Across Eastern Africa, more than 54 million people are food insecure. The need for innovative approaches that harness local solutions to local problems, nurture the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and simultaneously add value to operations and programmes, is greater than ever as the combined impacts of climate change, conflict, and rising food prices drive unprecedented levels of hunger. The IGNITE Innovation Hub is housed within the Partnerships & Innovation Unit at WFP’s Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, and in partnership with CARE Denmark.

Our Vision

The Hub envisions a food system in Eastern Africa that is climate-resilient, inclusive and locally led, and its work is organized into three pillars:

  • Innovation Ecosystem Support - Contribute to sustainable and innovative initiatives to solve food systems challenges, focused on ​East African founders, women ​and youths.
  • Collective Learning on Innovation - There is a stronger learning culture on innovation within​ UN agencies, INGOs and other development actors.
  • Innovation Culture and Strengthening - The practice of innovation is embedded within organisational culture and processes.
Submit your innovation project

Please submit your relevant startup idea / venture. This is a continuous call and we will reach out to you when an opportunity to work together arises.

Innovation Programmes and Projects
Here is a list of innovation programmes we're currently running and we invite you to write to us to for more information.

IGNITE Innovation Challenge

The IGNITE Innovation Challenge supports and funds innovative local ventures that can enhance food security in South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia and Ethiopia. So far, across the region, innovation challenges have supported more than 75 ventures with over USD 2 million in grants. These ventures provide employment and market access for smallholder farmers and WFP beneficiaries, reducing the humanitarian caseload.

IGNITE Seed Research and Development Food Lab

The IGNITE Seed Research and Development Food Lab aims to support early-stage entrepreneurial teams across Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda) in building skills and experience in innovation, whilst building the local ecosystem of academic and research institutions working to develop and commercialise local solutions. 

IGNITE Research and Development Lab

The IGNITE Research and Development Lab works with a local private sector partner to prioritize operational challenges, then use the innovation process to research and solve them by adapting or building locally suitable solutions.

Milken-Motsepe Agri Tech Innovation Prize

The IGNITE Internal Innovation Safari/Pathfinder supports country offices to innovate to solve programme and operational challenges, leading to increased efficiencies and effectiveness.

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IGNITE Innovative Finance

IGNITE Innovative Finance brings locally and regionally suitable commercial and nontraditional financing options to support innovations and WFP’s operations.

Innovation Units and Focal Points
Below is a list of countries and their innovation workstreams under the Eastern Africa Regional Hub. These diverse innovation teams are strategically positioned across WFP’s regional and country offices, each managing their own portfolio.
Ethopia

Ethopia

Supported by the IGNITE Innovation Hub of Eastern Africa, WFP Ethiopia runs the IGNITE Food Systems Innovation Challenge 1.0 which aims to support locally-sourced solutions to address food insecurity and climate change challenges in the country and to empower local entrepreneurs operating in the food systems value chain.

Kenya

Kenya

The country office aims to Improve food systems and build resilience, supporting WFP programme teams and contributing to WFP Kenya’s country strategic plan to foster innovation and innovative methodologies to achieve SDG 2 and 17.

 

Rwanda

Rwanda

The Rwanda Country Office is positioning innovation as a cross-cutting enabler of its strategic plan, with a strong focus on developing innovative financing initiatives. Core activities include project management for innovation, innovation sourcing and financing, culture change and knowledge management initiatives, and acceleration support for external ventures. WFP IGNITE Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa supported, the office is piloting the “Climate Smart Agriculture for Youth” initiative, to empower 2,500 young farmers in Rwanda to adopt sustainable farming practices to boost productivity, income and climate resilience. In parallel, the Post-Harvest Management innovation is testing integrated post-harvest solutions to reduce food losses and improve livelihoods.

Somalia family sitting and eating lunch in their farm

Somalia

Supported by the WFP IGNITE Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa, the Pathfinder Challenge is an internal WFP Innovation Challenge that invited WFP employees to identify and prioritize impactful problems and proposed innovative solutions that enhanced efficiency and effectiveness, in line with WFP Somalia's 2024 priorities.

South Sudan

South Sudan

WFP South Sudan aims to Identify and support local innovative solutions that enhance climate resilience and food security for local populations through training, coaching, mentorship and funding.

Tanzania

WFP’s first field innovation hub was established in Tanzania in 2017. Now in its sixth year, the hub has laid the groundwork for catalyzing Tanzania’s innovation ecosystem and changing the way WFP approaches both current and future operations. The hub’s work is closely aligned with the objectives of WFP Tanzania’s country strategic plan, which centers around supporting the Government of Tanzania in its effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular the Zero Hunger 2030 agenda. The hub’s current focus areas are in smallholder agriculture, market access and supply chain, nutrition, emergency preparedness and response, social protection, and support to refugee populations.

 

FOR PARTNERS

The IGNITE Innovation Hub's work is made possible through generous funding from USAID BHA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, CARE Denmark, and the Milken Institute. Support organisations include the Technical University of Denmark’s (DTU) Skylab FoodLab, Impact Hub Kigali, Outbox Uganda, Afrilabs and UNDP.

FOR MENTORS

Stay tuned: Sign up to be informed when applications are open and receive updates about our achievements and upcoming activities and events.