with ancestral wisdom to navigate the challenges of food sovereignty and geopolitical instability, according to experts gathered at the fourth edition of KM ZERO’s ftalks Food Summit LATAM.

During the forum, organized by the innovation platform KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub, Beatriz Jacoste, CEO, KM ZERO, stated that while AI is redefining the food system, true progress will come from combining technology with ancestral wisdom. “In that convergence lies the key to the Latin American agri-food revolution,” said Jacoste, pointing to the challenge Mexico faces in food sovereignty, importing four out of every 10kg of corn it consumes, a dependency that contrasts with the country's rich gastronomic heritage.

"The main challenge we should address is food security. We have spent years focused on creating new products, but it is not necessary to fill more shelves with new products. The need is to ensure that the 20% of the Mexican population that faces food insecurity can access better offerings in an accessible way. So, for me, a large part of innovation will be directed at how we guarantee food security at a large scale," Jacoste told MBN.

To address this vulnerability, Jacoste shared four recommendations discussed among KM ZERO’s members for the agri-food industry in the current geopolitical climate. First, she emphasized the importance of mapping and diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on a single country or input. Second, she highlighted the importance of bringing production closer to consumption to guarantee food sovereignty. Third, she recommended increasing inventories. Finally, she introduced a new strategic concept for the industry: prioritizing security and stability in the supply chain over pure efficiency and cost.

Adding to the discussion on opportunities, Patricia Toledo, Vice President of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, National Agricultural Council (CNA), highlighted the need to transform primary production systems to be not only more resilient but also more profitable and integrated into a circular economy. She stressed the importance of better leveraging resources and surpluses and strengthening the connections between different links and scales of production through greater regionalization.

Toledo noted that Mexico, as a country with a rich gastronomic culture and ancestral agricultural practices, is fertile ground to foster the coexistence of traditional practices enhanced with technological advancements. She argued against the idea that innovation must replace tradition, advocating instead for co-creation that integrates generational knowledge with new technology. "Sometimes we think that innovation means leaving ancestral practices behind, but no, there is space for co-creation, which means being able to take the knowledge from those who have known and worked the land for generations and integrating technology into it," she said, adding that this could bring opportunities to the generational transfer of knowledge, a key challenge as the sector seeks to attract younger generations to work in the fields and learn from their elders.