World Food Day, established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in 1979 and celebrated on 16 October, takes “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow” as its 2026 theme, placing innovation at the centre of the discussion on how food systems can become more sustainable, resilient and capable of responding to future challenges.

The theme is particularly relevant to agriculture, where climate change is already putting pressure on some of the resources on which food production depends. Yet innovation, on its own, is not necessarily synonymous with resilience. New technologies need to demonstrate that they can address real challenges, perform under real conditions and, where relevant, deliver environmental benefits that justify the resources they require.

For digital agriculture, this raises at least two questions: can a technology help farms use resources more efficiently, and what does the technology itself cost the environment? Services in the agrifoodTEF catalogue provide companies with ways to investigate both sides of this equation.

Water: where resilience is tested first

As droughts become more frequent across Europe, water management is one of the areas where data can most directly support farms in adapting to changing conditions. Irrigation therefore offers a concrete example of how digital technologies can contribute to more resilient agricultural practices.

“Data Analysis for Smart Irrigation Systems”, provided by HISPATEC in Spain, is a service that allows companies to test how irrigation data can contribute to more efficient water use. It collects and analyses information on soil moisture, weather conditions and irrigation patterns, providing insights into water consumption, costs and crop performance.

The analysis can be adapted to specific crops and local climatic conditions, and can be combined with related HISPATEC services covering irrigation scheduling and real-time data integration. In this way, data can move beyond simply describing what is happening in the field and become part of a broader approach to understanding how irrigation can be managed more efficiently.

Measuring the footprint of innovation

Resource efficiency, however, is only one side of the question. Sensors, robots and digital systems also require energy, materials and other resources. Their environmental contribution should therefore be assessed rather than simply assumed.

This is the focus of “Life cycle assessment (LCA) of agrifood products with and without AI, Robotic & DIGitalisation (AIRDIG) services”, provided by RISE in Sweden.

The service compares the environmental impact of agri-food products produced with and without AI, robotics and digitalisation technologies. Depending on the assessment, the analysis can focus on aspects such as carbon emissions, water use or waste, and takes approximately six to ten weeks.

The relevance of this type of assessment goes beyond measuring the environmental footprint of a single solution. It also helps put technological innovation into context: a digital or automated system may improve a specific process, but its wider environmental balance needs to be considered across the product system as a whole.

Taken together, these two services illustrate two complementary dimensions of resilient food systems. One looks at how technology can help agriculture use a critical resource more effectively; the other asks what environmental cost comes with introducing that technology in the first place. Both are important if innovation is to contribute to sustainability in a measurable way.

As climate pressure on European agriculture grows, agri-food technologies will increasingly be assessed on both sides of the equation: the resources they can help save and the resources they require themselves.
This is where the message of this year's World Food Day becomes particularly relevant. “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.” is not simply a call for more innovation. It also raises the question of what kind of innovation is capable of supporting the food systems of tomorrow.

Testing, measurement and assessment can help provide part of that answer, ensuring that technologies are examined against concrete environmental and operational considerations before their wider adoption.

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