Dateline: July 25 2031
The truth is there’s more than enough food in the world, it’s just unevenly distributed. The biggest problem when it comes to ensuring no-one is starving or undernourished is distribution — getting the food that’s needed to the people that need it. Efficiently.
Besides conflict and geopolitical tensions, food shortages are mostly caused by the vagaries of the weather and forces of nature, such as floods and fires, though policies and incentives can have a major effect. Like when Sri Lanka banned chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Supply and demand are constantly shifting variables.
And that’s where Amazon excels. Not only does it have the world’s most efficient systems for physical logistics, its in-house data analytics and intelligent systems make it a master of predictive modelling. It knows you want or need something almost before you do. With the ability to include real-time satellite imagery of crops and stockpiles, global food becomes just another data problem to be solved.
“To be honest, we spend far too much, even with volunteers, trying to deal with the food problem,” said World Food’s chief communicator. “Outsourcing to Amazon for forward planning and logistics has boosted our mission by orders of magnitude. It’s the best move we’ve made.”
We live in a globalised world, like it or not, and orchestrating global systems such as satellites, submarine cables, distributed data and logistics centres and trade and freight routes, is no trivial task. But it’s vital if we are ever going to achieve the goal of eradicating hunger.
Outsourcing it to the experts delivers the goods. /First published in Mindbullets July 24 2025.
From sand to bread
Egypt’s wheat revolution defies global shortage and turns the tables
Dateline: March 18 2027
Egypt, known for pyramids, dunes and hot weather, has emerged as a large wheat producer amid a global shortage caused by conflict in Ukraine. Harnessing the power of cutting-edge agricultural technologies, including drought-resistant wheat and autonomous farming, Egypt, historically one of the biggest wheat importers, has overcome the disruption in supply.
After major cutbacks in its wheat imports due to the ongoing conflict, Egypt wasted no time in seizing a promising opportunity in its Aswan region. With determination and resourcefulness, Egyptian farmers have successfully cultivated genetically modified drought-resistant wheat, enabling them to overcome the challenging climate conditions and water scarcity prevalent in their arid and semi-arid regions.
But that’s not all. The introduction of autonomous farming has turned Egypt’s southern wheat fields into a scene straight out of a sci-fi blockbuster. They’ve got equipment that would make James Bond jealous, robots that put R2-D2 to shame, and AI algorithms that could give the Terminator a run for his money.
With autonomous tractors cruising around; precision seeding systems that hit their mark with sniper-like accuracy; robotic harvesters doing the heavy lifting; drones spraying crops; and laser weeding zapping away intruders, Egypt has unleashed an army of farming superheroes. Even the desert sand was modified with nanotechnology, by bombarding the soil with microscopic clay pellets and creating fertile farmlands.
This isn’t just a story of triumph; it’s a reminder of the incredible power of human ingenuity and adaptability. Egypt has emerged from the dust as an agricultural giant. Egypt is here to wheat things up. /First published in Mindbullets July 6 2023.
Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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