Twelve SDG agrifood innovations that facilitate a food system transformation
Rapid population growth, economic downturns, extreme climates and changing consumption patterns are challenging our global food systems. Alternative approaches and innovative solutions are needed to rethink and transform global agrifood systems while contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the adelphi-hosted SEED programme have joined forces to support innovators in facilitating these transformations and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
FAO and SEED have identified twelve Agrifood Innovators from SEED’s portfolio of 358 enterprises for the first rendition of the SDG Agrifood Accelerator Programme. The Programme supports the selected innovators’ pathway to scale up and links them with partners to strengthen their market development and innovation trajectories. The Programme aims to demonstrate how an enabling support package can help local innovators reach their own targets while potentially contributing significantly to accelerating SDG implementation.
The twelve selected agrifood innovators are:
AfriLeap produces and supplies hydroponically grown quality hop cones. It empowers local smallholder farmers and saves land and water as hydroponics need less land to grow plants than traditional farming methods.
Amaati Group empowers rural women through farming indigenous Fonio grains. Fonio has low water requirements and can withstand adverse weather conditions. The social enterprise works with over 2000 farmers and dries, de-husks, packages, stores and markets Fonio cereal products for household consumption.
Auspice produces and sells naturally dried culinary herbs, seasonings and spices, employing only persons with Autism in the production process. Auspice creates employment for typically marginalized groups while offering products free from additives and preservatives.
FAM Organic delivers fresh produce and a new urban farming concept, the urbanutrigarden, to its eco-farming partners and customers. Urbanutrigarden is an integrated store concept to promote organic urban farming, healthy lifestyles and a sustainable environment to urban households.
Farmers Fresh Zone improves food traceability, supporting rural farmers in good agricultural practices. By collecting and selling local produce through a shortened value chain, the enterprise ensures transparency over how food is produced and sold. The produce is marketed through multiple channels, including a website, stores, stalls, and a subscription service.
Gorilla Conservation Coffee, Uganda
GCCoffee pay a premium price to help coffee farmers living next door to the gorillas around the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. This business keeps farmers from resorting to damaging the forest through activities like poaching and removing resources like wood, and in turn, helps protect the gorillas and their habitat.
Kalahari Honey operates a beekeeping business to mitigate human and wildlife conflict, feed more families, create jobs and build sustainable communities. They train and supply farmers with beehives to use as ‘active’ fences to prevent elephants from destroying their farms. The farmers then sell bee products back to Kalahari, who market these commodities globally.
ListenField applies scientific principles and climate data to analyze all relevant factors of rice production. The enterprise provides precision farming solutions that can cut field operation costs and provide a detailed outlook for yield prediction building on AI-Assisted Multispectral Vision and Crop Modeling Technology.
Mooto Cashew provides hybrid cashew tree seedlings with an early maturity period and very high yield to farmers in the Western province of Zambia, which is highly affected by deforestation caused by charcoal burning. The reforested area enhances the region’s ecosystem and provides a viable livelihood alternative to its communities.
Rahsa Nusantara showcases Indonesian heritage beverages that benefit people and the planet. Engaging a network of organic female farmers in a circular production and packaging process, they are producing healthy ready-to-drink products promoting a healthy and environmental-friendly lifestyle.
Wuchi Wami packages, brands, markets and distributes local raw and organic honey for health-conscious clients. The honey is sourced from the wild miombo forests in the Mwinilunga Northwestern province of Zambia. It is processed through its registered cooperative which sees 2,500 farmers participating in beekeeping in an out-growers scheme model.
Yoddoi Organic Coffee, Thailand
Yoddoi sells organic single-origin Arabica coffee grown in the Doi Chaang area of northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province. It promotes organic farming amongst Akha hill tribe, a small group of coffee growers, and creates a farmers’ satisfaction price to generate sustainable income for farmers.
Learn more about the launch of the Programme here.
This article was originally published by SEED.
