The Future of the Food Ecosystem -- and the Power of Your Plate | Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli

My name, Ndidi, means patience in Igbo.

But I'm probably one of the most impatient people you've ever met.

I was in such a rush to enter the world

that I was born in the parking lot

of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital.

True story.

Agriculture was my favorite subject in school.

My mom remembers me squealing for joy

when I ran home from school

and saw green beans ready for harvesting.

Or when I sold a bag of avocados in our local market.

I considered studying agriculture in school,

but instead opted to study business

and started in corporate America.

But many twists and turns led me back to my first love:

consulting, working with entrepreneurs and then starting businesses.

A defining moment for me was in 2007,

during the first world food crisis in my adult life.

I recognized how connected we were.

Oil price shocks led to cereal price hikes,

which affected bread prices all over the world.

And the most vulnerable were hurt.

Fourteen years later, my impatience has grown.

We’re even more connected,

and our food ecosystem is even more broken.

Thankfully, the Rockefeller Foundation has some pioneering research

on the true cost of food in the United States,

which indicates that even though we spend 1.1 trillion

on our annual food expenditure,

we actually spend 2.1 trillion on costs linked to health

and climate,

all because of our broken food ecosystem.

These same statistics have been replicated all over the world.

In fact, according to the UN Food Systems Scientific Group,

our food system is value-destroying.

There's a need for urgent action.

From at least three lenses.

A health lens,

an equity lens and a climate lens.

Starting with the climate lens,

we must modify how we grow food and reduce food waste.

Our food ecosystem is one of the largest contributors to climate change.

We keep cutting down trees to grow more food,

and we keep wasting food which ends up in landfills and rots,

generates methane.

The good news is that we have the technology

and the science today

to grow enough food to feed the world

and to address our food waste problems.

We have the knowledge,

but we're not using it.

There are exciting examples from my ecosystem

where we're seeing dramatic impact.

The Songhai Center in Benin Republic

educates young Africans on regenerative agriculture

and zero-waste total production.

And one of these young people is doing just that.

Through his company, Bioloop,

he's feeding waste, cassava peels, yam peels,

to black soldier fly larva.

They're growing really quickly and becoming wonderful fish feed.

The byproducts and the residue from this process

is wonderful soil supplements.

And the entire production process is run on renewable energy.

Through my work with Sahel Consulting,

we're demonstrating that farmers can double and triple yields

without hurting the environment.

We're using technology and science from our local research institutions,

and we're proving that in Africa,

there are great examples for the rest of the world to emulate.

Now we need to scale these interventions.

And we need to ensure that our governments,

our private sector, our farmers,

are incentivized to change behavior and to improve lives.

If you're as impatient as I am, you also have a role to play,

by reducing the food waste in your home.

Every single person here can take up a policy

to ensure that their schools, their companies,

their civil society groups have a sustainability policy

and a food waste policy.

And please don't tell your children to finish their dinner

because there are hungry children anywhere.

Tell them to finish their dinner because it’s good for the environment,

and healthy food is good for them.

(Applause)

Second, we must ensure that healthy food is affordable

and accessible for the most vulnerable.

This is a huge challenge.

Unhealthy food kills.

And we know this.

One out of every five deaths is linked to unhealthy food.

And yet, one third of our world's population

cannot afford a healthy diet.

This is a big challenge.

Now food is medicine.

Healthy food gives us long and productive lives.

And during COVID, we've seen the impact of closures,

shipping challenges that have affected food prices,

and the most vulnerable have had to shift from healthy diets to unhealthy diets

because they are cheaper.

This has caused more damage to lives all over the world.

We must take a stand on this, and we can learn a lot from Africa.

There Hadzabe people in Tanzania live in harmony with the land,

and through their lives,

we’ve seen the ability to have a healthy diet.

They eat ten times more fiber than the average American.

Oftentimes we don't realize that even in our own traditional communities,

we have so much to learn.

In urban communities,

we also have exciting social enterprises like mDoc

that's using digital technology, cell phones and training

to get urban populations that are struggling with diabetes,

high blood pressure and so many other health challenges

linked to eating ultra-processed food

to shift to more traditional diets, and they’re seeing measurable outcomes.

We must scale these type of interventions,

but we must also hold our private sector companies responsible

for the amount of sugar and salt contained in food.

We must set standards for what healthy food is

and define healthy food

according to plant-based diet, low salt, low sugar,

and keep all of us accountable.

We must also encourage our governments and ensure that at the local,

state and federal level,

our school feeding programs prioritize healthy food,

our public procurement programs prioritize healthy food,

and collectively, we ensure that we keep the standards high for everybody,

every child.

If you are as impatient as me,

you must also set standards

and hold those in your spheres of influence accountable

for delivering unhealthy food for the most vulnerable.

Third, we must support small- and medium-sized enterprises.

In the food ecosystem,

small- and medium-sized enterprises are the bedrock of our economy.

They create jobs, they are innovative,

and they can pivot very quickly.

But during the pandemic, we've seen something.

They are most affected by shocks.

The mortality rates of small- and medium-sized enterprises

in the food ecosystem has been quite high.

Now through my work,

I’ve seen the value and the power of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

I'm the co-founder of a food company called AACE Foods.

Over 50 percent of our staff are women.

Fifty percent of our board are women.

And we produce healthy food, sourced from over 10,000 farmers.

Through this company,

we're demonstrating that when you empower women,

you empower communities.

One product that we sell has a ripple effect through the entire ecosystem.

Another company that's worthy of emulation is Twiga,

using mobile money and cell phones to connect farmers to urban retailers.

Now their efficiency and removing the middlemen,

creating shorter value chains, ensures that not only the farmer benefits,

the retailer benefits,

but the consumer has access to healthier food.

And finally, I'm most inspired by these dynamic women entrepreneurs.

Through Nourishing Africa,

I work with enterprises in 37 African countries

who are scaling sustainable businesses,

building healthy food companies

and demonstrating that strong,

small- and medium-sized enterprises,

committed to sustainable agriculture and healthy food,

can become change agents.

We need to support our small- and medium-sized enterprises,

creating an enabling environment for them,

providing catalytic financing,

enabling them to scale,

and supporting women-owned businesses,

especially businesses run by young women.

(Applause)

In the food ecosystem, we're often told to be patient

when we plant the seed to let it grow.

We're often told to let the vegetables simmer

so that the juices will flow.

We're told that "ndidiamaka," patience is a virtue.

But a wise woman once said,

"For the dreamer, impatience is a virtue."

I am impatient about the current pace of change in the food ecosystem.

And I think we all must be courageous and bold to transform this landscape.

The next time you eat a meal, ask yourself a few questions.

Who grew this food?

Where was it grown?

When was it grown?

How many steps and stops did it make before it got to your table?

How much food waste was generated because of this meal?

Let your answers influence your next meal.

The fact that you have a choice

gives you privilege

and also gives you a voice

to demand that the solutions to the food ecosystem

align with what works for people and planet.

We must collectively create a food ecosystem

that works not just for us but for future generations.

Our children and grandchildren will hold us accountable

for what we chose to do today

to transform the food ecosystem.

Thank you so much.

(Applause)