Disrupting Hunger: How Innovation is Transforming Food Security
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Bernhard Kowatsch, head of the UN World Food Program Innovation Accelerator, discusses how innovation and technology are addressing global hunger affecting 343 million people. The program supports startups and nonprofits working toward zero hunger through grants, hands-on support, and AI-driven solutions adapted to rapidly changing conditions worldwide.
Key takeaways
- 343 million people currently face acute hunger globally, driven by multiple controllable and uncontrollable factors.
- The WFP Innovation Accelerator, established in 2015, helps startups and nonprofits scale solutions to achieve food security faster through funding and technical support.
- Innovation and AI technology enable rapid deployment of new solutions to address hunger in response to shifting global conditions.
- Sustainable agricultural practices, such as alternate wetting and drying in rice cultivation, can reduce environmental impact while maintaining food production.
- Food security requires transformative approaches combining innovation, technology, and systemic change to build a more food-secure future.
About Bernhard KowatschBernhard Kowatsch is the head of the United Nations World Food Program Innovation Accelerator, which he established in 2015 to support startups and nonprofits working to achieve zero hunger.
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Program: Disrupting Hunger: How Innovation is Transforming Food Security
Speaker: Bernhard Kowatsch
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
Today, 343 million people are facing acute hunger—more than double the number from just a few years ago. This dramatic rise is driven by a combination of conflict, increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters, and a global cost-of-living crisis. In the face of these growing humanitarian challenges, the World Food Program is turning to innovation to maximize its impact and reach those most in need.
Through the WFP Innovation Accelerator, WFP identifies, supports, and scales high-impact solutions that have the potential to disrupt hunger and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. In this talk, Bernhard Kowatsch will explore how innovation can play a transformative role in tackling global hunger and building a more food-secure future.
Our speaker, Bernhard Kowatsch, is the Head of the United Nations (UN) World Food Program (WFP) Innovation Accelerator, which he created in 2015. The Accelerator sources, nurtures, and scales start-ups and nonprofits working to achieve Zero Hunger, and has run 22 accelerator programmes for external partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Adaptation Fund and other UN Agencies, with more planned.
Prior to starting the Accelerator, Bernhard co-founded the award-winning ShareTheMeal app that crowdsources funding for WFP and has delivered over 264 million meals for hungry children worldwide. His previous experience includes creating WFP’s Business Innovation Unit and working as a Project Leader at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Members and guests, please welcome Bernhard Kowatsch!
To learn more, go to:
https://innovation.wfp.org/
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