FAO Award for Innovation
Innovation is changing the way food is produced, processed, traded and consumed and building more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.
The FAO Award for Innovation recognizes ground-breaking innovations in areas under FAO’s mandate to Members or non-state partners, including institutions, individuals, international/regional organizations, academic or research entities, civil society groups, private sector entities and FAO employees.
Basic Criteria
The winning institution/organization demonstrates that they successfully contributed to an area of work related to FAO’s mandate, meeting one or all of the following criteria:
Award specific criteria:
- Have an impact on more than one level of the supply chain from farmers to consumers.
- Strengthen the link between farmers and consumers, e.g., through tracking sustainability features of traded food and agriculture products on labels, innovative institutional mechanisms etc.
General criteria:
- Quality and merit of the innovation
- Potential benefit, impact and sustainability
- Scalability
- Value for money
- Role of youth (under 35), and/or women, and/or marginalized groups
Selection Process
Proposals for nominations presented by national, regional or global institutions should be submitted to FAO Representatives (in countries with an accredited FAO Representative) or to FAO Regional and Subregional Representatives (in countries with no accredited FAO Representative), as appropriate, for submission to the Awards Secretariat..
The Award is conferred for activities and programmes with remarkable achievements during the biennium preceding the current one. The Award will be presented by the Director-General to the individual or representative of the recipient institution during a special ceremony at the 176th session of the FAO Council on 2-6 December 2024.
TIMELINE
End of January- Call for nominations
March- Close call
April/May- Screening
May - Selection
December - Ceremony
WINNERS
Pinduoduo, expanding its work and impact by partnering technology teams with research institutes, works to bridge the gap between academic research and the real-world application of agricultural technology. The innovative and inclusive solutions offered allow smallholder farmers to increase their incomes and invest in making their farms even more productive and environmentally sustainable. Furthermore, these agricultural entrepreneurs create jobs in their rural communities, creating income streams for many villagers and contributing to the vitalization of the rural economy, also stemming the tide of rural-urban migration, especially important for youth and marginalized communities.