General Invitation Letter Future Food Systems 2026

Dear colleague,

As you know, we are on a trajectory to reach a temperature increase of 3.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, with catastrophic consequences, as each degree Celsius corresponds to a reduction in crop yields of about 10%, meaning that we would lose a third of food and feed production by 2100.

Because agriculture is both a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and a victim of climate change, plant science solutions are at the heart of the problem. However, a global strategy to respond to this challenge is lacking. This is why several members of the scientific community have come together to create the PlantACT! initiative https://www.plant-act.org/ .

To consolidate the strategic plan that we recently developed (Hirt et al., 2023) (https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S1360-1385%2823%2900024-9), and to integrate ideas from other disciplines, we are organizing the conference “Future Food Systems” from 13-15 April 2026 at KAUST, Thuwal, KSA, to which we would like to invite you hereby.

If you are interested, please visit our conference website https://kaust.edu.sa/events/ffs26/ , where you find all necessary registration details and traveling information.

With best regards,

The Organizing Committee

Heribert Hirt, Carlos Duarte, Fernando Maestre, Mark Tester and Yoshi Wada