Ways Innovation is Aiding the Food Insecure

All too often, discussions of new and next-gen tech focus on the effects on consumers and markets in more developed parts of the world. We thought it worth highlighting examples of cutting-edge tech being created and implemented to deliver immediate aid to communities and populations that need the most help. We need look no further than the World Food Program, which has quietly made some incredible technological leaps that are delivering immediate impact to food-insecure areas across the world.

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Here are three initiatives that have embraced and leveraged new tech in extraordinarily helpful ways:

HungerMap LIVE: The World Food Program is using predictive analytics to monitor global hunger levels and identify areas for preemptive action before a crisis hits. HungerMap LIVE is a free, interactive online tool that visualizes food security information across 90 countries worldwide. Food access remains precarious for millions of vulnerable families due to war, drought, famine and rising food prices. Situations on the ground are in constant flux, which makes it crucial to have as nuanced, up-to-date information as possible. HungerMap Live allows the group to direct efforts to take action before a crisis hits; it helps WFP identify the areas that are most vulnerable at any given moment. The ability to be predictive, rather than reactive, is an incredible leg up that stands to save millions.

Optimus and DOTS: The delivery of crucial food supplies, equipment, and personnel to the world’s most challenged and complex environments in the world is not a simple task. The WFP is developing custom applications that optimize supply chains at every level with its own app, called Optimus. Since the launch of Optimus, the U.N. World Food Program has saved $50 million dollars in complex emergency operations in areas like Syria, Iraq, and Yemen- with many more to follow. Meanwhile, WFP has launched a new data integration platform called DOTS that provides a moment-by-moment understanding of its own operations that allows for pinpoint allocation of its resources. Following the 2020 Port of Beirut explosion, DOTS made it possible for the WFP to identify– in seconds– how much food was needed to support vulnerable families affected by the blast, as well as how and where to source it.

EMPACT: Meanwhile, WFP’s EMPACT program is a crucial empowerment and education initiative that connects food-insecure youth to the global digital economy. Since 2016, EMPACT has trained over 55k people in Iraq, Lebanon, Kenya, and Turkey, in digital skills like coding, social media management, and web development. The program has a goal of reaching 100k people by 2025. The sheer potential that this program will unlock is almost unfathomable- it equips young people with the skills to be competitive in an online employment landscape that had previously excluded them, giving them new livelihoods and equipping a new generation with tools to fight problems in their communities.

There isn’t an industry on earth that has avoided the impact of modern tech, but it is often disappointing to see how slow the benefits of the technological revolution have been to reach underserved or lesser-developed populations. The tools/programs the World Food Program is developing and putting to use are not theoretical. They are not utopian forecasts of a fully optimized future- they are saving threatened lives and empowering the powerless right now.

We hope hearing a little bit about how technology is helping serve humanity brought a smile to your face.