Providing a growing global population with access to affordable, safe, and nutritious food for a healthy diet while maintaining the health of our planet will require a transformation of our food systems. Advances and discoveries in science and technology, creative new approaches, and collaborations across cultures and multiple disciplines, will lead to forward-thinking innovations with the potential for significant food system changes.
The goal of the Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge is to inspire and support innovative, diverse, and multidisciplinary teams to create game-changing innovations that will help transform our food systems.
Award Levels
The Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge will provide monetary awards in the form of grants and prizes totaling up to one million US dollars annually. We invite applicants from national or international universities, research institutions, or nonprofit organizations, as well as early-stage for-profit businesses or social enterprises from any country*. The Challenge will provide three levels of awards to incentivize transformative food system innovations at different stages of their development. Applications can only be submitted at one award level. Please review the Selection Criteria carefully to determine the appropriate award level for your project.
Review Process
The Challenge application review is a multi-stage process conducted by subject matter experts and highly distinguished international panel of selection committee members. Applicants should refer to the Award Selection Criteria to determine the appropriate award level based on your project’s maturity and impact potential. The selection criteria prioritize innovation, the size of the impact on people and the environment over time, and the catalytic effect of the award funds on the innovation’s advancement. See Application Questions for additional detail.
1. Eligibility Screen (for all award categories)
- This is a preliminary application vetting to ensure that each application meets the basic organizational and financial eligibility requirements for the Challenge. This includes a complete application, the applicant is an eligible organization, the applicant applied for the appropriate award level, and the applicant provided the required organizational and financial documentation
- Applicants that do not meet the eligibility requirements cannot participate in the Challenge and will be notified
2. Initial Content Screen (for all award categories)
During the Initial Content Screen, subject matter experts will assess and score the quality of each application prioritizing the following criteria, which reflect the Award Selection Criteria:
- Potential for impact at scale and over time on society, people and/or the environment
- Quality of the innovation: does the project lead to or create something new that is important and has a benefit?
- Innovation Focus Area alignment
- Project Plan: scope, budget, and timeline
- Clarity and strength of the application’s premise
- Multidisciplinarity
For Seed Grant applicants, up to 16 submissions may be selected as finalists and advance to the final round for Seed Grant applicants. In this round, applicants will submit a brief pre-recorded 4-5 minute pitch highlighting the innovation, its focus, innovative nature, potential impact and team members. A group of highly qualified subject matter experts will review, score and vote on the finalists’ applications to determine the Seed Grant awardees. Once Seed Grant awardees are selected, WHH will notify and announce the Seed Grant winners.
For Growth Grant applicants, up to 12, and for the Seeding The Future Grand Prize applicants, up to 8 applications may be selected as semifinalists to advance to the Selection Committee Round One, where finalists will be selected by a selection committee consisting of globally recognized, national and international domain experts.
3. Selection Committee Round One (Growth and STF Grand Prize only)
Semifinalists will submit a brief pre-recorded 4-5 minute pitch highlighting the innovation, its focus, innovative nature, potential impact and team members.
Selection Committee members will assess and score each semi-finalist application based on the following criteria:
- Impact potential at scale and over time
- Quality of the innovation, novelty: does the project create or lead to something new that is important and has a benefit?
- Catalytic Effect of the award funds on the innovation’s advancement
- Quality of Pitch
- Innovation Focus Area alignment, including a food policy perspective
- Stage of development or maturity of the innovation
- Projected scalability and economic feasibility
- Assessment of risks and challenges
- Project Plan: scope, budget, and timeline
- Multidisciplinarity
- Alignment with Seeding The Future Foundation’s and Welthungerhilfe’s Vision and Mission
Based on these criteria, the Selection Committee may select from the group of semi-finalists up to 6 Growth Grant finalists and up to 4 Seeding The Future Grand Prize finalists to advance to the Selection Committee Round Two.
4. Selection Committee Round Two (Growth and Seeding The Future Grand Prize Finalists only)
The Selection Committee will conduct approximately 15-20 min interviews with the Growth Grant and Seeding The Future Grand Prize finalists. The interview will consist of a short introduction of the project team, followed by a discussion and Q&A with the Selection Committee members.
Questions may be related to any of the prior submitted material, to selection criteria, or the organization’s presentation, but may also include questions of interest in additional financial or other support, such as networking or advice to further the innovation.
Following the interviews, and based on the discussion and Q&A, finalists may have the opportunity to submit supplemental materials to WHH as needed. Once all supplemental materials are aggregated and interviews complete, up to three Growth Grants winners and up to two Seeding The Future Grand Prize winners may be selected.
Award money will be given to each awardee subject to execution of an WHH award agreement. With the submission of an application, applicants agree with the terms laid out in the example award agreement. In order for WHH to release the award funds, all awardees must sign a WHH grant agreement prior to receiving any funds. WHH will notify each awardee and publicly announce the complete list of awardees once all award agreements have been executed.
