The “AI for Sustainable Food and Agriculture” webinar is the fourth installment in the IEEE Technology Center for Climate (ITCC) series on “AI and Sustainability.” Organized by ITCC in collaboration with the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence’s (GPAI) RAISE project and supported by the Centre d’expertise international de Montréal en Intelligence artificielle (CEIMIA), this session explored how the food and agriculture sectors are transitioning towards more sustainable models in response to climate change. The discussion focused on AI applications that can support sustainable agrifood systems, featuring insights from industry and academia.
Agrifood systems, as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aim to deliver nutritious food while enhancing livelihoods and promoting environmental sustainability. How can artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly and effectively contribute to these goals? What tools and technologies are currently in use or under development? And what do early field results reveal about their impact?
Moderated by Inma Martinez, Guest Lecturer at Imperial College Business School, London, the expert panel examined AI’s role in transforming agriculture into a sustainable industry. The discussion went beyond climate considerations, highlighting how unsustainable agricultural practices have contributed to environmental degradation and why such methods are no longer viable for ensuring safe, high-quality food production.
Key questions addressed included:
- How can AI make agricultural data more sustainable?
- What data gaps exist, and how can they be bridged?
- How is AI enabling precision agriculture, particularly for small farming communities?
- The role of standards in defining food and agricultural data.
Agriculture today relies on small, precise, and highly accurate machines and devices. Panelists shared case studies demonstrating how AI is driving efficiency and sustainability, particularly in small-scale farming, where affordable business models are key to scalable operations.
At the same time, agriculture remains a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 12.16% of the global total—second only to energy production (excluding transport). The panel discussed how AI can help mitigate these emissions while ensuring that its own environmental footprint remains minimal.
Beyond crop and livestock management, the webinar also examined emerging technologies such as laser weeding versus chemical alternatives and GPS tracking of cattle. Are these innovations fleeting trends, or do they have the potential to drive lasting, sustainable change?
This session offered a thought-provoking discussion on the intersection of AI and sustainability in agriculture, providing practical examples of how technology can support a resilient and environmentally responsible food system.
The panel was composed of
Stéphanie Camaréna, Founder and CEO, Source Transitions, co-chair of the committee on farmlands and grasslands, IEEE Planet Positive 2030
Gonzalo Martín Díaz, Chief Product Officer, Hispatec
Inma Martinez, Guest Lecturer, Imperial College Business School. Director of the Master in Artificial Intelligence, University of Loyola, Spain. Member of the University and Society Cooperation Council. GPAI Expert in AI and Agriculture(Moderator).
Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou, Lead Researcher – African Strategy, CEIMIA
Erik Van Ingen, Digital Agriculture Innovation Specialist, Office of Innovation, Food and Agriculture Organization
The webinar series on “AI and Sustainability” follows the first ITCC webinar series organized in cooperation with Reuters Events: “Empowering the Green Tech Revolution.