P4G and the World Food Summit
On August 30-31, Copenhagen will host the World Food Summit 2018 – “Better Food For More People”. The purpose of the World Food Summit is to unleash the full potential of gastronomy in order to create worldwide solid solutions that ensure better food for more people. New, innovative approaches are needed if we are to feed a growing global population.
From the perspective of P4G, the World Food Summit is a milestone on the way to the very first P4G Summit, which takes place on 19-20 October in Copenhagen. P4G promotes breakthrough partnerships that translate challenges such as those related to food into new market opportunities for a more sustainable economy. The partnership idea is also at the core of the World Food Summit: Partnerships need to be at the forefront, if we are to provide better food for more people.
Recognizing the synergies between the initiatives, Ian de Cruz, Global Director of the P4G Hub will speak at the World Food Summit addressing the crucial role of partnerships. Moreover, P4G will showcase two of its start-up partnerships at the World Food Summit.
First, the Food Loss and Waste Action Partnership, led by the Food and Land Use Coalition, will build a cross-sector program to reduce food loss and waste in Indonesia. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that one-third of all food produced annually for human consumption in the world is lost or wasted. In Indonesia, a country of 260 million people, the equivalent of 300 kilograms (660 pounds) per person is wasted, largely before fruits, vegetables, and grains reach consumers. The Coalition will support partner companies with strategies and practices to implement better storage technologies, improve shipping and distribution, and train staff to help them meet their food loss and waste targets.
Second, The Sustainable Food Platform, led by DanChurchAid, along with Arla Foods Ingredients and GAIN Nordic partners aims to rethink market-based solutions to promote food security for poor and vulnerable people living in refugee camps and local host communities. The partnership will tap into existing knowledge and bring together local producers with global partners in an “innovation platform,” which will develop and test low-tech and energy-efficient food solutions (e.g. nutritious and affordable products like biscuits and porridge) to promote nutrition and sustainable livelihoods for the poor. The country focus will be in Ethiopia, with links to Uganda and Kenya, where more than 2 million refugees live today.
“We are excited to introduce P4G and two of our start-up partnerships to attendees of the World Food Summit,” said P4G Global Director, Ian de Cruz. “There is both great need and opportunity to infuse innovative new technologies and approaches to all aspects of the farm-to-table food production and consumption cycle.”
At the P4G Summit in Copenhagen this October, one of five thematic tracks is dedicated to partnerships focused on food and agriculture, thereby working to fulfill SDG 2 on eradicating hunger. In this track, P4G partnerships related to food and agriculture will be showcased, awards will be given to the most promising projects, and the ambition is that new, concrete partnerships will emerge.