Food Security & Nutrition

What this sector
is up against.

Global food inflation has pushed an estimated 122 million more people into acute food insecurity since 2019, driven by fossil fuel-linked fertilizer costs, supply chain disruptions, and climate-linked harvest failures.

Food waste accounts for roughly one-third of all food produced globally, yet last-mile redistribution infrastructure to connect surplus food with food-insecure communities remains chronically underfunded.

Ultra-processed food penetration in South Asian and Sub-Saharan African markets is accelerating faster than public health infrastructure can respond, creating a malnutrition double-burden at the household level.

Climate change is reducing agricultural yield predictability for staple crops in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and South Asian river deltas — where food security margins are already thinnest.

Community kitchen and food rescue models (tiffin-style distribution, langar-inspired meal programs) have deep cultural legitimacy in South Asia and can be formalized and scaled with relatively modest technology investment.

Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India have large, underdeveloped cold chain infrastructure gaps — community-scale cold storage and solar-powered preservation are technically feasible and commercially attractive.

Biofortified crop varieties suited to South Asian growing conditions are available from CGIAR breeding programs but adoption remains low due to limited extension outreach — a solvable communications and access problem.

Urban food deserts in Karachi, Dhaka, and Colombo represent a clear market and mission gap that community-owned food hubs can fill.

Agricultural productivity, nutrition, and smallholder livelihoods, with significant South Asia programming

Technology-enabled food security solutions; grant and co-investment for early-stage organizations

Agricultural research and food systems transformation in low- and middle-income countries

Food security, nutrition, and rural livelihoods in South and Central Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East

Systems-change social enterprises in food, health, and climate with proven models seeking scale