With extreme weather and a growing population, how will food systems keep up?

In June of 2020, a swarm of locusts spanning 100 square miles—an area just larger than Brooklyn—descended upon East Africa. One swarm in Kenya was reported to be 25 miles long and 37 miles wide. The destruction from these powerful swarms was devastating. They ate everything in sight, including crops intended for human consumption. While locusts are found in many parts of the world, swarms this size are new. Experts suggest this growth in scale is a result of extreme weather events, including significant rainfall followed by unusually high temperatures.

In the U.S., farmers and ranchers have also faced the challenges of extreme weather, from derecho winds to floods, droughts, and wildfires. While different from swarms of locusts, the effects are the same: less food available for the global dinner table. 

But there is a solution—technology innovation.

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Originally published by Fortune in February 2025.