Corn, coffee, chocolate, even wine are a few of the foods that stand to be massively disrupted by the effects of climate change, population growth and water scarcity -- if they haven't already. A recent study found the yields of the world's top ten crops have begun to decrease, a drop that is disproportionately affecting food-insecure countries. The situation stands to worsen. Researchers project that the global population will increase by 3 billion in 2050. To feed these additional global residents, agricultural production must increase by 50 percent, says Dr. Ranga Raju Vatsavai, an associate professor in computer science at North Carolina State University and the associate director of the Center for Geospatial Analytics.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina's Center for Geospatial Analytics (CGA) are using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help farmers better adapt their crops to changing climates. Speaking to ZDNet, CGA associate director Ranga Raju Vatsavai said his team of researchers has been working in partnership with Lenovo for the last two years to develop AI and ML solutions to help farmers preemptively identify ways to best optimise water and energy -- and ultimately address the threats to food insecurity. "Our area of research is to extract actionable knowledge from the datasets. Food, energy, and water are a good application because the population is going to reach 10 billion by 2050. Right now, we are utilising 70% of fresh water for agriculture," he said.