IoT is accelerating the globalisation of food production and processing in developing countries

A new research study about IoT from Inmarsat has shown that agritech businesses help many food producers meet increasingly stringent import requirements by monitoring food hygiene, production and sustainability through the use of IoT. This will accelerate global food production by enabling food producers in developing countries to export to other developed economies, where these regulations originate from.

The US and EU have both been raising import standards due to concerns about safe food production and sustainable. An example is the imposition of new traceability standards on fish imports. Forty-nine per cent of respondents in the ‘IoT in Enterprise 2017’ report ranked monitoring with improving health and safety because of industry and government regulation requirements as the main target in the deployment of IoT applications in agricultural sector.

The second most important reason for the development of IoT solutions was stated as environmental monitoring which, further reinforces the importance of regulatory demands in driving IoT in many sectors.

To help the industry keep track of their produce from farm to fork, IoT sensors can ensure import standards are adhered to, monitored and never breached. The ability to track food through the complete supply chain opens up new markets for agribusinesses based in the developing world particularly those in the US and EU.

Paul Gudonis, president, Inmarsat Enterprise, commented: “Consumers are becoming more conscious of where their food is coming from and how this is impacting their environment and carbon footprint, whilst also developing a taste for organic and ethically sourced produce. With government environmental standards reinforcing these trends and becoming more stringent, environmental, social and financial sustainability is now at the top of the agricultural agenda. This creates a framework of complex standards and regulations, many of which present logistical and operational challenges for the agritech industry.

“Inmarsat is working with a variety of agritech companies globally to improve supply-chain efficiencies, particularly in locations where satellite plays a key part in the connectivity mix. We are seeing food producers rising to the challenge by deploying technology to improve traceability and increase visibility over their operations, leading to access into the richest food markets as they are able to easily demonstrate compliance with these standards. Not only will this stand to enrich developing economies, it will also increase competition and lower prices in developed markets, while importantly conserving our precious natural resources,” Gudonis concluded.