Introducing the Agriculture Layer

In 2015, the United Nations created 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. Since then, the expectation to eradicate hunger has been inspiring governments, institutions, companies, and civil society to expand new endeavors and movements. Following in the footsteps of this movement, this research project aims to leverage the role of emerging technologies in paving the way to a more sustainable and egalitarian food system for a population that will likely reach 8.5 billion people by the UN target year.

In order to understand how we could accelerate the shift to a sustainable future, GIZ and Envisioning have partnered to develop the techDetector, a visualization tool for intuitive future insights and analytical study of emerging technologies. From nomadism to sedentism, and industrialization to automation, we have created stories that explore opportunities and challenges towards a desirable, egalitarian future of nutrition.

The interactive visualization allows navigation between technologies, each containing a summary, description, and source information regarding their current state of development. Each of these technology applications were analyzed assessed according to NASA's Technology Readiness Level (TRL), in which 1 is the lowest level of technology maturation, demonstrated by the technologies placed closest to the center of the techDetector, and 9 is the highest level of maturation, used for technologies that are already incorporated in society, and placed on the outermost ring of the radar. The technology applications were also evaluated according to the 17 parameters of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and their potential impact on sustainability based on GIZ's sustainability metrics (social, economic, and ecological impact).

This research was conducted as part of a series of sustainability-focused research reports, in which GIZ and Envisioning dive deep into addressing solutions in achieving sustainability in manifold areas.

You are now invited to navigate the interactive visualization tool to help trace a path towards a future of sustainable and responsible agriculture.