WTO Hackathon Showcases Innovative Solutions to Global Food Security Challenges

Strategic Insights -

The World Trade Organization (WTO) hosted a hackathon in Geneva, featuring three finalist teams from diverse global backgrounds. The event was sponsored by CropLife International and aimed to address pressing food security challenges. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emphasized the importance of trade and food security, highlighting the hackathon's demonstration of young people's expectations for the WTO to be ambitious, creative, and responsive. The three finalist teams presented innovative solutions, including a Harvest-to-Market Facilitation Pathway to reduce post-harvest losses in Africa, redirecting food lost in trade and supply chains into sustainable biofuel production, and strengthening WTO disciplines to address sudden impediments to food trade during crises.

Key Takeaways:

  • The WTO hackathon featured three finalist teams from diverse global backgrounds, with students from over ten countries participating.
  • The event was sponsored by CropLife International and aimed to address pressing food security challenges.
  • Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emphasized the importance of trade and food security, highlighting the hackathon's demonstration of young people's expectations for the WTO to be ambitious, creative, and responsive.
  • The three finalist teams presented innovative solutions, including:

+ A "Harvest-to-Market Facilitation Pathway" to reduce post-harvest losses in Africa through improved storage and trade facilitation by Global Grains.

+ Redirecting food lost in trade and supply chains into sustainable biofuel production by Spice Pacific.

+ Strengthening WTO disciplines to address sudden impediments to food trade during crises, aiming to make grain flow more predictably for vulnerable importing countries, by Agro-Strategos.

  • The jury awarded first place to Global Grains, second place to Spice Pacific, and third place to Agro-Strategos.

Statistics:

  • More than ten countries were represented through the participating teams.
  • The event was sponsored by CropLife International.

Sources:

  • The World Trade Organization (WTO)
  • CropLife International
  • Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala