Innovation 4 Nutrition is a program launched by the World Food Program in alliance with the Colombian government to promote access to the world’s food supply and the Zero Hunger initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean. During the years 1990-2010, there was a significant rise in public policies aiming to combat hunger and malnutrition which proved to decrease overall hunger rates in these countries. However, in the past decade, these rates have begun to exponentially decrease and hunger and malnutrition have become an even more dangerously pressing matter. In response to this crisis, Innovation 4 Nutrition was born to accelerate transformative solutions and scale disruptive innovations aimed at ending hunger and malnutrition in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
I4N seeks to facilitate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #2 of Zero Hunger, fulfilling goals by developing alliances between like-minded companies, providing opportunities to excel, presenting viable solutions and easily-applicable mechanisms, and inviting guest speakers to introduce their companies and innovative strategies to put an end to world hunger. I4N operates through three tracks: Strategic, technical and territorial actions and is currently participating in various global initiatives developed to advocate for the development of research and resources against malnutrition.
Ancestral Organics’ Co-founder, Mateo Ospina, was granted the opportunity to intervene in I4N’s 2020 event by offering useful insight into how the company is able to change existing patterns and tendencies of the agrifood industry to favor food safety for all. In Ancestral Organics, we implement biodynamic practices based on four principle pillars: 1. Organic farming, 2. Cover cropping, 3. Integrating livestock, and 4. Crop diversity. The implementation of such practices allows our farming to be regenerative, meaning vital nutrients and vitamins are given back to the soil to leave it better than how we found it. In this way, we are producing nutritious food while simultaneously guaranteeing more fertile soil to assure production continuity.
Sources and more information on Innovation 4 Nutrition can be found in: https://innovation4nutrition.org/#que