Bernhard Kowatsch, Head of the United Nations World Food Program Innovation Accelerator; Accelerating Solutions to End World Hunger

Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo

On this episode I’d like to introduce you to Bernhard Kowatsch who is the founder and head of the Innovation Accelerator at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). We find out more about the World Food Program, what the Innovation Accelerator is all about and how Bernhard made the transition from a consultant at Boston Consulting Group to a founder of an app call ShareTheMeal and now, working startups around the world that accelerate innovations to address global hunger.

The World Food Program has recently been awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. While the WFP Innovation Accelerator was named by Fast Company as one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2017 in Food for its work in identifying, nurturing and scaling disruptive start-ups that accelerate innovations to address global hunger. Innovations include blockchain, agri-tech, supply chain and new businesses to end hunger. Most recently, the Accelerator runs programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.