IRGA has identified multiple common points of value leakage along the agriculture value chain from farm to plate. Some notable examples include a shortage of labour, inefficient handling process, middleman issues and short shelf life. Zooming outwards to look at the market shows the enormous gap to be filled within the industry to realise its potential. As of 2019, agri-tech only accounts for 0.7% of the global VC investment ecosystem despite the increasing global population in the coming decades. 9% of global farm-tech investments happen in Asia when the region contributes more than 47% of global food production. Besides, agriculture is not in pace with emerging 4IR technologies such as IoT, automation & mechanisation, blockchain and others, to resolve pertinent issues faced by the farmers. Many global trends are also raising challenges on multiple facets of the industry. Low self-sufficiency levels exist in the food supply for rice, mutton, beef and seafood, as well as ongoing competition between neighbouring countries on the cost of production. These have led IRGA to develop end-to-end business solutions to resolve extended existing global food security and agriculture productivity issues. Notably, IRGA follows 11 out of the 17 SDGs in building its business framework.
