Deadline: 19-Mar-21
The Federal Government of Switzerland, with the technical support of FAO is pleased to announce 2nd edition of International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture.
During the 26th Session of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the Federal Government of Switzerland announced an International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The Federal Government of Switzerland, with the technical support of FAO, established the International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture in 2019 and is pleased to announce the second edition.
Since 2018, FAO and the Federal Government of Switzerland encourage innovation by publically recognizing best practices through the International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The award does not only acknowledge digital innovation, but also new or existing products or practices that are used in a specific context, to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, and resilience.
Innovation is changing the way food is produced, processed, traded and consumed and building more resilient and robust food systems. Both digital technologies and innovative practices for growing food have the potential to transform food systems, providing smallholder farmers with a better future, making farming more sustainable and ultimately closing the digital gap between developed and developing countries.
Categories
All applications will be judged according to:
- Quality and merit of the innovation;
- Potential benefit, impact and sustainability;
- Scalability;
- Value for money.
CATEGORY A
- Applicants need to clearly indicate how the innovation impacts more than one level of supply chain from farmers to consumers.
- Applicants should demonstrate how the innovation strengthens the link between farmers and consumers, e.g. through tracking sustainability features of traded food and agriculture products on labels.
CATEGORY B
- Applicants need to show how the innovation strengthens the role of youth (under 35) in sustainable food systems.
Funding Information
The innovation awards are divided in two categories:
- Category A: USD 30,000 is awarded for excellence in digitization and innovation for sustainable food systems.
- Category B: USD 30,000 recognizes an innovation that specifically empowers youth in sustainable food systems.
Criteria
- Individuals, private companies and institutions responsible for an innovation that has demonstrated particular efficiency and used novel tools, products or services to enhance and promote sustainable food and agriculture. Both categories of the award consider innovations that have been successfully implemented and validated.
- The Award is conferred for innovations implemented during the biennium preceding the current one. In line with the requirements and technical competencies of the Federal Office of Agriculture of Switzerland, all innovations must apply to agriculture and pastoral systems only.Application forms that are incomplete, do not comply with the terms and conditions specified, or are submitted beyond the deadline, according to the instructions provided, will not be considered. No applicants under the age of 18 will be considered for the Award.
For more information, visit http://www.fao.org/innovation/awards/en/