Challenge: A Global Impact Challenge – Food in Emergencies

Organizer: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Singularity University (SU)

Apply here: Application form

Deadline to apply: 13th March 2017

Inquiries about this challenge: Diane Murphy at Diane.Murphy@su.org

Prize:

• bootcamp at the WFP Innovation Accelerator in Munich, Germany
• Singularity University’s prestigious Global Solutions Program hosted in NASA Research Park.

Food in Emergencies, a Global Impact Challenge

Call for action: What moonshot innovation would you develop using exponential technology to provide sustainable access to local and nutritious food in emergencies?

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is joining forces with Singularity University (SU) to launch a Global Impact Challenge – a call for radical innovations in the fight to end hunger by 2030.

Overview: The Challenge

You have likely witnessed a scene like this far too many times on the news, from the safety of your home: hundreds, thousands, or even millions of families caught in the grip of conflict or disaster. Chased, burned, or washed out of their homes. Stripped of their belongings, cut off from their fields. Little to eat. Children denied food when they need it most. A life of stunting and underachievement—for those who get to live.

Fortunately, the World Food Programme (WFP) is there, in every emergency, providing basic food supplies or cash. But no one organization can do it all or ensure that no one gets left behind. People need to be able to support themselves, sustainably. And to stop people in emergency situations from going hungry, we need bold new thinking.

Therefore, we are proud to be working with WFP to host a special Global Impact Challenge aimed at eliminating world hunger by 2030. This partnership offers applicants a unique combination of Silicon Valley exponential thinking and global expertise in food assistance and humanitarian response. It’s time to harness the combined power of exponential technology and innovative thinking to end hunger once and for all!

We need you—your ideas, your vision, your bright bold brainwaves. Do you think you have a solution? A clever concept that allows people living in the most difficult conditions to produce nutritious food? A technology you’ve dreamt up that will quickly restore livelihoods and dignity in the midst of despair?

We’re challenging you to design a low-cost, scalable solution that enables severely marginalized people to support their (five-member, on average) household food and nutrition needs in a sustainable manner that lowers their dependence on aid.