Global food insecurity has been rising again. This stresses the need to redesign how we produce and consume food. The Netherlands is committed to forming partnerships that will catalyze the innovations that are needed to address the food system challenges. I am therefore proud to announce that the Netherlands will host the Global Coordinating Secretariat of the Food Innovation Hubs.” Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
“Innovation ranging from technological, social, and organizational can play a key role in unlocking the potential of agriculture as the heart of food systems transformation. Farmers are innovators by nature and necessity and have innovative solutions that have survived for centuries. The Food Innovation Hubs puts farmers at the center to both develop and inform innovation ecosystems for their benefit and the benefit of the natural ecosystems they work in.” Theo De Jager, President, World Farmers’ Organization
“Achieving zero hunger requires investment from the private sector – we will never reach our goal without them. The Food Innovation Hubs provide a vital opportunity to bring together some of the world’s leading organizations, from many different sectors, to support the global movement to end hunger.” David Beasley, Executive Director, UN World Food Programme.
Introducing Food Innovation Hubs
More than 20 organizations are leading on the Food Innovation Hubs with work already underway in Colombia, India, ASEAN and several countries in Africa. With the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021 as a key milestone to deliver action and broader engagement, these Hubs are working with local stakeholders to forge partnerships that develop impactful innovations.
The role of the Global Coordinating Secretariat will be to coordinate the efforts of the regional Hubs as well as align with global processes and initiatives such as the UN Food Systems Summit.
- With country-led approaches, the Hubs will drive both high-end and low-cost grassroots innovation that could have scalable impact, as well as innovations encompassing supply chains, partnerships and business models that can enable systemic change.
- The Food Innovation Hubs will be multi stakeholder platforms – neutral coordinating entities that are pre-competitive and work with governments, private sector, innovators, farmer organizations, investors, donors and civil society. They will link those who need technology and innovations, those who are developing it, and those who might finance and scale it.
- Further, the Hubs aim to connect various ecosystem actors to enable co-creation, develop linkages and alignment and generate innovative and inclusive governance models that enable collaboration and unlock barriers to scale. In doing so, the Hubs aim to unlock investments and enable policy incentives, improve resiliency of food systems and mitigate unintended consequences. In addition, the Hubs will work towards capacity development for farmers and incentivize consumer demand for more sustainable outcomes and practices.
Innovation with a Purpose: Food Innovation Hubs
This project is part of the World Economic Forum’s Shaping the Future of Global Public Goods and Shaping the Future of the Internet of Things and Urban Transformation PlatformsThe Food Innovation Hubs will be a flagship initiative of the Forum’s Food Action Alliance (FAA). FAA operates as a collective institutional platform to develop, align and scale gamechanger/flagship initiatives where there is an opportunity to advance on various functions of the food system and act as a vehicle to deliver on the aims of major agenda setting processes, in particular the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021.
The ambition is to catalyze 3-4 regional/country Food Innovation Hubs leading up to the UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021. Currently work is underway in Latin America (Colombia), Africa, India, and ASEAN. In addition, the Food Valley Netherlands is has joined the emerging network of the Food Innovation Hubs. These efforts are guided by a multis takeholder global Partners Group of 15+ organizations who are contributing with resources, expertise and leading on one or more of the hubs.
Examples:
- The Innovation Hub in India. with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will aim to leverage technology and broader innovation to build more efficient, inclusive, sustainable, nutritious and healthy food systems. In India, the Hubs will focus on three primary outcomes.
- In Zambia, initial work is focused on providing financial, advisory and capacity-building support to smallholder farmers to move towards more sustainable agriculture practices. An interoperable data and analytics platform in development will generate insights for Zambian farmers.
- Over the next year, the Hubs will also develop a community of innovators and entrepreneurs across geographies to share learnings and build capacity, including through more South-South collaborations.
Related Reports
Technology innovations, and their supporting enabling environment, have the potential to support positive food system transformation. This report, developed by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, focuses on the potential of emerging technologies to improve traceability in food value chains.
Focusing on 12 key technology applications, this report estimates the concrete benefits which could be delivered in terms of reduced water usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and food waste; increased productivity and farmer income; and reduced obesity and undernourishment of consumers. It highlights the significant economic, environmental and health benefits that could be realized through the broad adoption of certain technologies and enabling actions that can support and scale them. It recognizes that technology is just one of a wide range of solutions that need to be applied in tandem to transform food systems and that a “systems leadership” approach is needed to engage all stakeholders towards that shared goal.
No comments:
Post a Comment