About WFP Innovation Network

Innovation at WFP is an organization-wide effort firmly rooted in local insights, recognizing that individuals closest to the challenges often hold the key to solving them. The WFP Innovation Accelerator functions as a global innovation unit of the organization, forging close collaborations with WFP country offices, business units and the broader WFP Innovation Network.

The WFP Innovation Network comprises diverse innovation teams strategically positioned across WFP’s regional offices and country offices that manage their own portfolio of localized innovative solutions. It enables and drives innovation, by activating WFP innovators, mainstreaming a culture of innovation & collaboration throughout the organization, by providing tailored services and by building the digital systems and facilitated exchanges to scale and maximize impact.

The WFP Innovation Network is a growing network of 20 WFP country offices with innovation teams or focal points, two regional Innovation Hubs and a diverse community of 500 WFP Innovation Champions from across 165 duty stations.

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What We Do

The WFP Innovation Network plays a pivotal role in strengthening innovation and creating processes, programmes and projects to maximize impact from the bottom up. This includes integrating innovation into country strategic plans, strengthening local innovation ecosystems, positioning innovation as a core function at the country level so that it becomes a cross-cutting activity as well as improving the sourcing of innovations to better connect to the needs of country programme teams.

A key enabler of driving innovation initiatives is creating a culture of innovation. The WFP Innovation Network provides the digital systems, spaces and offerings needed for WFP to have a modern, agile culture and network of innovation. These include Learning & Development offerings which encompass theoretical concepts, practical use cases and knowledge that enable WFP colleagues at all levels to capitalize on innovation’s potential. We drive initiatives recognizing and highlighting WFP teams such as the WFP Innovation Awards, an organization-wide programme spotlighting innovative, cost- and time-effective and scalable solutions.

We lead the creation of globally relevant toolkits driven by field experience and evidence such as the WFP Innovation Database and WFP Innovators’ Playbook. The Innovation Network creates and manages the digital convening spaces to encourage and facilitate exchanges, knowledge sharing and strengthen connections to further activate innovation across WFP which includes WFP Innovation Week, an all employee exchange to inspire, activate and create meaningful engagement around innovation to drive efficiency, effectiveness and transformative change across the organization.

 

Two women stand with microphones, speaking off camera.
We Activate Innovation globally
We help turn ideas into solutions by supporting innovators, promoting a culture of creativity and teamwork across the organization, offering tailored support, and building digital tools and networks that allow successful ideas to grow and make a bigger impact.
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Integrating Innovation into Country Plans
We help WFP teams use innovative ideas and tools in their strategies and programmes. This means finding practical solutions that fit local needs while supporting global goals.
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Setting up the Innovation Function
We set up country innovation teams and regional innovation hubs, provide targeted advisory services, hands-on support and resources to drive collaboration thereby fostering regional expertise.
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Supporting Retreats and Workshops
We facilitate and moderate multi-party meetings, workshops or retreats using human-centred design and entrepreneurial frameworks and enable open exchange and discussions as a neutral and informed facilitator.
WFP Innovation Champions Community
The Innovation Champions Community is a community of practice and purpose which enables WFP colleagues across all divisions and regions to become agents of change, by participating in various innovation initiatives where they can build on their innovation confidence and vocabulary, collaborate with like-minded allies across the organization and become better equipped to assess and support innovation regardless of where they operate. The WFP Innovation Champions community convene on a regular basis to learn from each other, share knowledge, cross collaborate and contribute towards a modern, and agile culture of innovation.

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Innovation Hubs
Through its growing network of regional or country-based Innovation Hubs, WFP is increasing its ability to identify, nurture, pilot and scale innovative ideas in the world’s most strategic regions by identifying partners and actors to help end hunger.
Regional Hub for Eastern Africa & Southern Africa (ESARO)

Regional Hub for Eastern Africa

WFP first Regional Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa, located in WFP's Regional Bureau in Nairobi, Kenya.

https://innovation.wfp.org/eastern-africa
Girl eating a watermelon; Photo WFP/Lorena Peña

Regional Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACRO)

WFP's Regional Innovation Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean.

https://innovation.wfp.org/latin-america-and-caribbean