23 September 2016

Innovative staff from across WFP’s global operations gathered in Munich, Germany, last week for an intensive, three-day boot camp that helps bring bright ideas to life. 

Working side by side with staff from the recently launched WFP Innovation Accelerator and technical experts, WFP project teams from Algeria, Kyrgyzstan, Bangkok and the Nutrition Division polished their ideas with the goal of securing additional funding to bring their ideas to fruition. Through workshops and a ‘sprint programme’, the WFP Innovation Accelerator provides important financial and strategic support to quickly prototype and most importantly, test high-potential ideas from WFP entrepreneurs in a field environment. 

Cutting-edge brainstorming activities, sandwiched by workshops from external guests and interviews with technical experts, lead teams on a journey of exploration and discovery. At the heart of the boot camp – and the Accelerator’s strategy – is human-centred design, a creative approach to problem solving that ensures that only the most impactful ideas are supported. In other words, human-centred design ensures that any idea truly suits the needs of the people we serve. 

Pitching for Success

To close the September boot camp, teams pitched their ideas to a judging panel that featured representatives from the German Federal Foreign Office and German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. For the judges, it was the high point of a day-long visit to the Accelerator and its new office in the heart of Munich - and an opportunity to see first-hand how Germany’s generous contributions are helping WFP achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.

 

The four teams to pitch their zero hunger ideas were:

WFP Algeria plan to expand a hydroponic growing project, currently piloted by WFP Peru, to help solve food insecurity amongst refugees in desert-dry rural communities. 

WFP Kyrgyzstan hope their digital data collection platform will help the Country Office and national government improve their monitoring and evaluation activities, and better target support to those most in need.

WFP Bangkok Regional Bureau’s “72 hour assessment tool”, a meta-data collection and analysis solution can provide immediate, life-saving emergency information to programme managers in emergency situations. By forming relationships with on-the-ground networks, WFP can use digital tools to receive real-time updates on food security and other indicators.

WFP’s Nutrition Division aims to introduce rice fortification – adding extra nutrients to rice to eradicate malnutrition around the world – to Africa.  Already commonplace in Asia, rice fortification is regarded as the new frontier for tackling micronutrient deficiencies, which globally impacts 159 million children under the age of 5.