APRU proudly launched its inaugural annual Food Security and Agritech Symposium on November 2–4, co-hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU), at the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) initiated by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in Singapore. The symposium marked a significant milestone for the APRU Food Security and Agritech Program.

Bringing together 80 experts from across the Pacific Rim—41 in person and 39 virtually—the symposium served as a dynamic platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge exchange, and innovation. Over three days, participants explored cutting-edge solutions to global food challenges, including climate-resilient crops, new vegetable varieties, machine visions with robotics and drones, and human sensory research.

A Timely Response to a Global Crisis

At the opening panel discussion, Program Co-Directors, Anne Lochoff, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Woo Soo Kim, Simon Fraser University, and Veera Sekaran, National University of Singapore, emphasized the program’s mission to harness interdisciplinary research, innovation and agritech solutions across the Asia-Pacific region in response to the urgent challenge of ensuring that every person, at all times, has physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.

(from left to right) Anne Lochoff, Woo Soo Kim, Veera Sekaran

From the perspective of small and medium farmers, this means prioritizing food sovereignty—empowering local producers to control their food systems—while adopting new technologies that enhance autonomy and align with traditional knowledge and practices. The agritech community supported this vision by demonstrating scalable, affordable tools such as open-source digital platforms, cost-effective sensors, and AI-driven decision aids that are co-designed with farmers to minimize adoption barriers and ensure equitable access.

The path to food security lies in collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and nations as well as the timely application of science and technology to real-world needs. Joint activities will focus on actionable technologies and building capacities for sustainable development.

The program leaders highlighted that the annual symposium will provide a vital platform to transform shared knowledge into scalable impact, bringing together practice, policy and science for a stronger and more sustainable agrifood future in the Asia Pacific.   

The symposium builds on the foundation and represents an important corner stone of the APRU Food Security and Agritech Program, launched in 2024 and led by NTU, NUS, and SFU. The program aims to foster innovation through agritech solutions such as AI, IoT, robotics, and alternative proteins, while empowering underrepresented communities and nurturing future leaders in sustainable development.

From Lab to Table: Transforming Food Systems Through Science and Collaboration

Prior to the opening, the symposium offered the participants a unique opportunity to explore Singapore’s innovation ecosystem through a guided tour of the Proteins4Singapore facility at NTU.

Visit Proteins4Singapore lab at NTU

The formal proceedings began with a keynote by Prof. Paul Teng, Senior Fellow and Advisor in Food Security from S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at NTU, who presented the ASEAN 10-Year Agri-Food Outlook and 5-Year Strategic Plan (2026–2030). On the second day, Prof. Peter Preiser, also from NTU, delivered a session titled “Food Security in Megacities of the Future.” The final day featured Prof. Prakash Kumar from NUS, who examined whether urban farming could be a viable solution for sustainable food production.

Throughout the symposium, participants engaged in interactive working groups using formats such as World Café and Fishbowl Deep Dives. These sessions facilitated rich dialogue and provided input and direction for the program’s future collaborative activities relating to climate-smart agriculture, agritech engineering, and regenerative food systems. Researchers and students presented over 40 abstracts across three thematic tracks, sparking discussions on topics ranging from AI-powered phenotyping and aquaponics to climate forecasting and food waste reduction.

The symposium concluded with a panel discussion where the working groups shared their proposed collaborative initiatives, followed by a tour of NUS Agritech Translation Programme’s Translation Facility. 

Participants on a site tour at the NUS 

Next Steps: Data, Partnerships, and Innovation

A key outcome of the symposium is the launch of a data-driven initiative to support agile, cross-border collaboration on food security and agritech innovation. Researchers, academic experts and practitioners from APRU member institutions and across the Asia Pacific working on data-driven decisions making tools for climate-smart agriculture are invited and encouraged to engage and actively patriciate in the program and its upcoming activities.

As Prof. Thomas Schneider, Chief Executive of APRU noted, “This program, will advance regional innovations in food systems while strengthening resilience by bringing together interdisciplinary experts and practitioners to address local agricultural needs and global sustainability goals.”

For more information about the program and the symposium, visit the APRU Food Security and Agritech Program page, and join the program’s mailing list. Interest parties can also direct inquiries to the program manager at [email protected].