Can robots and AI help address the world's food security issues?

Ending global hunger has long been a critical goal for the global community. When the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals were released in 2014, ending hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition formed SDG2. Though there has been some progress in the fight against hunger – ongoing conflicts, climate change, economic downturns and the COVID-19 pandemic have been major barriers to achieving SDG2. As of 2020, according to the UN, 720 and 811 million people globally faced hunger, and current estimates suggest that 660 million people may still face hunger in 2030. Professor Salah Sukkarieh, a robotics engineer at the University of Sydney's Australian Centre for Field Robotics, will this week speak at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Global Conference on Sustainable Plant Production in Rome (2-4 November).