World hunger: Can technology help feed the world?

<p>Ending World Hunger by 2030 is one of the UN’s Key Sustainable Development Goals, announced in 2015. We’re now half way to the final milepost, but estimates still put the number of people in the world who are suffering from hunger and malnutrition at around 811 million, more than 9% of the world's population. So how can tech help? In this episode, we’ll be meeting some of the amazing people at the cutting edge of ending world hunger through the use of technology.</p><p><strong>A view from above:<br></strong><br></p><p>Satellite technology could be a game-changer in connecting remote rural communities to the outside world, helping small-scale farmers produce better yields, and allowing them to more effectively ship and sell their produce. Mark Jarman, CEO of Colombia-based satellite project development firm AgriTierra, shares his thoughts on how the emergence of small, cheap constellations of satellites allows constant, real-time monitoring of land and economic conditions in ways which weren’t possible just five years ago - even to those with only the bare minimum of connectivity.</p><p><strong>Uniting the public sector and private business:<br></strong><br></p><p>Speaking of bare-minimum of connectivity, one of the most important ways in which rural economies can grow and become more efficient and productive is to get access to communications technology, a aunting task when they don’t necessarily have the financial ability or education and training to do so. Combating that is Isabelle Mauro, Head of Information, Communications &amp; Technology (ICT) Industries at the World Economic Forum. The WEF is the world body bringing together the public and private sectors, and has been pushing for greater co-operation and work on lifting developing communities out of hunger and poverty. Isabelle believes that the practical means to connect communities exist: rather, the challenge is to provide a financial incentive for companies and Governments to reach out to poorer areas where the business case for connection