CHICAGO — The fourth annual Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge, hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and funded and initiated by the Seeding The Future Foundation, is quickly approaching, and the winners from last year’s challenge are reflecting on their innovations and success.
“Last year’s winners again demonstrated an incredible level of ingenuity and commitment in addressing the most pressing issues facing food systems globally,” said Bernhard van Lengerich, PhD, founder of the Seeding The Future Foundation. “The submissions we’ve received this year have been outstanding, and we are inspired by their novelty and significant impact potential on people’s lives and the environment.”
In 2023, a total of 13 winners were awarded $1 million in prize funding: Eight Seed Grant winners ($25,000 each), three Growth Grant winners ($100,000 each), and two Seeding The Future Grand Prize winners ($250,000 each).
The winners of last year’s challenge created innovations such as nutrient-rich flour formulas and food products to address Zambia’s high rates of Vitamin A deficiency, regenerative agriculture models to help Indian farmers transition from chemical-based approaches, solar-powered cooling hubs for farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and more.
“The prize has greatly emphasized the relevance of our work in addressing food and nutrition security with biofortified crops as one significant strategy for change.” — Katharine Diehl, PhD | scaling specialist | International Food Policy Research Institute
One of the 2023 Grand Prize winners, the International Food Policy Research Institute (HarvestPlus), has utilized the grant to provide ready-made, nutrient-dense meals that contribute to the nutritional health of early-stage learners, particularly young and adolescent girls.
“The Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge prize has given HarvestPlus a huge opportunity to showcase the value of biofortification – from production to consumption,” said Katharine Diehl, PhD, scaling specialist for HarvestPlus. “The prize has greatly emphasized the relevance of our work in addressing food and nutrition security with biofortified crops as one significant strategy for change. With the grant, we can now significantly accelerate the availability of nutritious food in Zambia, helping address nutritional deficiencies that prevent children from reaching their full potential.”
Nurture Posterity International, a 2023 Growth Grant winner, created affordable composite flour for school feeding programs in Uganda.
“Nurture Posterity International’s recognition as a Growth Grant winner has brought significant attention to the organization while recognizing the importance of creating an environmentally sustainable value chain around the provision of affordable, safe, and trusted pumpkin-seed-enriched composite maize flours for school feeding programs in Uganda,” said Ibrahim Kasujja, managing director of Nurture Posterity International.
With the grant, Nutrure Posterity International was able to expand to 297 schools and feed over 240,000 children while supporting 2,700 farmers in adopting regenerative practices.
“The grant helped our team to significantly accelerate our efforts to help schools switch to these composite flours with a better nutrient profile while transitioning away from using maize flours that lack important nutrients known to improve cognitive health,” Kasujja added. “Our team is so incredibly grateful to the Seeding The Future Foundation.”
One of the eight Seed Grant winners, Global Seed Savers, created the ECOSEEDS Project, a sovereignty initiative that promotes diverse, nutritionally rich crops in the Philippines.
“Being selected as a Seed Grant winner has had a tremendous impact on our growing international non-profit,” said Sherry Manning, founder and CEO of Global Seed Savers. “It has allowed us to more than double the number of communities and direct beneficiaries we serve at Global Seed Savers and allowed us to expand our Seed Saving Community partners from three across the Philippines to 12 communities in all three regions in the country.”
Applications for the 2024 challenge are open through Jan. 6. Visit the Seeding The Future Challenge website for more information.
