Inside WFP’s Innovation Strategy: collaboration and eco-systems as drivers of impact
Learn how WFP is embedding innovative approaches, strategic partnerships and capabilities into its day-to-day operations, while advancing the UN 2.0 agenda, to drive greater efficiency, effectiveness and impact.
By Katarina Gocoliakova and Sanjna Sudan
At the UN World Food Programme, innovation is at the heart of what we do, shaping how we strengthen our operations and enhance our impact. This year, we launched the WFP Innovation Strategy 2026–2028, positioning innovation as a core enabler of how WFP delivers on its mission.
This strategy is a transformative roadmap to expand WFP’s reach and integrate innovation more deeply into operations over the coming years.
By placing innovation and partnerships at the forefront, WFP is actively contributing to and advancing the UN 2.0 agenda and the Quintet of Change, that focuses on innovation, data, digital fluency, foresight and behavioural science.
Here is how it is working:
#1 Innovation as a core operating principle
WFP’s Innovation Strategy 2026–2028 demonstrates what it looks like when innovation is truly embedded across a humanitarian organization. It treats innovation not as a standalone function but as a set of behaviours and capabilities shared and actively built across teams, roles and regions.
To streamline and scale its innovation efforts, WFP Innovation Accelerator started the WFP Innovation Network, composed of global field colleagues and operations who champion and advocate for innovation across the organisation. Bringing together 600 WFP Innovation Champions from 165 duty stations and close to 20 Country Offices with dedicated innovation talent, the network meets regularly and innovation is truly ingrained in all they do. The network and community are a space to share knowledge and the tools that allow WFP to build an agile and innovative culture. Learning and development initiatives, recognition awards, and an organisation-wide programme highlighting scalable solutions to the most pressing questions in the region, are only a few examples on their agenda.
The journey to make innovative ideas shared across the organisation doesn’t stop here. The WFP Innovation Accelerator has released an Innovation Database that provides quick access to a vast repository of knowledge and previously implemented programmes. Field-tested tools, templates and strategies are collected in the WFP Innovators’ Playbook — produced together with the Kenya Country Office and the WFP Eastern and Southern Africa Innovation Hub- which helps individuals innovate in specific, practical contexts.
“Innovation is key in unlocking efficiency, partnerships and sustainable funding”, says Sandra Raad, Head of WFP Innovation Network. “WFP is always looking for ways to maximise its impact. Initiatives like the WFP Innovation Network which produced the Innovation Database and other tools not only facilitate WFP’s goals, but also recognise that people closest to the challenges often hold the keys to solving them. They have a vast array of insights and locally tested-tools and processes ready to exchange with their colleagues”.
#2 Operations-first and human-centred design approach
The UN 2.0 Quintet of Change includes innovation, described as learning to scale new solutions, for example to help expand smallholder farmers’ access to tools and strategies to reduce post-harvest losses.This needs investing in knowledge sharing for WFP colleagues as well as communities we serve. At WFP, we see country offices are the engines of innovation, supported by regional innovation offices and the WFP Innovation Accelerator. They adapt global strategies to the realities and needs of local communities.
A strong example of this operations‑first approach is WFP’s work through the Post‑Harvest Loss Ventures (PHLV) initiative. The initiative implemented by WFP in five countries, helps farmers reduce losses that occur after harvest but before crops reach consumers, losses that significantly affect both quantity and quality. Many farmers in developing countries face high post‑harvest losses, and PHLV addresses this by creating business models that make technologies more accessible and affordable.
PHLV strengthens key parts of the food value chain by improving access to equipment, offering affordable training, providing digital tools, enabling small loans, and supporting farmer groups to jointly manage post‑harvest equipment. As of 2025, farmers’ households implementing PHLV techniques increased their yields an average of 23.9 percent compared to 8.9 percent for those following traditional farming techniques.
The Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office is a great example of an Innovation office that accelerates the development of sustainable, locally-led solutions. One such solution, supported by the Regional Office, is Ignite Research and Development Agri-Food Lab. This programme is focused on working with academic and research institutions to provide entrepreneurs with key skills needed to commercialise research backed innovation, currently focused on local food systems.
#3 Collaboration as a Force Multiplier for Innovation
WFP Innovation Accelerator’s SDGx team is already showing what this looks like in practice. They collaborate with other UN agencies and organisations to identify bold solution providers around the globe and help them scale their ideas. Since 2018, the SDGx team has supported over 300 ventures in 58 countries by giving them access to funding, knowledge, tools and valuable networks. In each collaboration, they build a needs-based programme to find solutions for existing global challenges, having already tackled topics from gender equality to good health and many more, to ultimately improve the lives of vulnerable communities.
For example, the WFP Innovation Accelerator has worked extensively with the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) on topics related to immediate emergency response. Together, they built the INITIATE programme to build an infectious disease treatment module for epidemic outbreaks. Over five years, more than 50 implementing partners co-designed the module to prioritize rapid deployment and quality of care. With the success of the collaboration, the offices have joined again to launch Hiper, a collaborative platform that convenes UN agencies, NGOs, private sector actors, and experts to identify critical gaps in the first 60 days of emergency response and accelerate the development of need-driven product innovations.
The UN-wide collaboration stretches even further, with colleagues sharing their expertise and experience to advance innovation as a part of the UN Innovation Network funded and co-chaired by UNICEF, UNDP and WFP. This informal, collaborative community of UN innovators dive deep into how new trends and innovation enable UN operations globally.
“There has always been so much knowledge and appetite for innovation shared across our organizations,” says Hila Cohen, one of UNIN’s Co-Chairs. “The UN Innovation Network serves as a dedicated space to share all these activities and help advance innovation across and between UN agencies.”
And so the message remains clear. Innovation is the key operating principle of UN operations and an essential tool in addressing the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges.
The WFP Innovation Strategy reflects UN 2.0’s premise and outlines how implementing new approaches, building partnerships inside and outside the organisation, and scaling solutions delivers real impact on the ground.
Whether you are a UN agency, entrepreneur or a start-up, WFP is always interested in starting new collaborations and driving collective impact. Do not hesitate to contact us here.
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The WFP Innovation Accelerator was launched by the UN World Food Programme in 2015 to source, implement and scale high-impact innovations. From its base in Munich, Germany, the WFP Innovation Accelerator has grown to become one of the world’s leading social impact startup accelerators. In 2025, the WFP Innovation Accelerator ran 14 programmes addressing a wide range of social impact and sustainability issues. Its portfolio, comprising over 85 innovations and 29 alumni projects, reached 132.5 million individuals across 75 countries and territories. In total, the WFP Innovation Accelerator has catalysed over USD 383 million in funding since 2015.
