Fighting hunger with nuclear science

We need to grow more food, and we need to do it better. We need food to be more nutritious, to grow in more difficult places, to be more resilient to weather extremes and to be safer for human consumption. Millions of people are going to bed hungry, in every corner of the world. The number facing high levels of food insecurity has more than doubled since 2020. Climate extremes threaten to increase the number of crop failures, making it even more difficult to meet increasing global demand. We have the tools to change that. Nuclear science is a tool that helps us to cultivate stronger, healthier, safer and more nutritious crops. The IAEA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, are developing these tools and helping those who need them most to learn how to apply them. Our Atoms4Food initiative brings together knowledge gathered during our decades of experience helping countries get the best out of their soils, crops and coastlines to feed their growing populations. Launched in 2023, Atoms4Food was created to help countries boost food security and tackle hunger. It provides countries with tailored solutions to enhance their agricultural productivity, reduce food loss, ensure food safety, improve nutrition and adapt to climate change. At the heart of Atoms4Food is nuclear science. It brings a level of precision, accuracy and predictability rarely seen in the world of food production, where the large number of unpredictable variables — including seeds, weather and soil — can make it difficult to achieve reliable outcomes.