Technologies to decarbonise the agri-food sector identified in 2023 Asia Food Challenge Report

PwC, Rabobank, Temasek and Terrascope have launched the third edition of the biennial Asia Food Challenge Report , focused on the opportunity to decarbonise the agri-food value chain in Asia.

Agri-food accounts for over a third of global carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, second only to energy. Agri-food is an even more significant source of emissions in some regions of Asia; it is up to 50% of all emissions in South and South East Asia. In total, Asia is responsible for 42% of all global emissions from agri-food, in a region with only 35% of the world's arable land.

There are readily available technologies and practices to address this, according to the firms involved in the study. Says PwC - We quantified the impact of more than 20 of the most suitable technologies, which have the potential to reduce CO₂e emissions from agri-food in Asia by 12% (840 Mt CO₂e) by 2030. This is the equivalent of all CO₂e emissions from global aviation in 2022.

Significant investment is required to implement these technologies – up to US$125bn for on-farm technologies on rice and cattle farms, in addition to infrastructure investments. However, agri-food can still represent a better carbon return on investment than sectors such as energy and aviation due to the relatively low capital expenditure and high technology readiness level of solutions.

These technologies offer opportunities for investors to support decarbonisation of agri-food. Technologies such as micro-irrigation to support changing rice cultivation practices, the variable rate application of farming chemicals, storage infrastructure with continuous cold chain, and the emergence of digital platforms, which are enabling farmers to access new markets and better inputs, can help reduce emissions.

Importantly, these technologies can improve profitability across the supply chain - for example, these actions could improve the gross margin of a rice farm by up to 16 ppt, e.g. by using inputs (such as fertiliser) more efficiently, extracting value from side streams, or boosting yield. Find the full report here: https://www.theasiafoodchallenge.com/ 

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