The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) have launched a flagship initiative to use nuclear techniques to boost food security and tackle growing hunger around the world.

The Atoms4Food initiative will support countries to use “innovative” nuclear techniques for agricultural productivity, reducing food losses, ensuring food safety, improving nutrition, and adapting to the challenges of climate change.

Nuclear techniques can be used in different ways to strengthen food security. They are used to speed up the natural process of plant mutation to develop crops that better withstand diseases and climatic shifts.