WFP Innovation Accelerator

Conflict, climate change and inflation are driving a global food crisis. Today, 309 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity - compared to 135 million people in 2019. But there is hope. 🌱 Innovative technologies are transforming humanitarian assistance, enhancing its efficiency, transparency and impact. From AI-driven logistics that improve supply chain efficiency to robotics that navigate challenging terrains to deliver supplies where they’re needed most, innovation can help turn the tide on food insecurity. Read more ⬇️

WFP Senegal has launched the first-ever rice fortification project in Senegal! 🍚 You'll find rice on nearly every plate during a typical Senegalese meal, so enhancing the nutrient quality of rice via fortification has great potential to reduce malnutrition and help people live healthier lives. Learn more about this exciting initiative below 📹 (and welcome to LinkedIn, World Food Programme Western Africa!) Camille Courtaud Djaounsede Madjiangar

🌟 Driving Innovation from the Field: Reflections from the WFP Global Innovation Workshop in Kampala, Uganda 🌍 Last week, WFP Innovation leads gathered in Kampala, Uganda, for our second annual workshop themed ‘Driving Innovation from the Field.’ This event brought together innovation champions from country offices, regional bureaus, and the global WFP Innovation Accelerator team. Over an inspiring four days, we: • Reflected on the innovation journeys of each regional and country office, sharing ideas, ways of working, and progress made over the past year. • Analyzed enablers, barriers, assumptions, and gaps for scaling innovation within WFP. • Immersed ourselves in Uganda's thriving start-up ecosystem and engaged with local partners who support and drive innovation on the ground. • Strategized, envisioned, and co-created a WFP vision for innovation, aligning on plans to turn the WFP Global Innovation Strategy into action. It was a pleasure to interact with the incredible representatives from #Benin, #Burundi, #Ethiopia, #Guatemala, #Kenya, #Peru, #Rwanda, #Somalia, #SouthSudan, #RegionalBureauDakar, #RegionalBureauNairobi, #RegionalBureauPanama, #Tanzania, and #Uganda, as well as the WFP Innovation Accelerator team. As we move forward, we’re excited to implement co-created plans that will drive impact for the people we serve and foster an enabling culture of innovation at WFP in the year ahead. A massive thank you to the organizers: Badre Bahaji Sandra Raad Zoë Harman Conlon Emma-Lee Knape Alex Lozán Ferreyra Brenda Gichuki Paul Ogero Joy Matwale, Mohamed Shellimoh and StartHub Africa. #WFPInnovation #InnovationForImpact #Zerohunger

Fragile and conflict-affected settings can be some of the most vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition, with more than 1.5 billion people facing food security threats. With innovation, we can reinforce communities against unexpected disruptions, ensure consistent access to nutritious food and enhance food systems resilience. 💡 The WFP Innovation Accelerator and the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict and Migration, in partnership with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), launched the Stability-and-Peace Accelerator to foster innovation development and the scaling of four high-impact innovations that bolster food, land and water systems in these vulnerable areas. AquaPoro, iPlant, Conflict Forecast, and Koolboks are making strides to support these communities in Jordan, Kenya and Nigeria 🚀 ➡️ Learn more about these innovative solutions in our blog: https://bit.ly/CGIARBlog

On this Austrian National Day, we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to Austria for their longstanding support of innovative work. This year, the Kofi Annan Award for Innovation in Africa launched its second edition, and thanks to Austria’s support, three inspiring innovations are now working to scale their zero hunger innovations in Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia and Kenya. 🌍 Across our portfolio, Austria’s support has contributed to us reaching 1.3 million people through climate innovation and 15.4 million people with solutions promoting gender equality in 2023. Bundeskanzleramt Österreich Austrian Development Agency Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Regionen und Wasserwirtschaft Kofi Annan Foundation

At the World Food Programme, innovation is at the heart of our mission to end global hunger.💡 From WFP offices around the world, our colleagues are using impactful solutions to introduce innovative approaches to our work - in the field and the office - to make a real difference in communities worldwide. 🌍 Here, we dive into the insights and experiences of some of our WFP Innovation Champions, who are part of a community of change-makers committed to a food-secure future. Read more ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/dwPrGxwg

Congratulations to AquaPoro for winning the AidEx Innovation Award 2024! 🏆 🚀 It was great to see fantastic sessions with AquaPoro, Koolboks and our programme collaborators the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at AidEx - The Global Humanitarian Aid Community in Geneva, where they shared their insights and experiences on innovating for improved food security in fragile and conflict-affected areas. Both teams are part of the Stability-and-Peace Accelerator, our partnership with CGIAR and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Learn more: https://bit.ly/WFPIA-CGIAR Regina Schmidt Mirja Michalscheck Quadri Shakiru (IITA Quadri) Kyle E. Cordova Husam Almassad Ayoola Dominic

Congratulations to the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) on 20 years of impactful work! 🎉 We’re proud to collaborate with ADA on various initiatives, including the Humanitarian Innovation Accelerator Programme (HIAP), which supports tech-powered solutions to tackle food insecurity and humanitarian challenges. Here's a throwback to last year's summer where innovators participating in the Humanitarian Innovation Accelerator supported by ADA joined us for an exciting workshop and pitch event in Luxembourg! #ThrowbackThursday Thank you, ADA, for your continued support. Here’s to many more years of collaboration! 👉 Find out more about HIAP: innovation.wfp.org/HIAP

This month at the WFP Innovation Accelerator: 🚀 WFP Innovation BRIDGE provides its first loan 👩🌾 SheCan launches in Iraq 💡 We reflect on UNGA Read more in our monthly newsletter!

With constantly changing humanitarian circumstances, it is all the more difficult to plan, replan and master the complexity of humanitarian crises to best serve those who need. Still, WFP makes it possible through effective use of data and analytics, transforming how we can use optimization tools and tailor them to our operations. 🚀 At the INFORMS annual meeting, Koen Peters from WFP Supply Chain shared how WFP and its innovations have cracked the code on data and analytics in complex environments. Meet our WFP Supply Chain innovations: 💡 Prisma is a supply chain control tower empowering WFP operations with key analytics to support upstream and downstream supply planning. 💡 Route the Meals is an optimization tool that analyses and improves the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the logistics network and food delivery in any given context. 💡 SCOUT models WFP's global supply chain network, focusing on upstream operations in recipient countries, to improve decision-making and reduce shortfalls.