Food systems are at risk worldwide but the economic and environmental potential for transformation is huge. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that one in eleven people globally still face hunger, while US$400 billion worth of food is lost getting it from farms to retail, with more food wasted by consumers. Food systems transformation could yield benefits up to US$5 trillion per year. But how do we transform food systems in a way that is consistent with economic, social, and political realities and benefits the most vulnerable?
SDG(s)
Sustainable Development Goal(s)
6Clean water and sanitation
2Zero hunger
10Reduced innequalities
R&D agenda
Within the larger agenda of agrifood systems transformation, together with FAO and UNDP’s Food Agriculture Commodity Systems team, we’re building an R&D agenda focused on supporting market niches for the poor with the potential to activate systems change. Our focus is on improving how women and young people earn and engage in food value chains, to use innovation to generate value from food waste and to combine traditional knowledge with modern technology for more climate-resilient farming practices.
We are building R&D coalitions to address these and other questions:
What financial tools work for farmers?
What works to better position women and youth in the value chain?
How can heirloom foods and orphan crops drive new markets and farmers’ resilience?
Ready to grow globally: a pipeline of experiments
UNDP Accelerator Labs in over 20 countries have been experimenting to shape market demand for sustainable foods, tap into data to empower smallholder farming communities and map and enhance traditional knowledge and grassroots food practices.
The UNDP Zimbabwe Accelerator Lab partnered with Pegara, a Japanese start-up specializing in AI and automation, to test out ways to protect small grain production by detecting quelea swarms that are endemic to Africa and destroy up to 40% of traditional grains in Sub-Saharan Africa.
UNDP North Macedonia, powered by its Accelerator Lab, is unearthing new business value in areas such as bioenergy production, bioplastics or innovative textiles by tapping into the huge potential of unused organic waste. With a series of green experiments and a biohacking lab newly opened in a state high school, UNDP, UNICEF and their partners are turning Skopje into a biohacking capital which could be scaled across many other cities in the Global Majority.
6Clean water and sanitation
2Zero hunger
10Reduced innequalities
