Mohammed Bin Rashid Sustainable and Healthy Food for All Challenge 2020

Mohammed Bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity is inviting applications for the Healthy Food for All Challenge titled, “How can urban populations increase access to healthy and sustainable foods, despite rapid urbanization” in 2020.

The rapid pace of urbanization has dramatically shifted how we approach food systems globally. In 1900, only two percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas. Today, it is over half of the global population, and over the next 30 years, that proportion is expected to increase to about two thirds.

While cities offer great potential for economic, cultural, and societal development, cities in particular face a host of challenges in sustainably feeding their communities, including lengthy supply chains, inadequate infrastructure, and waste management systems, and fewer opportunities for households to produce their own food.

By 2050, global food systems will need to sustainably and nutritiously feed nearly 10 billion people, and 80 percent of the world’s food will be consumed within urban areas. The challenge to ensure that everyone in the world can feed themselves has become intertwined with concerns around which foods we are consuming, where we are eating them, and how they are grown, processed, and delivered. Further, as food systems contribute to the increasing incidences of non-communicable and food-borne diseases and represent one of the world’s largest employers and primary drivers of climate change, these issues have far-reaching consequences on people’s nutrition and health, the potential to create viable jobs and livelihoods, and the future sustainability of our planet.

Worth of Award

Eligibility

The challenges for cohort 2 are

• Sustainable and Healthy Food for All – How can urban populations increase access to healthy and sustainable foods, despite rapid urbanization?
• Innovation for Inclusive Trade – How can rural communities increase their access to new supply chains and markets in order to create better livelihoods for themselves?
• Innovation for Peace and Justice – How can displaced populations access affordable and quality services that are essential to their safety and wellbeing?
• Climate Change – How can communities move towards a low-carbon circular economy by eliminating waste and utilizing existing resources?

The Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity is seeking applications from innovators and makers around the world that will:

• Provide equitable and affordable access to healthy, low carbon food in cities
• Create more efficient supply chains and reduce food loss and waste
• Reduce hunger, malnutrition, and food-related illnesses in urban areas