Thought For Food and Green Growth Asia Foundation Announce Multi-Year Partnership

Together, the organizations will shape green solutions for more sustainable and inclusive food systems

December 28, 2020, Basel, Switzerland – The Thought For Food®️ Foundation (TFF) and the Green Growth Asia Foundation (GGAF) today announce that they are entering a three-year partnership to collaborate on numerous projects that drive forward youth engagement and impact in the food and agricultural sector across Southeast Asia.

TFF will pair its global expertise in next-gen-led innovation and startup acceleration with GGAF’s on-the-ground youth-focused education and training programs in order to create more opportunities and investments for sustainable green growth and development throughout the region. The organizations will cross-promote each other’s strategic activities, share resources and expert networks, and engage in joint policy advocacy initiatives that are aimed at mobilizing green strategies, policies and projects. 

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the fragility of Southeast Asia’s food supply chain and has exacerbated social issues, such as youth unemployment, at a time when the region is also grappling with rising temperatures and changing weather patterns from climate change. By joining forces, TFF and GGAF aim to help solve these challenges through science-and-technology-based, entrepreneurial innovations that build safer, healthier, and more secure food systems.

Dr Mahadi Mohamad, Executive Director of Green Growth Asia Foundation, states: “At GGAF, we believe that sustainability-based education and awareness initiatives represent a powerful tool to achieve green growth, which underpins a sustainable economy and a healthy environment. Our collaboration with Thought For Food provides young people across the region with more opportunities to innovate, take action, and gain partners and investments that will enable their success.” 

Melissa Ong, CEO of Southeast Asia for the Thought For Food Foundation, highlights: “Southeast Asia was selected as the location for TFF’s first official Regional Hub, because we are fast becoming a global epicenter for sustainable agri-food-tech innovation. With nearly 220 million Millennials and GenZs living in ASEAN countries, it is critically important that we invest in our region’s young people – they represent incredible market potential, and care more than ever about food and how it is produced. This partnership integrates  global expertise with local processes, pathways and interventions that will further unlock the potential of our region’s agri-food-tech innovation and help to scale-up inclusive solutions, all while creating an enabling environment for our youth.”

Christine Gould, Founder and CEO of the Thought For Food Foundation, says: “A lack of accessible productive technologies and decent employment and entrepreneurial opportunities is driving people further into poverty and food insecurity. Innovation holds the key to making agri-food and the entire value chain an attractive sector that is filled with business and employment opportunities. We are excited to connect our global network and expertise in cutting-edge digital innovation and disruptive technologies – such as artificial intelligence, big data, remote sensing, and biotechnology – to contribute to building locally-relevant solutions for Malaysia and the Southeast Asia region.”

TFF’s partnership with GGAF comes on the heels of its recent announcement of a global cooperation with Young Professionals in Agriculture Development (YPARD) and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS). Combining the efforts of these leading networks unleashes a powerful youth force in the food and agricultural sector. Throughout 2021, the organizations will work together on a number of strategic initiatives, including innovation challenges, mentorship, and youth engagements related to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. More details will be shared in the coming weeks.

Interested in meeting some of the next-gen innovators that will be supported through this partnership? Be sure to check out the TFF Regional Hub for Southeast Asia where global collaboration happens and follow TFF on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. TFF will be running topical challenges with partner organisations and working closely the UN Food Systems Summit throughout 2021. Stay tuned to learn more, and to get involved with your organization, please reach out to info@thoughtforfood.org.

About Green Growth Asia Foundation
Green Growth Asia Foundation (GGAF) is a nonprofit organisation that provides a platform for leadership, thought and action in responding to sustainability challenges in Asia. It is achieving this through cutting edge ‘green growth’ programmes that drive economic prosperity within a socially inclusive context, underpinned by a strong sense of responsibility towards the environment and advanced through education for sustainable development initiatives. Our work is undertaken strategically and this is guided by our Green Growth Strategic Framework (GGSF), which sets out our vision and goals together with our method of working. We have a special focus on Education for Sustainable Development and our Eco-Schools Programme and Young Reporters for the Environment are good examples of our programmes under this pathway. Find out more about GGAF at https://greengrowthasia.org/. 

About Thought For Food®️
Thought For Food is the world’s entrepreneurial innovation engine for food and agriculture. We work with more than 25,000 next-generation leaders from over 175 countries, empowering them to generate and scale breakthrough business ventures that build sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems. Our comprehensive suite of next-gen innovation programs include the TFF Challenge®️, an annual collaborative innovation prize competition: the TFF Digital Labs™, a digital startup accelerator and collaboration platform; the TFF Academy, an in-person incubation program for world-class startups; and the TFF Summit, a flagship global event focused on bringing the voices of the next generation together with policy and business leaders to co-create solutions. TFF®️‘s work is powered by a global operating structure that includes the TFF Core Team, 14 Regional Coordinators and 500 Ambassadors in more than 200 cities, as well as diverse partners such as DSM, KWS, and Rockefeller Foundation. Thought For Food®️ is a 501c3 non-profit entity. Find out more about Thought For Food®️ at https://thoughtforfood.org/.